Appropriateness of Timing Belt Kit
 

I am seriously considering undertaking the timing belt replacement on our 92 Accord LX, auto, no AC.

The local Honda dealers charge an arm and a leg for parts compared to those in the US, but I cannot find an on-line Honda dealer who ships to Canada.

What do you think of the completeness and quality of the parts in this seller's kit?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/New-H...03137865QQrdZ1

Thanks for any adivice.

RE: Appropriateness of Timing Belt Kit
 

you dont get half of that stuff when you get your timing belt done at a shop. so my answer is that it is a very complete kit.

RE: Appropriateness of Timing Belt Kit
 

what he said......

RE: Appropriateness of Timing Belt Kit
 

Take your time when you do it and read the repair manual thoroughly before atempting any major work. Be sure you have all the Tools you need. Most of all, plan on having plenty of time, especially if youv'e never taken loose a Honda main drive pulley that's been on awhile.

RE: Appropriateness of Timing Belt Kit
 

Mike, I have the Haynes manual for the car and I've done a search for other threads whcih desribe this job. As far as I can tell, as you say, the crank pulley removal is probably the single most difficult part of the job and I do NOT want to start the job if I'm not confident that I can remove that pulley.

The Haynes manual says:
"To keep the crankshaft from turning while you're removing this bolt, wedge a large screwdriver into the flywheel/driveplate ring gear. If the pulley won't slide off, pullers are available at auto parts stores that will make the removal easy."

When I tried to remove the front axle nuts a couple of weeks ago, I followed the Haynes recommendation to remove them, but I could not loosen them even using a three-foot-long breaker bar. I had to take the vehicle to Honda, where I watched a technician put a large impact wrench on the nut and attempt to remove the nut for literally two minutes before it finally gave way. He tightened it a little and I went home, where I was able to remove the nut fairly easily.

Maybe this is some thing I should consider doing for this job - have Honda loosen that nut a bit.

To all, do you think that the parts in that link are equivalent in quality to genuine Honda parts?

RE: Appropriateness of Timing Belt Kit
 

Taking off that pulley is one of the first things to do. You could loosen it as the VERY first thing.

That way, if you can't get it off yourself, you're still in a position to drive to a shop to have them loosen it. At one small local shop, they didn't even charge me for it.

Another thing I'd say, you should find the timing marks and MAKE SURE you UNDERSTAND how to line them up. A picture in the book isn't always the same as seeing them for real. Do this before you take off the old timing belt.

RE: Appropriateness of Timing Belt Kit
 

That pulley nut is a pain. I used a breaker bar with a 5 foot cheater pipe and it finally came off.

You may want to invest in a good compressor (one that goes higher than 120 psi) and some air tools if you plan on servicing cars in the future. It will help tremondously. And you'll probably still need to work on it for a while with a good compressor and impact gun.

I had less trouble with the axle nuts than that pulley nut. I think it's got like 800 ft lbs of torque on it or something.

RE: Appropriateness of Timing Belt Kit
 

a little trick that sometimes helps with this also is to take the old belt (assuming you're replacing it) and wrap it around the pulley then put a pair of pliars or something on it to get it tight around the pulley. Now it should hold it in place by simply locking in the belt somewhere... i've used this little trick for cam pulley's a few times and it seems to work great.

RE: Appropriateness of Timing Belt Kit
 

Thanks for all the great advice, guys!

I do have a compressor which I purchased for a nail-gun, but there's no way it will operate a pneumatic impact wrench for more than a few seconds - maybe if I pressurized a large auxillary tank - but no way with its own small tank.

Anyway, considering the amount of frustration that this bolt has caused all of you, I'm going to take it to Honda to have them loosen it and then tighten it with much less torque - after all, there must be a key-way that does primary duty in keeping the pulley in one position on the crank, right? As long as the bolt doesn't actually come off the crank between Honda and my house, I should be fine.

Maybe they can even pull it off the crank just a bit (with the belt still on it) and then push it back in a couple of times with WD-40 or anti-seize compound so that it's freed up in that respect, too.

With both of those things done, the pulley should just slip right off when I attempt to remove it. (Famous last words.)

I'm going to contact the eBay seller to find out exactly which parts in that kit are genuine Honda and who supplies the others. I'll post when I do.

Another question - while I'm at it, should I replace the crank/oil pump seal? My feeling is that unless there's a compelling reason not to, it should be replaced while the opportunity is ideal.

RE: Appropriateness of Timing Belt Kit
 

the seal should be cheap. I'd just replace it. And yes you're correct there is a keyway that keeps it aligned. If they don't want to pull it off to loosen it up (the pulley) then just rent a pully removal kit they're pretty cheap to rent... In fact just make your life easy, rent/borrow the kit. Once that bolt is loose if you have the kit then it should be pretty easy to do...