Should I be nervous about changing my timing belt??

My 1994 Acura Intega LS is at 108k, and with me being somewhat laid off, I need to change the timing belt very soon. Infact I should have gotten it done 3k miles ago. I should say though, I'm changing the timing belt, water pump and possibly the timing belt pre-tensioner as well. And am planning to use NAPA parts, actual honda are just too expensive.

I willing be doing this in a garage, thank god, on jack stands.

Should I be apprehensive about changing it? Or is it a straight forward procedure? I do have a copy of the service on my computer.

Andrew

Do your homework and you'll be fine. You have a good dry working area and motivation, which will help a lot your first time; maybe next time it will be on a gravel road or a grassy yard. Best to start out comfortable. Computer printouts are nice, but sevice manuals are also nice to have around; factory (if you can find), Chilton's Hayne's, etc, can be like buddies helping you with the job.

Speaking of buddies helping, don't delegate too much out to someone unless they've been through the job before. If you have to go back in, you will want to know just how things were done, and if you were sipping suds with the boys while buddy X set the tensioner, you won't be sure, which can come back to haunt you. Best to leave the brew in the box until the job is at a good "stopping point".

Most of all, know the first time is going to take awhile. The first time I did the belt and head gasket on my Neon, it took two weeks of evenings to finish (including machine shop work). I nailed the belt, but botched the h/g. The re-do took two afternoons. I've since done it in one. The first time is all about patience and learning; you can do it fast later.

Good Luck.

I've done a couple SOHC and DOHC Honda timing belts with just a Haynes manual to go by. The hardest part is the harmonic balancer bolt, which may require renting a special tool to break loose. Change the water pump as well, it is cheap and right in your face.

My technique is to remove the belt and just don't move anything. Some people like to zip tie the cam sprockets in place to lock them but I'm not that picky. If you don't move anything then you won't have to worry about being on the timing marks (it doesn't hurt to have the timing marks already lined up though just in case you do screw up and move something).

Good lucky you'll do fine.

I won't go near a timing belt on a Neon. I'm pretty fearless but that is a nasty job. Love that tensioner!

No direct experience, but I did an Accord once. The biggest challenge was getting the crank pulley bolt loose. After several failed attempts with various 1/2" impact guns, I paid a local Honda shop $30 to break it free with their big-a$$ 3/4" impact, then snug it up just enough for me to carefully drive the car back to my garage. Everything else was fairly straightforward, but tight quarters to work with.

Edit: another fairly foolproof strategy is to put small dots of white paint on the old belt and the sprockets, remove the old belt and transfer the dots to the new belt.

Read the manual and make sure that you understand how to get the motor to TDC and how to align the timing marks. You need to get the belt on, with the lower pulley and two cam pulleys all in the right spots. (Mark things with a silver paint pen to make them easier to see.)

I have done Hondas and Toyotas with no experience and nothing more than a Chilton's and hand tools.

Should I be nervous about changing my timing belt?? YES!

But should that stop you? NO!

If you're nervous you'll pay a lot more attention to the details. As one poster said, just don't move anything- presuming that's possible on your engine, but as long as you do as pinchvalve said, you shouldn't get into trouble.

A tool to hold the crank pulley in place is $24.99 from Amazon. (you might want to double-check that this is the right one. It holds the crank in place with a breaker bar while you turn the bolt with either another breaker or an impact wrench.

This youtube video is kinda specific to accords, but it might be pretty similar to your integra.

We got the crank pulley off of my wife's 98 Civic with...

a bunch of 1/2" extensions leading out through the wheelwell supported on a jackstand and...

a big ass bar - like 6' or so hanging off of the end and...

My buddy inside on the brakes like crazy.

Would you believe the clutch slipped until I had reached about 90 degrees, when it finally broke loose?

The whole job took the two of us about 7 hours - never touched the car, or any fwd timing belt, before ever.

Get a good manual (online helps too) showing how exactly to line up your marks, and which way NOT to rotate the engine etc... and study and understand them before you begin.

I have put a breaker bar aginst subframe on my sentra and bumped the starter when I did my first one in the parking lot. It came loose on second hit.

Yes you should be nervous. Many a brave soul have died trying to change a timing belt. Go with God. Come back with Top Dead Center.

stan_d wrote: I have put a breaker bar aginst subframe on my sentra and bumped the starter when I did my first one in the parking lot. It came loose on second hit.

I think that Honda motors rotate the opposite direction.

I've always heard Honda TB's are pretty straight forward to change and don't require too much in the way of specialized tools... my only experience is with my TDI, which itself isn't too bad, but can be tedious.

It's not a big deal at all. I've done a few Integras, and they're pretty straight forward. Get a manual and you'll be fine.

Nothing weird about Honda TB's other than the aforementioned VERY tight crank pulley bolt. The Honda dealer which was next to the KIA shop I worked for had a homemade breaker bar arrangement which was about 6 feet long. Before you jack it up and take stuff off see if you can borrow a 3/4" drive socket set and a big pipe, just in case. Bust that bolt loose before doing anything else. You don't need to tighten it the same way you loosened it; Alldata says the recommended torque is 130 ft-lbs.

As with any other engine, with the old belt still in place rotate it around till the marks all line up then use white out etc to make easy to see the timing marks. Only then should the old belt be removed.

I agree wholeheartedly about the water pump; replace it while it's right there in yer face. Get a new one, remans have a habit of barfing too soon and then you gotta do the whole thing over again.

I used that tool from amazon when I replaced the timing belt on my wife's LS. It works well but I tore the lower motor mount from the force required to break the bolt loose. Be sure and keep a jack under the oil pan to prevent this form happening to you.

I had a hard time getting the tensioner to hold the belt tight.

When I replaced the timing belt on my B16 del Sol a few years prior to the LS I messed up the threads in the block because I mixed up the order of the water pump bolts.

After doing two belts on B series Honda motors I decided to pay to have it done on my WRX and I'm glad I did.

You might want to replace the cam/crank seals while you are in there.

Yup. Cam and Crank seals are a good idea. Again with the "while you're in there." Otherwise, it'd suck to get a leak, corrode the belt, and wreck some valves before the next belt is due.

Also, if you plan on keeping the car for a while, I'd shell out the extra coin for a Honda belt. Have I mentioned I hate doing berkeleying timing belts? My 91 integra is past due as well. I should get on that.

I did mine with Jerry in a day. It wasn't that hard, at least on a BMW. Make sure you replace all the other seals while you are in there, though.

If I wasn't unemployed and could barely afford the water pump, pre-tensioner and timing belt, then I'd seriously think about changing the belt. I am also going to check valve clearances while in there.

I've read 2 online guides, and have a .pdf copy of the factory repair manual. I'm hoping that I can get it done in a day or less. It looks pretty straight forward, like everyone said then crank pulley bolt is the hardest thing, and that's what all the guides say as well.

That special tool is on the way via amazon.com...

If you're unemployed, park the car and ride a bike - just sayin'

sjc wrote: A tool to hold the crank pulley in place is $24.99 from Amazon. (you might want to double-check that this is the right one. It holds the crank in place with a breaker bar while you turn the bolt with either another breaker or an impact wrench.

I built a tool that did the same thing, but if I could have bought that one for $25, I would have.