I’m planning to switch my timing belt next weekend since I just reached the 92k mark and still on the original. Can someone list the procedure in doing this to avoid me any hassles? Thanks a bunch! 
hey dude
wow man, let me start by saying that, its not a easy job, it might be for some, doing it alone, is a hassle, a first timer im thinking could take u a while. Hours, days, month. IF im not mistaken you undoing a mount , alot of taking off stuff. I want to try it my self, but ill prob watch a mechanic friend do it and help out or so
tough stuff though
My advise, even though I haven’t done one yet, would be to make sure you have a manual before you even think about changing the timing belt yourself. Then take a look at the tools and materials you’ll need. Read over the manual and make sure you have all the stuff you need. If any of the manual does not make sense, then you probably should not attempt this. Good luck.
undoing a mount? you sure? i cant seem to find a section in my chilton manual about installing a new tbelt? that sucks if i need to take out the mount…
Try a helms manual.
When you get under there you will realise that you have to take out the mount. It isn’t hard. You just take a floor jack (after the car is at the heighth you are going to work on it) and put a block of wood between the floor jack and the oil pan, and getly raise the jack until it is supporting the weight of the engine, the take out the mount. It’s not that bad. I would sugest getting the crank shaft pully nut off before you take that mount off.
Also, getting that nut off is the hardest part of the whole project. First you have to find a hex nut that you can use to hold the engine still while you try to lever off the nut. Luckily, once you take the plastic out of your wheel well, you can actually get to that nut without taking off the wheel. Just so you know, I tried using a 200 psi impact wrench to get that nut off and it won’t work, it takes pure physics with a very long lever. I used a 2 foot extension to clear the fender, and a 4 foot bar that came in perpendicular to that extension. You have to hold the crank shaft still while you do this, and putting it in gear won’t keep it still, it will move the clutch plate before it loosens that nut.
For me it was worth fighting that nut to save the $300 to have someone else do it.
P.S. it is almost impossible to do this project solo
thanks for the feedback! now that i have pinpoint information, i have my brother, me, and another friend to help me out. since my accident, my fender liner was ripped and i just bought a new fender, so itll be quite easier if i just remove the whole fender itself. like i said, big thanks! hehe
as far as taking out the timing belt, what is the torque specs on the crankshaft pulley nut and is there any timing involved after installing the new timing belt?
You don’t have to redo the timing if you use a couple punches to hold the cams in place after you remove the nut, before you remove the timing belt.
I think the torque specs are around 90ft/lbs (don’t quote me on that) to put it back on, but you have to realise that everytime your engine goes around it tightens that nut a little more. My engine had 83,000 on it when I changed mine, we did some rough calculations and figured it took about 250-300 ft/lbs of torque to get that nut off.
Also, Acura considers that nut a 1 time use only part. I reused mine, and I think most people do, but a lot of people break it trying to get it off, it’s probably better to be prepared.
You did buy a water pump and new accesory belts to replace at the same time right? Also, most people also replace the tensioner.
Be warned
I totally agree with what everyone is saying. It’s not impossible (I’ve done it), but it will definitely push your limits. You’re definitely going to need to fee up all day(just in case), have a full asenal of heavy duty tools, get a service manual($12), and the patience of a zen master. Buymysoul is right about that crank pulley nut being a bonefied b**** to break loose. What ever you do please toque everything to specs. Triple check all specs! I didn’t, and a maverick bolt split my just replaced timing belt in two. Yes, I had the fun of doing this job twice.
ouch, that sucks!!
I don’t want to do anything in that area of my engine bay for another 60,000 mi.
That’s why I replaced All the belts when I did the timing. they are only $30 more and you have to take them off anyway, might as well put new ones on.
Photeg, how did you keep the crank shaft pully still? Did you just use a big hex nut like I did, or did you actually have a tool?
My dad’s a shop foreman at a construction company so he borrowed a special tool. It looks like a giant (3ft) adjustable tension oil filter wrench. The adjustable band part is a reinforced rubber belt that grabs the pulley and applys pressure as you turn the nut.
I think the torque spec for the crank bolt is about 140-150 lb-ft… I have to tell you, tho… I used an impact wrench rated around 300 lb-ft, and STILL couldn’t get it off!!
Trying to take off the bolt gave me the biggest headache ever!! … just warning you ahead of time…
Damn, you must have one hell of an air compressor!
Its not the easiest thing in the world. I’ve done two timing belt and water pump changes on honda based cars and their engineers sure do not like the average do it yourselfer!
WEll first off, you are going to need access to a impact wrench. this is to get the crank pulley off. If you don’t have access to one of these, FORGET IT! Hand tools will not work to get the bastard crank off. I did my timing belt and water pump 3 weeks ago, I know from bad experience!
First off, remove all the black little plastic pieces. The top one is the easiest and can be removed after the valve cover is removed. The lower is a pain. But there are a few (about 4-6) bolts that hold it in place. You can’t remove the bottom piece till after you remove the crank pulley and I think one of the bolts is behind the crank pulley.
Remove the power steering pump belt and the whole pump itself (if you want) to have better access to the engine side. Then loosen up the tensioner on the a/c. Remove the A/C belt. Then loosen up the nut that hold the altenator, push toward the front of the car and remove the belt. Now you got that done.
Remove the driver side wheel. Take off the spark plug wires from the valve cover, not the dist, then remove the valve cover. Now you can see all your valves and your cam gears. Now you will need to turn (BY HAND!) your engine so its at TOP DEAD CENTER or TDC. You can know its TDC by lining up the two small marks on the cam gears. They need to line up as perfect as possible. Somehow make a mark on the crank (I scored very lightly a mark up and down and the curve of the frame for later reference).
Now thats done, use the impact wrench to remove the pulley nut. Hold the pulley in place so that engine doesn’t move. Now the pulley is off, you can remove the black plastic piece.
There is the motor mount that you have to remove also now. Either you can remove the WHOLE thing like I did or remove the top and bottom bolts. The bolt on the underside was hard for me to get off so I removed the whole thing instead. The one center bolt and the other three smaller bolts on the engine. Your rachet might get caught between the frame and the bolt so just caution.
Now that you have all that crap off, you can finally get to the timing belt. Now is a good time to replace your water pump too. Its only about $40 bucks and is well worth it for later hassle. Loosen the timing belt tensioner bolt and then remove the belt. Drain the coolant adn then remove the 4-6 bolts holding in the water pump.
Install the new pump with the NEW gasket and replace bolts. Then replace the timing belt (make sure your hands are clean and oil free!!!) But before putting on the whole timing belt check the cam gears to make sure that they are in a str8 line and put the pulley back on and check your reference points. Then completely pu the timing belt on. Turn the engine a few revolutions to make sure there is no binding (BY HAND AGAIN VERY IMPORTANT CUZ U CAN’T FEEL IF ITS BINDING IF USING POWER TOOLS) Tighten up your timing belt tensioner.
Put all the “crap” back on the reverse way you took it off and then start her up. Your done. You can check your timing if you want also, I didn’t cuz I was in a rush. But it should be fine if you lined everything up perfectly. Hope this helps you some. Make sure you have a helms or chilton manual! and retorque stuff back to factory specs.
HAVE FUN lol (irony)
I just want to add a few things to what he said.
- As far as lining up the crank pully, there is a “key” in there so it can go on only one way. At least on my 93 LS.
- Your cams have a hole in them at TDC, and if you use punches or some other hard metal object that is the right diameter they will stay in place. otherwise your valve springs will move them around when you take the timing belt off.
- I couldn’t get my nut loose with an impact wrench, but we already told you about that. If you have any questions about the tool I made you can email me.
- He didn’t mention it so I will again, go ahead and put all new accesory belts in.
- Don’t forget to remove the negative lead from your battery when doing any engine work.
- It isn’t necessary to remove the power steering pump.
Does anybody have that picture somebody posted a year or two ago of the wooden contraption they built for getting the crankshaft pulley off? It had the Moroso tool and a breaker bar with a big ass extension along with an additional support made out of 2x4’s. It was pretty creative looking.
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Tsou
I had a local shop loosen the crank bolt(for free) and then retighten to about 70-80 ft-lb; drove home gingerly and then still struggled to remove the thing. But I did!