Honda Accord Forum - Honda Accord Enthusiast Forums - 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.