What do you think about parts from autozone or O Rilly?

am debating now! should i just take it to some shop and have them charge me $200 - $300. don't get me wrong, am trying to learn how to fix my car, but $20 here , $40 there , $24 here , etc for tools and i still din't bought my parts i start not to think its the cheaper route.

forgive me guys , after i saw that youtube clip , torching the bolt made me think twice now!

p.s: oh and i bought the Haynes manual for the 90 -03 Accord , its pretty good honestly, i also bought most of the tools , except torque wrench , and breaker bar.

what do you think , should i just do it or take it to a shop?

 

At the end of the day it is going to be your call......I personally think your estimate of 2~3 hundred is well, low. If you take it somewhere I'm going to guess you are looking at closer to $400 for just labor....

Then to add a bit.
1) You are there. CHANGE the water pump. It has been there for ~100K miles, how much longer do you think it will last....for another 100K miles? If not you will be doing almost the same work just to replace a water pump.
2) Crank bolt should be 19mm.

Again, your are going to have to make the call.

 

ok so i decided to do it myself! someone from church let me borrow his impact wernch and that what made me do it! and since i have another vehicle i decide it to finish it in 3 days.

Today i removed P/S pump, Cruise Control, Drained Radiator, removed Valve cover, removed Distributor cap, Timing belt top cover, Driver side wheel and TDC ( which i am not 100% positive that i did it right ) and hene question:

Am I at TDC?

 

You are close to TDC, but not quite there. There are two marks on the camshaft sprocket. Those line up with that black plastic cover. The will be at 3 and 9 o'clock and the arrow will point up. Right now the one mark on the cam sprocket is at about 8 o'clock.

When you get that close, the mark on the bell housing will line up with the TDC mark. It looks like you are on the 15 BTDC marks the flex plate (or flywheel).

 

I don't see what you are talking about? is it possible you can mark it for me ?

the only thing i see is the "PTO" and the "UP"! i see nothing at 3 O'clock?

thank you in advance

 

I circled the marks in red.

 

kool, thank you so much, i don't know why i couldn't see those before?

my next question:
if i align the "UP" to 12 O'clock and the other two you just showed me to 9 and 3 O'clock respectively i will have TDC compression correct?! there is not way that the distributor , the belt housing mark and the 3 marks mentioned above, all align and be exhaust cycle right ?

 

Not sure I understand the last question...

You align the crankshaft to it's mark so the pistons are at TDC.

You align the camshaft using the little marks at 3 & 9 o-clock. Those are the REAL timing marks; line them up with the top of the plastic cover. The "UP" mark isn't necessarily perfectly straight up - it's only there so you don't get the whole sprocket upside-down.

 

Perfect.. you actually answered my question without understanding it

i read that TDC can happen in two phases and i don't know how to differentiate between TDC Compression cycle and TDC Exhaust cycle, hence what i meant was ,(Just to be sure) one can't have all those marks (camshaft little marks at 3 & 9 o-clock) aligned and be in TDC Exhaust Phase/cycle? in other word these marks ONLY align together in the TDC Compession.

I hope this makes it easy.

P.S: can i clean all that sluggish,brown, look like burnt oil inside the value area using carb cleaner or if you guys have suggestions on what can be used to clean it.

 

As far as the piston & crankshaft are concerned, there is NO DIFFERENCE between TDC compression and TDC exhaust. It's only when the camshaft is connected that there is any difference. The crankshaft makes 2 full revolutions for every 1 of the camshaft.

Starting from TDC compression, you can turn the crankshaft one full revolution. The crankshaft mark will line up again, while the camshaft has turned 1/2 revolution. The marks out at the teeth will line up, but the "UP" mark will now be pointing down. Now you're at TDC exhaust.

Some people are confused by the "UP" mark & figure it has to be perfectly upright. Depending on the machining of the sprocket, that "UP" mark can be a ways off. So the little dimples out at the sprocket teeth are the REAL timing marks.