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...

RE: Appropriateness of Timing Belt Kit
 

Yeah, might as well do all those seals while you're in there. Nothing worse than to find the crank seal leaking two months later...

RE: Appropriateness of Timing Belt Kit
 

I received a reply from that eBay vendor this morning.

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/eB...RK%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 shart, 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.

RE: Appropriateness of Timing Belt Kit
 

I've done the timing belt on a B18 which doesn't have balance shafts. Not yet on my Accord. I can only answer some of the questions...

1. Honda buys those parts from other vendors, has them packaged specially for Honda. I don't know every source for that stuff. I'd expect Conti (Continental tires) to be a good belt. NSK is an established bearing manufacturer, I suppose that's OK too.

2. Oil in the timing covers isn't normal. Dust from the belt, maybe a little oil from assembly, but pretty clean otherwise.

4. Stuff kinda gets in the way, but you can see the markings OK. I'd put the car up on stands & take off the front wheel. Some of the markings are best seen thru the wheel well. Probably remove the plastic inner fender liner.

6. Balance shaft seal retainer is an extra part added by Honda during a recall campaign. It may or may not have been installed on your car.

8. I'd leave the oil pump alone, assuming it's not leaking. Only mess with it if it's leaking.

RE: Appropriateness of Timing Belt Kit
 

Jim,
Thanks very much for the information. I appreciate it.