I'm planning on replacing my timing belt, water pump and seals on Thursday.

I have a helm manual, all the parts, crankshaft pulley tool from amazon, ratchet and socket set, breaker bars, extensions, jack and jack stands....Plan on buying pb blaster (i think thats what it is) and antifreeze from honda dealer. Anything i'm missing and any tips to help the job go smoothly? Oh I also got a buddy who is helping me who knows his stuff = )

 

Before you take off the old belts, find all the timing marks & make sure you guys understand how they line up. Sometimes they look a little different in real life vs. the book's pictures.

 

To be on the safe side, you can get some white-out and mark the original belt along with the teeth of the gears. Then when you remove the old belt, just mark the new belt by lining up with the old one. The more references you have, the more confident you will be that you are not one tooth off when finished.

 

I'd also suggest reading through the DIY section about the timing belt replacement post, there is a small hole in the back of the motor to put a screwdriver in and it will keep your balancer shaft from rotating, marking your timing marks and not rotating anything makes all the difference in the world, it's what potentially turns a 4 hour job into a 3 hour job, the crankshaft bolt is the only real "hard part" other than the timing.... it's going to be difficult but with the tool and breaker bars that will help a lot... Also, just so you are aware IT IS NOT A REVERSE THREAD BOLT, comes off just like any other bolt so even though it may seem hard/near impossible turning it the other way isn't going to help you.... best of luck and let us know how it goes!

 

Yeah I looked through the DIY. I'll pick up some white out too. Any more tips?

 

actually other than that you should be good.... can't stress enough how important getting the timing right is but other than that you should be fine.... I believe that it was mentioned in the DIY section how you can remove a couple of the bolts on the cross support and lower it with a jack to get better access to it? that's a great little tip/trick, otherwise just mark the timing, insert something at the back of the motor to keep the balance shaft from rotating (turn the engine to TDC first) and once again accuratly mark the timing and you're good!


Did I mention that you should take note/mark the timing and not rotate anything after the belt is off? *L*

 

Cool Cool. Yeah in the helm manual it has that part about removing the engine mount. I guess i'll need a piece of wood to go on top of the jack.