Hello!

I am in the process of changing my timing belt and water pump on my 96 accord lx 2.2L 4dr 4cyl. When looking at kits, i see that there are a couple of different options. With 300,000 miles, i will be changing tensioners and pullies as well. Is there anything else I should be changing along with this service?

Thanks in advance!!!

 

I moved this to General Tech where more people will probably look at it.

If your engine doesn't already have a retainer for the balance shaft seal, that's a good thing to get.

Since you have to lift the valve cover to get the upper timing cover off, how about a valve cover gasket? They get hardened with age & heat.

 

Yup, order up a valve cover gasket kit, and the balance shaft retainer kit. Also, look at your valve cover to determine which timing belt kit you need. If it says 16 valve, then it's a non-VTEC engine, which uses a timing belt with 1 less teeth. If it say VTEC on it, it uses the VTEC belt kit. I got both kits from Rock Auto, and went with the Aisin kit for both styles (1 on my 97, and 2 for both my 99 and 00 Accords). The kit does come with a water pump (best time to change it since you have the timing belt off) along with idler pulley and genuine Honda springs plus both timing and balance shaft belts. The instructions the kit has are almost as good as the FSM, and are better than the Haynes manual.
I'd probably do the plugs, cap and rotor too, since the car will be down for the afternoon (it takes about 5 hours to change the belts and water pump).
Before you start, go to Autozone and rent their harmonic balance/lower pulley tool for 50 bucks, as you'll need it to get the lower pulley off, as the crank bolt is torqued to at least 150 ft lbs.Note; take off the left front tire, as you'll be doing everything thru the wheel well opening. As for the 6mm by 200mm pin, I used a 7/32nds long handle allen wrench to lock the rear balance shaft, as it fit just fine, and you need it to do the balance shaft portion of the job.
I hope this helps.