92 Accord 4 dr LX 4AT Timing belt job

No AC or power anything on our car.

I had posted this on the Gen Tech forum under the heading "Appropriateness of Timing Belt Kit", but since its going to be a DIY job, I figured that maybe it was more appropriate in this forum. I've examined the car thoroughly and I believe I have a minor coolant leak from the water pump, and maybe even a minor oil leak, from some seal inside the timing covers, so I'd like to decide from whom I'm going to buy parts and do this job in the near future.

I received a reply from an eBay vendor this morning in answer to my question asking which parts in his kit were made by which manufacturer. Here's the link to the kit:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/New-Honda-Accord-90-97-2-2-Timing-Belt-Water-Pump-Kit_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33625QQihZ015QQitemZ250003137865QQrdZ1

Here are the manufacturers of the various parts of the kit:
timing belt Conti
other belts Bando
water pump NPW or GMB
tensioners NSK
seals NOk
v/c gasket Ishino

I also found a Canadian eBay vendor of another kit who lists all of the manufacturers of the various parts in his kit:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1,1&item=300005599140&ih=020&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT

As you can see, there are some differences between the kits.

Which of these kits (IF either) would you recommend?

I have a few questions about Honda parts and the timing belt job:

1. What does "genuine" Honda parts mean, exactly? Does Honda actually manufacture their own parts, or do they buy from other manufacturers and put them in a Honda box with a Honda part no.? If the answer to the last part of the question is "yes", does anyone know which parts are manufactured for Honda by which companies? (Obviously, this would be good information for anyone trying to find maybe less-expensive parts for their Accord.)

2. Am I correct when I say that on the inside of the upper and lower covers there should be NO oil or coolant present WHATSOEVER, and that it should be "dry as a bone" and nice and clean in there and that the two covers are essentially "dust covers" which protect the parts inside from the outside elements?

3. I've read some information that all water-pump gaskets are not created equal and that maybe there's an ideal gasket for this job. Does anyone know who manufactures the best one? Does one have to use additional sealant when replacing the pump and, if so, what sealant is recommended?

4. In the Haynes manual's description of the timing belt replacement, there are many photographs which contain arrows, etc. which describe the job very nicely. In order to make things clearer for the reader, they have taken these photos of an engine which has been removed from the car, and, in particular, this makes more clear their description and illustration of the location and alignment of the various timing marks on both belts and engine parts.

I have to wonder how easy this is going to be, especially for the novice undertaking this job for the first time, in the cramped quarters of the wheel well and from the viewing angle of the floor.

I have a nice floor jack which has a lift height of 22" and I can increase that a bit if I place it on a couple of 3/4" sheets of plywood before starting to jack. I then put jack stands under the two front jacking points to support the car as I work. For doing work under the car, I also have a nice creeper with an adjustable head support, so I have some flexibilty in viewing, and working, angle.

The procedure states that one should put a piece of wood under the oil pan and put the floor jack under this piece of wood to support the engine. The one releases the engine from its left top mount and then lowers the engine 3 or 4 inches to allow easier removal of the lower timing cover. That's pretty straightforward for removal of the cover, but I wonder how easy it is going to be to see all of those timing marks with the body of the car potentially blocking one's angle of view of everything.

5. The rear balance shaft is locked into position before removing any belts, or even it's own pully. This means that the pulley must surely go back on in its original position when it is re-installed (if it has a key-way, that is). Good. So ............

a. What is the likelihood that the other various shafts (cam, crank, front balancer) will accidentally rotate during this maintenance - do they turn easily?

b. Because the rear balance shaft is locked into position from beginning to end, does it act as the "bench mark" or "reference" in the installation of the new belts, or are the marks on the pulleys and their corresponding marks on the engine the primary "standard", if you will?

6. Do I need to use a balance shaft seal retainer? Will I find an original part on the car, or was this an add-on by Honda to correct something?

7. Is it necessary to replace the seal on the FRONT balancer shaft, and does it have an original retainer?

8. In the kit being sold by the Canadian vendor, in addtion to the crank seal, he includes what must be the oil pump-to-engine-block seal. Is it necessary to replace this seal, as well?

a. What is the likelihood that the oil pump will also need to be replaced? (190,000 km, or 118,000 miles on vehicle)

9. How diffictult is it to replace the cam seal? Does one have to remove the cam pulley, for example, or rotate the cam to remove the seal?

10. Could someone who has done this job at home comment on any other aspect that you feel may be important to mention?

Thanks very much.

woooooooo>> Tony Tony Tony.... i don't know where to start ..

# 1 ,, Honda manufactres some parts, some they just stick the label on

# 2 , correct on the t-belt covers , theyar ther to protect from outside elements

# 3 use a Honda water pump, gasket is attached to it,, no need to use any sealant at all.

# 4 pretty easy to see the marks ,, what i reccomend is that you put car on top derad center # 1 , cam pulley mark ( up ) make sure it is up , get a permanent magic marker and before you remove the timing and balancer belts ,mark the position of the cam pulley, balancer shafts,

# 5 ,, once the balencer belt and timing belts are off, both balancer shaft will rotate easily,, that's why i suggest you mark them before removing the belts

# 6 ,,As for the seal retainer , if the recall has not been done you will need to install the retainer , Honda delaer sell it for around 5 dollars

# 7,, it is critical to replace the balancer shaft seal, they pop out and leak oil ,, so definatelly install a new seal and the retainer

# 8 ,, if the oil pump sral is not leaking it is your call wether you want to replace it or not,, personally if i got a new seal i would replace it,,

a,, do not worry about the oil pump, never had to replace one

# 9 ,,yes you got to remove the cam pulley to replace the seal, make sure you reposition pulley on the same place or cam timing will be off, easy to replace the seal, remove the old seal using a small screwdriver, put some grease on the inside of the new seal and evenly push it in ,, there is a special seal installer tool which i am sure you do not have ,, but see if you can get a socket big enough as the outside of the seal dimension to help you push seal in , when installing the seal, go shlightly past being flush with the head ..

# 10,, the biggest issue you might have is to loosen up the crank pulley bolt ,, they are tight,, Also,, it will make it easier to remove and install the lower t-belt cover if you remove the 2 17mm bolts for the lower frt cross member on the left side( driver side ) and just loosen up the 2 on the rt side,( passenger side ) it will make engine drop just a bit more and give you more clearance ..... ..DO NOT and i repeat DO NOT take all 4 bolts out .....

Desert,
I can tell that you must love your work. Thanks very much for taking the time and energy to answer all of my questions and concerns.

Because you were so "right on" in your advice about those inner tie rods, I will also do everything you recommend on this job.

The day before I start the job I will take the car to Honda and have them loosen the crank bolt and free up the pulley, so that I will be able to easily remove them at home.

I assume that the components of those kits are OK with you, except for the water pump. I'll ask the Canadian eBay vendor if he'll sell me a kit without the water pump, and I'll try to find a Honda dealer who will sell the pump for less than the $97 that the local Honda dealer charges.

If I think it can be done easily, I'll also replace the oil pump seal, even if its not leaking. With my luck, if I don't, it'll surely start leaking the day after I finish the job.

I understand that you recommend changing seals and retainers on BOTH balancer shafts. Please tell me if I'm wrong.

After reading what you've said, I feel reassured. I'm now actually looking forward to doing the job.

Thanks again.

one thing i forgot to mention which i do not do, but i think you should to make sure the rear balancer shaft does not rotate on you,,
on the back of the block, right about aboce the rear balancer shaft there is a 14mm plug, remove it, insert a thin punch or a screwdrover in there , this will line up the rear shaft and make sure it will not rotate,,of course fist of all get engine on top dead center # 1 ..
DO NOT forget to remove the punch before you rotate the engine........the punch is there till you install the balancer belt ,,

if you have any questions during the job ,, i am just a few clicks away

Thanks for that additional information, Desert, and the offer to be just a few clicks away. I appreciate it.

It'll probably take me one, maybe two, weeks to get all the parts in my hands, so it'll be at least that long before I post either my successful completion of the job, or frenzied pleas for help.

Thanks again.

,, Tony,,, Make sure to mark all the pulleys after you put car on top dead # 1 ..........

read this it might help..

http://www.forparts.com/ICHondaaccordtimingbelt1.04.htm

or this ...

http://autorepair.about.com/cs/doityourself/a/aa051102a.htm

Desert,
Yes, I'll certainly make those marks. I like doing things the easy way.

Great articles - especially the first. I think its description of setting belt tension is going to be very useful, because, after all, those belts must have some "play" in their length, and this must, to a certain degree, affect timing. The tensioners must somehow keep that play in check well enough to allow good engine timing and balancing.

I assume that the number of "teeth" on the new belt must be the same as on the old one. Before reading this article, I thought it would be a good idea to count the distance in belt teeth from pulley-to-pulley reference marks that I would make. If it was 20 belt teeth distance between marks on two pulleys, I would make it the same same on the new. Sounded pretty good to me.

Every different thing I read about this job adds some little detail that will probably make the job go easier.

Of course our local Honda dealer would never allow it, but I'd just love to be a Honda tech's "go-fer" for a couple of these jobs prior to doing my own. In fact, all he'd have to do is bark some instructions and I'd turn wrench for him. He'd still have clean hands at the end of the day!

I'm retired, but if I had it all to do over again, I'd give atutomotive tech ("mechanic", we respectfully used to call them) a shot.

Thanks again.

I've been going over this procedure and I have a couple of additional observations and questions.

1. Now that I understand how large the oil pump is, I really do not want to remove it. It both seals to the block and is part of the surface against which the oil pan seals. I guess one must remove the oil pan to remove the oil pump, and, if one is doing this as part of the timing job, this is going to be pretty difficult with the engine lowered and resting with it's oil pan on a wood block and floor jack.

Here's a photo of the front of an oil pump:

and the rear of the pump:


On the photo of the front, I assume the crank seal is the one being pointed to by the red, the front balance shaft seal in yellow, and the rear balancer shaft in aqua, I think.

I'm not sure exactly where the rear balance shaft seal is installed, nor am I sure, in general, what parts of the pump are submerged in oil, or dry.

1. Is the area of the oil pump under the rear balance shaft gear assembly, which (on the front of the pump) is enclosed by that oblong-shaped O-ring, dry, or wet with oil? a. If it's dry, why bother with the O-ring? b. If it's wet, does the shaft-seal of the gear assembly ever leak?

2. Where, exactly, does the rear balancer shaft seal "seat" - inside the oil pump housing opening, or inside the engine block (I hope it's the former), and is this the culprit in excessive leakage, or is it the large gear assembly O-ring?


In the photos above and below, I assume that the seal being pointed to by the blue arrow (above photo) is the same as the one on the left end of the group designated as "2" below. Please tell me if I'm wrong.


3. In the back view of the oil pump, have I drawn oil flow correctly?

4. Is the back of the oil pump wet or dry?

5. If that race-tracked-shaped O-ring on the back leaks a bit, wouldn't it just drip down into the oil pan?

6. If the rear balancer shaft seal is in the oil pump housing, what prevents oil from exiting its hole in the block and dripping down between the oil pump and block into the oil pan? (The same is true of the crank seal. If the seal is at the front of the oil-pump housing, what prevents leakage between the back of the pump and the block into the oil pan?)

7. What, exactly do the weep holes of the water pump drain - a leaking pump-shaft seal, or leakage in the pump-to-engine O-ring gasket?

8. Where, exactly do the water pump weep holes drain - inside or outside the timing covers? If the latter, are the weep holes visible on the outside of the engine even with the timing covers attached?

9. The front balance shaft seal retainer is installed as below:

Doesn't this interfere with # 14 (the one with the red arrow) shown in the upper of the two numbered parts diagrams above?

10. Does the rear seal have, or even need, a similar seal retainer to the front?

Thanks very much.

Wow Tony,, you rally got everythign apart..

you are corect on the 3 seals top picture red arrow crank seal..........yeallow frt balancer shaft seal ....and acqua the rear balancer shaft seal//
you only need a retainer on the frt balancer shaft seal, that is the one that Honda had the recall on...........also when i replace those seals i do not take the pump totally out of the car llike you did , the reason being i have never had a problem with the rear seal leaking pict # 2 green arrow,,

i just pop out the crank seal, and install a new one,, remove the pulley on the frt balancer shaft seal 12 mm bolt ..and install a new seal and retainer,, remove the 12mm bolts and 12 mm nut ,remove the rear balancer shaft gear case and replace the rear balancer shaft seal the one with the acqua colored arrow on first picture

the weel hole on the pump is the shaft seal.. and it leaks out outside timing cover on the back of the block.. if you look at pump from under neath you can see the weep hole ..
the shafts are held inside the block

Desert, I truly wish that was my pump in that photo, but it's a photo I downloaded from the internet just so that I could educate myself further.

I don't want ANY surprises when I do this job.

Good about that rear seal - no way do I want to remove the pump. But if that rear balance shaft seal is doing what it's supposed to be doing, why is that large O-ring installed under that rear balance shaft gear assembly that drives it - added insurance?

I guess any oil coming out of the block (behind the pump) around those three shafts, just drains down between the rear of the oil pump and the block, and then into the oil pan - part of the normal lubrication of the engine.

To make the job go a bit easier and cleaner, and to get intimately familiar with the timing-end of the egnine, I detailed the entire engine compartment yesterday. It took me about three hours using various cleaners and Q-tips, but it looks like a new car under there now. Even my wife was impressed. After that, I went over the steps in the procedure a couple of times.

I noticed that inside the driver's side wheel well there's a star-shaped access hole provided in the plastic splash shield. I poked my finger through there while looking in the engine compartment and, sure enough, it aligns perfectly with the crank bolt, which is just a couple of inches away from it, so this must be why the access hole is there - so that the crank can be rotated with a wrench for whatever reason - a valve adjustment, for example. Since removal of the splash shield is one of the first steps of the timing job, I'll remove it prior to taking the car to Honda to loosen the crank bolt. They should then have enough room to put their big Honda "crank-pulley-holder" on there and use an air impact wrench to loosen it, so, hopefully it will be easy and quick and cheap for them to do it.

On the subject of the weep holes in the water pump - after parking the car in the garage for say an hour after the engine is turned off, a tiny spot of coolant develops on the garage floor right under the driver's side, rear-most corner of the oil pan. When I get under the car, I can see the last drop of coolant hanging from that corner of the oil pan. None of the coolant hoses are leaking, so I'll get under the car today and check to see if I can see those water pump weep holes and if there are any traces of coolant leaking out of them down the rear of the block.

Desert, you previously mentioned removing the two bolts from driver's end of the beam, and just loosening the two at the passenger end - this, in order to lower the engine a bit more for easier access to the timing an balancer belt area. I assume you mean the beam that the front motor mount is attached to at the front-most part of the engine compartment. Please tell me if I'm wrong on this.


Thanks again, Desert.

if that is not the pump out of your car, no need to remove the whole thing,, just pop the seals out and install new ones .. put a bit of grease on the inside of the seal.. put a retainer on the frt balancer shaft seal,
It sounds like the water pump is leaking a bit,, replace it when doing t-belt,

Yes it is the beam on the frt of car , # 3 on the pic remove the 2, 17mm bolts on the driver side and loosen up the ones on the rt side ,, it will givw you a lot more room to remove and reinstall the lower cover,, also make sure to reinstall the rubber o-ring on the timing belt adjuster nut..if you don't i have seen a few covr bulge out and rub against the crank pulley ,,

Desert,
You have been a great help to me. Without it, I doubt whether I'd have had the courage to undertake this job.

I believe that I am now ready, willing and able to do this job. I know the steps by memory.

I hope to have received the parts by mid to late next week and I'll post when I'm either done or in real trouble.

Thanks again.

go for it,, if you get stomped, there is a lot of us ready to jump in and help...

Well, my parts finally arrived and I think I've already forgotten 50% of what I thought I knew a couple of weeks ago. Time to study the manual again.

Here's the list of Genuine Honda parts I have, plus, not shown, I have two Koyo tensioners that are supposed to be indentical replacements:

This were originally bought by a person owning a 93 Accord, but he sold the car before using them. Our car is a 92. I compared part numbers at a couple of on-line parts places and indeed the "internal" part numbers used by those sites for those two years are identical.

But none of the sites I can find on line use the Genunine Honda part numbers. So, beyond the obvious parts such as water pump, valve cover gasket kit, and all belts, I cannot tell which "O-ring" or "seal" goes exactly where on the car.

Of course I could just dive right in and start taking things apart and compare the new parts to the old, but I then run the risk of having not bought the correct part and then I'm stuck for maybe a couple of days until the part arrives at Honda.

So, I wonder if one of the members who has the genuine Honda part numbers for the various parts needed for this job, would tell me if the part numbers on that list above are the correct part numbers, and, most importantly, what part number goes where on the car. I can then write the correct location for each part right on its individual bag or box.

Also, I do not have the rear balancer shaft GEAR HOUSING O-ring (the one you can see in the photo above of the front of oil pump, in the general area of that aqua-colored arrow. It's the oblong-shaped O-ring.). Do you think it is even necessary to replace that O-ring?

So, do you think I have all of the proper parts for this job?

Thanks very much for your expertise.

BTW, if it would be a good thing, I will try to photograph as much of this procedure, step by step, as possible and write something to accompany it. What do you think?

OK guys, I found out which seal is which.

Cam seal 91213
Balance 91233
crank 91212
t'stat housing 91314

"Just in case", I'm going to buy a bal-gear-housing O-ring 15114 - PT0 - 003 cause it's only $6.

I''m going to start the job pretty early tomorrow and hope to finish it by tomorrow night.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Tony1M



BTW, if it would be a good thing, I will try to photograph as much of this procedure, step by step, as possible and write something to accompany it. What do you think?

Tony,, if you can get a lot of picture ,, i can create a DIY timing belt job ..

I have been playing with the idea to write it up but without pics it is hard to understand for some less experienced members + it is a long procedure

get pics of all the alignments,, at top dead center # 1 ,,,,,,,,camshaft,, frt balancer shaft ,, rear balancer shaft etc etc

Desert,
I'll give it a try on the photos. The only difficulty I can see is getting good shots of the engine in its rather hidden position. I don't think I'll have any problem with the TDC through that little port, but getting the various other views of the timing marks may be a challenge. I'll do the best I can, though.

As I was thinking about the job, I realize that I need a few more parts other than just the gear assembly O-ring and front seal retainer.

Because they have NEVER been replaced, I want to replace the rubber coolant hoses and thermostat. (How's that for luck with those hoses and thermostat?! Want to hear something unbelievable? We replaced the original Panasonic battery LAST YEAR! Yes, it lasted 13 years. I tried to find another Panasonic to replace it, but could not find one anywhere. Now we've got a DieHard in there and I doubt it lasts half the time of that Panny. I think our cool climate is good on batteries.)

I also want to take this opportunity to do the transmission fluid (which has been replaced only twice), and the coolant. Of course the transmission fluid can be changed after this job, but it's on the list of stuff to be picked up anyway.

So I 've got to go to Honda tomorrow to get that stuff. By the time that's done, I think I'll heed the old "measure twice and cut once" adage and devote the rest of the day to studying the procedure in the manual as I look at things under the hood - just to once again get everything straight in my head. Then I'll start early Wed morning, so you probably won't hear me pleading for help before Wednesday afternoon.

BTW, the Honda parts guy and I had a bit of a "discussion" about the rear balancer gear assembly. His belief is that this assembly is the oil pump's drive mechanism and has nothing to do with the balance shaft, and my belief is that the crank shaft turns the oil pump and that little gear set installed on the upper right part of the oil pump is solely there to drive the rear balancer shaft. He also said that the only seal on the "rear" of the engine is the rear main seal and that the rear balancer shaft's seal does not have to be replaced. "None of our guys ever replace it" - he said.

I was quite amazed as I listened to the man. Maybe the labor shortage around here is worse than I thought.

Anyway, I re-checked my Haynes manual and it seems to back up my version of things, so wish me luck dealing with this guy. I think I'm going to need it.

BTW, where, exactly, on the engine block is the coolant drain plug? In the Haynes manual it isn't well shown, and in the Honda diagram it appears to be near the oil filter, but maybe I'm wrong about that. (I know to also open the radiator drain valve, the air bleed valve, and keep heater in the "hot" position while draining the coolant. And don't get any coolant on either myself or anything else.)

Well, it's done and the car runs great.

I replaced:
Timing and balance shaft belts, crank seal, front balancer shaft seal, cam shaft seal, water pump, both tensioners, coolant, alt and pwr steering belts, and all gaskets and seals for the valve cover.

Here we go:

1. To set number one cylinder at TDC:
A. Jack up the car and put on jack stands.
B. Take neg battery cable off the battery.
C. Remove front wheels.
D. Put a 19mm socket on a long extension, and, going through the access hole in the driver's side wheel well, put on the crank pulley bolt.
E. Remove that rectangular rubber plug on front of engine.
F. Put a breaker bar on the socket extension and rotate the engine counter-clockwise untill stationary v-notch and line on flywheel, indicating 1 TDC, are aligned. (Another set of eyes helps.)


Also find TDC using distributor rotor with contact pointing at #1 location below #1 plug wire on cap.


2. Remove splash guard.


3. Remove cruise control unit and place "out of the way". Remove power stering pump and move out of the way.




4. Remove alternator. (This is what I decided would be best, anyway.)


5. Remove valve cover. (I had to temporarily move the cruise unit back to the right to allow removal of the cover.)


6. Remove motor mount, then upper cover.


7. Loosen passenger side front beam bolts.


8. Support engine using jack and block of wood up against oil pan, then remove 2 bolts from driver's end of main beam and lower engine about 3 or 4 inches.


9. Remove crank pulley bolt (Good luck if you don't have an impact wrench.)




and pull off crank pulley. Mine came off very easily.


10. Remove lower cover. Don't forget to remove adjusting nut - mine was a bugger to remove.


And what you see is a Honda technological marvel.


11. Ensure TDC by looking at various marks on the crank's balancer belt pulley, front balance shaft pulley, rear balance shart gear assembly, and cam pulley.

Crank pulley mark with corresponding mark on oil pump behind it.


Mark directly on top of front balance shaft and mark on oil pump behind it.


Mark on front balance shart pulley highlighted in white. Notice the shaft seal on oil pump body.


Marks on camshaft pulley. Note that there are the same marks on the BACK of the pulley. They are probably more useful than the ones on the front. Before I removed the old timing belt, I marked on the timing belt with chaulk the "valley" that corresponded to the "tooth" that had the pulley's 9 o'clock mark. I then made a custom mark on a crank timing belt pulley tooth and and marked with chaulk the "valley" that corresponded to it on the timing belt.


12. I shoved a high-speed drill in the rear balancer shaft via the access hole on the rear of the engine block. (Unfortunately, no photo.) This held the balance shaft locked into position. Then I removed the balance belt tensioner, belt and then the gear assembly and re-installed it using a new O-ring.


13. Then I removed the timing belt tensioner, timing belt, and crank timing belt pulley. Notice the seal. I then replaced it and reinstalled the crank timing belt pulley.


14. I replaced the water pump with a new Honda unit. Easy to do, but you'd bettter drain the radiator and block beforehand!. Canadians apparently all have a block heater where the block drain would normally be, so I drained the radiator and then removed the block heater. Get a big bucket under that block drain!

15. I removed the front balance shaft pulley and replaced the seal. (All those bloody seals were a pain to remove.)

16. I removed the cam pulley and replaced the cam shaft seal.

17. I counted the valleys between the two marks on the old timing belt and marked the new belt at the same number of valleys. I then reinstalled the timing belt matching the marked valleys with the cam and crank pulley marks - easy. Then the timing tensioner (Koyo is apparently the OEM for these tensioners - the ones I removed were identical to the new ones I installed and they even had "Koyo" marked on them, so go ahead and get Koyo tensioners.)

18. I installed the new balance belt by making sure that the belt was tight between the gear housing, down to the crank pulley, then left up to the front balance shaft pulley (ensuring its shaft mark was still aligned with the mark on the oil pump housing) then I installed the tensioner to tension the top "valley" in the belt between the two balance pulleys. DO NOT forget (like I did) to install the washer on top of the balance belt tensioner before you reinstall the lower cover. (You do not want to know what I said when I had assembled EVERYTHING and knelt down to torque the crank-pulley bolt. I then noticed the washer sitting on top of the old balance belt tensioner sitting on the floor! There's a certain predictable series of emotions that "kick in" in that situation. But there's no getting around the fact that the washer must somehow be installed.)

19. Install lower cover, crank pulley, etc. in the reverse order of removal. Right after putting lower cover on and installing crank pulley, install adjusting nut loosely and then adjust belt tension by turning crank counter-clockwise so that cam pulley rotates about 3 teeth. Check for good belt tension on right and left sides of cam pulley and then tighten adjusting nut.

20. You can do a valve clearance adjustment before installing the valve cover, but if it's 1AM (like it was for me), maybe you'll put it off to another time.

(Later edit - After tightening the adjusting nut, the Haynes manual recommends rotating the crank counter-clockwise a couple of times and then checking the timing marks again at TDC, but I was so confident that I had assembled things correctly, I did not do this. After completing the job, the next day my wife and I went on a 4-hour trip and the car ran smoother than it had in many years.)

TONY TONY my man...........i am proud of and such nice pics as well..

if you do not mind i would like to use the pics as a DIY timing belt replacement.....

and without insulting or offending you, i have to edit a few parts on your post.......

but in behalf of all of us at HAF i want to give you a big THANK-YOU ...

Desert,
You are very welcome. Without this forum I doubt that I'd have had the courage to undertake the job.

Go ahead and use and edit anything you'd like, in whatever way you'd like.

I'd like to say that I think marking the old timing belt where it meets the cam pulley and a specific tooth on the crank timing-belt pulley is a very good idea and here's why. In order to change the cam seal, naturally one must first remove the cam shaft pulley. Well, this is difficult, if not impossible, to do without slightly rotating the cam pulley. Then you remove the old, and install the new, cam shaft seal. Then you re-install the cam pulley and it moves a bit as you tighten it. You can try to use the inscribed marks on the cam pulley to re-align it with the top of the block, but this only gets you close. Logically, the new timing belt MUST have the same number of valleys as the old one. Therefore, if you align the two belts, or count the valleys on the old belt, and mark the new belt at the same valleys, the new belt can act as a "ruler" in measuring the proper distance between the tooth marked on the cam pulley and the tooth marked on the crank timing-belt pulley. The cam pulley can then be rotated very slightly in either direction to get the appropriate tooth into the marked valley on the belt.

What's nice is the fact that the crank stays put very nicely as the job proceeds.

The front balance shaft spins freely after the belt is taken off. So, when installing the new belt, start at the rear gear housing, then, maintaining proper tightness, down to the bottom of crank belt pulley, then up to the front balance shaft pulley. By rotating the front balnance-shaft pulley, the balance-belt tension is taken up. Looking straight down from the top, one can easily ensure that the balance-shaft-mark and oil-pump-housing mark are still in alignment when the belt is taught. If they're not, you simply move forward or backward one, or more, teeth on the belt by rotating the front balance-shaft-pulley slightly, and once again checking for alignment.

By the way, the plugs are original and their coating was a perfect color. I put them back in the car!

The car actually runs a bit smoother than before, so I think that the last tech who replaced the first set of belts may have been off on the balance belt by a tooth or two when he put things together.

Anyway, I would like to thank the forum for giving me the technical knowledge and confidence to do this job. Having done it gives me a great sense of accomplishment.

(Later edit - Just a couple more specific comments about the job.

First, in an earlier post I have a photo of a Honda diagram which shows a red arrow pointing to an object with the number 14 label. It looks like some kind of seal retainer. This part was NOT on our car and you can see that for yourself by looking at one of the photos I posted later of the job. You can see in that later photo that the old seal's outer surface is flush with the oil pump housing. The new seal, however, would simply not seat that deeply into the pump housing - it poked out very slightly above the surface of the pump. Luckily I bought the seal retainer - also shown in one of the previous posts - and I installed it, so I think I won't have any problem with the seal popping out. There are absolutely no leaks whatsoever on the floor after several long rides. Knock on wood.

Second, in the same earlier diagram, there is an aqua-colored arrow pointing to "something" on the rear balance shaft, between the shaft itself and its gear pulley. That object is not a seal, it is merely some kind of retainer - like a washer. The parts guy told me that this is what it is and that the gear assembly should have oil in it. Indeed this IS the situation - the assembly has quite a bit of oil in it normally. I guess the oil comes into the assembly through that small hole in the O-ring, through the wall of the gear assembly and onto the gears. It either then just sits there until the engine turns off (when it will then drain back through the same hole), or it must flow AROUND the balance shaft pulley and shaft and back into the engine. In either case, just like it is for the water pump, it is the gear assembly's outer O-ring and its shaft-seal that prevent the leakage of oil. UNLIKE the water pump, however, if there is leakage from the shaft seal, it will be directly INSIDE the lower cover. In the water pump's case, if the leak is around the shaft, the coolant will drain to OUTSIDE of the cover via two weep holes. I hope the gear assmebly lasts forever because the parts guy said it costs about $250.)

Tony (or anyone),

How did you get the small pulley off to get to the crank seal?  I am having the hardest time getting the pulley off.

Thanks

EDIT:  I got it off finally.  I used a torch on it for a couple of seconds and the pully slid right off.

Well, Im doing the Timing belt Job. Im stuck at the Crank Pulley Bolt. I'm using a Electric Dewalt Impact with a 19mm socket. I put the impact on reverse and hit the button aleast 5 mins and it wont come off. Is there anything I can do to loosing it up?
 
Thanks
Anthony

hey try this http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/B0000TMLWQ/ref=pd_rvi_gw_1/103-9298828-6159005  has good reviews man.  let me know if it works

I need it ASAP! ..Should I try Heating up the Bolt? BTW I want to make sure. I suppose to go counterclock-wise to get the Crank Bolt off Right?

Thanks
Anthony

Maybe get over night shipping?  Remember Lefty Loosey Righty Tighty.