Hi to all you honda lovers out there. I am planning to change my timing belt, balancer belt,and water pump on my 2000 accord lx. It has 85000 miles on it. Do you need to drain engine oil and coolant before removing the valve cover and water pump? For the tools, I know the crank pulley holder is a must . Amazon have one for sale for 24.95 which look like a good deal. Also couple half inch drive breaker bar , couple steel pipe for more leverge, 19mm socket ,ratchet and wrench. If i miss any important stuff, please fill me in. Many thanks for anyone reply.

 

Its not a must to drain the oil or the coolant, but its definitely highly recommended due to the fact that you have new parts going in and you don't want to have a new water pump with old coolant and same thing for the oil. As far as tools, we have a crank pulley at my job for about $30 but the again prices may vary due to location etc... Good luck.

 

Drain the coolant, because coolant will spill everywhere when you try to remove the water pump.

 

With the crankshaft pulley restrained w/ the special tool, use a jackstand to support your 1/2" breaker bar and 18-24" of 1/2" extensions. The extensions bring the rotation plane of your breaker bar outside the wheel well. The jackstand supports the extensions in alignment w/ the crankshaft pulley retaining bolt and frees both hands to lean on the breaker bar and cheater pipe if necessary.

I would check the tensioner bearings for smoothness. They should rotate "butter smooth" w/o a hint of grinding or gritty resistance. If any question, replace them as they are relatively inexpensive.

good luck