I have a 99 accord 2.3 5 speed that needs a clutch and is due for a timing belt. I am fairly mechanically inclined, but I only have basic tools and I do not have access to a lift, and I have never done either of these jobs on this vehicle before. I can borrow an engine hoist from a friend, and I have another vehicle to drive if the car needs to be laid up for a week or two. Would it be easier to pull the engine and transaxle out as an assembly and replace the clutch and timing belt with the engine out of the vehicle, or should I leave the engine in and try to get the transaxle out from the bottom? Thanks in advance!

 

I would take out the transmission from the bottom.

The hardest part of the timing belt is removing the crank pulley bolt. Everything else is not too bad, just a lot of steps.

If you pulled the engine and transmission, you risk damaging sensors, electrical connectors, the a/c, etc...

The ericthecarguy web site has a video on how to replace a timing belt on a 4-cylinder accord. He also has a video on replacing a clutch on an older Acura integra (somewhat less relevant, but would give you some pointers on how to do the clutch. Those videos are for sale for around $10 each. That and a good shop manual (automanualsource has them as a pdf for $22) will help.

 

Thanks for the advice. Does it make any sense to do both jobs at the same time or should I do one and then the other?

 

My thought is to do one then the other. When you remove the transmission to replace the clutch, you already remove a couple engine mounts.

For the timing belt, you remove one more at the belt end. Now you have a difficult time holding onto the engine with all the mounts undone.

This is from the perspective of not having a lift, so it's not easy for ME to remove the whole engine/transmission as a unit.