Who has done their own timing belt change...

Re: Accord, 2000, V6, vtec.

This job looks to be pretty big and complex. Obviously one should also
do the water pump once inside there too. Does the Honda service and
repair manual do a good job in outlining this job?

I've done timing chains on big American V8's, but I think thats a much
easier job?

Where can I get the official Honda service and repair manual? All I
see on ebay is Chilton material.




Bob

 

Honda FSM is available from www.helminc.com

 

Bob, I would strongly recommend you replace all idler and tensioner
pullies while your in there. I had an idler lock up and take out the
timing belt on my Mazda V6 at 170,000 miles. No warning noises at all and
I was out of town. It felt great 35,000 miles earlier. Fortunately for me
it was a non-interference engine. Your Honda is not. If you Google this
issue you will find the experts say most of these idlers / tensioners are
not designed to always make it to the 200,000 mile mark. Good Luck.

 

IMO, Chilton's does a good job of /outlining/ it for my 1991
Civic, for one. I am not betting the Helm (factory service)
manual is better, though some here will say this is
sacrilege. I base this on comparisons of some free online
factory service manuals with the corresponding Chilton's
manuals for certain 1990s Hondas.

There are several sites that discuss Honda timing belt
changes for 1990s Hondas. They of course won't match exactly
your 2000 Honda's needs. But I think they'll be close; some
very close. You might want to peruse the free online manual
for the 1995 Accord V6 at www.autozone.com 's repair guides.
It's pretty detailed.

The big hurdle most likely will be freeing the crankshaft
pulley bolt. From www.slhonda.com 's online parts site,
yours is a 16 mm nominal diameter bolt, with threads that
are a lower pitch than even the standard fine threads. When
re-installing it, I bet the manual calls for about 180
ft-lbs of torque, 'cause that's the spec for the 16 mm
crankshaft pulley bolt on 94-95 Accords. Problem is, some
phenomenon causes these bolts to become obscenely
tight--over 300 ft-lbs is often reported to be necessary to
free them.

Compare this to my 91 Civic's, which is only 14 mm nominal
diameter and requires only 119 ft-lbs of torque upon
re-installation. It takes some fancy tricks to get off.

This is amply treated on several homemade sites lately. Try
skimming the following, then picking out what suits you
best:

http://www.marklamond.co.uk/howto/engine/timing-belt/timing-
belt.htm (dual overhead cam photos, but otherwise appears to
be under construction)

http://timingbelt.soben.com/ (Dual overhead cam. The author
mentions how his Helm manual didn't have all the steps in it
at this site.)

http://www.tegger.com/hondafaq/faq.html (search for timing
belt questions at this site, then follow links)

http://home.earthlink.net/~honda.lioness/id6.html

Online manuals that might help:
www.autozone.com

http://www.honda.co.uk/car/owner/workshop.html

I used several sites (including one online manual) and this
newsgroup the first time I took off my 91 Civic's timing
belt. I actually freed the pulley bolt one weekend, just to
see if it was worth trying to go further. I was successful.
I put all back together and resumed driving the car for a
few days, then went at the whole job. That worked well.

manual?

www.helminc.com , I believe.

Updates are welcome. Hondas less than about five years old
don't have many reports here, re timing belt changes.

 

www.helminc.com sells the official manual for a number of makes.But in
general Haynes (or Chilton) I find adequate as they are geared toward
the backyard mechanics. Haynes are easier to find here because that's
what Pep Boys carries. But sometimes this type of manuals tell you
things that aren't specific to your model year.

The web links provided by others here can point you to other versions
of the official manual. That, together with the $15 Haynes, should be
able to lead you through the procedure especially if you had done
timing chains. So you probably don't need the Honda manual.

Here is another good link from Honda Tuning:

http://hondatuningmagazine.com/tech/0406ht_timing/

Also,

http://www.powerbuilttools.com/import.html#648796

Buy a Gates Timing Component Kit with idlers included. It also comes
with installatin instruction (furnished by Auto Data) and can save you
money as you would (and should) be replacing the idlers -- plus the
water pump, oil seals, all other belts and the auto tensioner pulley
(just the $25 pulley and not the whole assembly $70? because there is a
bearing too).

http://www.gates.com/brochure.cfm?brochure=2256&location_id=3487

If your year's engine turns clockwise, then you should have less
problem with the crank pulley bolt. Do use long breaker bars for the
holding tool and the socket and wear all safety gears while applying
the force needed to break it loose. It's been reported a 4 ft cheater
pipe with the pivot supported by jack or jackstand helps.

The water pump can leak and can rust the idler bolt to the engine block
even if you do regular maintenance as specified (so don't wait till
105K, do the timing belt at 60K!) and be careful with it. But don't
just leave the idler in there as any old idler can fail soon after a
timing belt change (usually < 20-30K miles). The OEM Yotec/Yamada water
pump sucks. I'd get an Airtex which is usually a rebox of NPW pump from
Japan.

Get a hook type oil seal puller or be careful using a tape-wrapped
screwdriver. Don't scratch the crank or it'll leak. Make sure you
torque everything down to spec. A good torque wrench like the readily
available Craftsman on sale is always a good investment.

You should do the valve adjustment while you are at it. FelPro valve
cover gasket set is always convenient. Have you replaced the coolant
hoses yet?

 

Yea every one else has pretty much covered it.I wasted no time and went
strait to the local lowe's store and rented a 500 ftlb. of torque 3/4
in. drive electric impact wrench. for the nasty bottom bolt.It was only
eleven dollars for the day.There is a cover behind the drivers
wheel,removed it. I also removed the power steering line to give me
more room.
17mm crank bolt.Most others bolts you will be removing are 10,12,or
14mm heads. It's best if you align your timing marks before you remove
the belt.I done mine with out a manual,just looked a few things up on
here.Um,loosen your alternator.power steering,and the adjusting pulley
for ur a/c if you have it.You will have to remove the motor mount on
the side of the body and the one that bolts between it and the block.

 

if you get the helm service manual and follow instruction, particularly
with regard to re-tensioning the belts afterwards, you'll be fine.
space on the v6 is cramped, but take your time & you'll be fine.
loosening the lower pulley bolt is the hardest part. get the tool for
this and you'll not lose any sweat - the job will still come in
significantly cheaper than sending it to the shop.

 

When you rented the impact wrench, did it come with the socket you needed?
I may be doing this soon to a 1988 Honda Accord and I wanted to find a quick
way to get that bolt loose. Last year when I did a 1996 TL 2.5, it turned
into a big expensive headache. I did learn how to do the job without any
special tools. I also found out that all the local Acura dealers are a bunch
of pricks who wouldn't sell me the tool needed to do the job properly.

 

job properly.

You sure they have it? I thought the dealer shops tended to
just use a serious impact wrench.

From my memory of past searches for these pulley holding
tools, the tool for the 1988 Accord should be available
online, possibly for as little as $25 and as high as $75.
Post if you want pointers to sites that sell it.

 

I loosened the crankshaft pulley bolt on an old Toyota 4cyclinder
truck by using the starter motor for the torque.

Using the socket wrench, and cheater pipe, I firmly lodged these tools
onto the pully bolt and braced wrench handle/pipe against the floor.
Then just bump the starter (make sure the engine does not start!).
Worked perfectly!

I did this in the days before I had an air wrench ( would your basic
3/8in air wrench break the pully bolt loose on a Honda 2000 V6?)

Once rotation directions are verified for sure, this should work on
Honda motors too I should think. Be carefull if you try this......I
have NOT done this on a Honda and plan to use my air wrench or make the
pulley holding tool instead when the time comes.


Bob

 

take it to a shop and let them break the bolt loose for a few bucks...

nominally tighten it to drive home

Mark

 

Unfortunately Honda motors turn counter clockwise, so the starter trick
won't work. This past weekend I started changing the timing belt on a
1988 Honda Accord LX. I used the same method to loosen this bolt as I did
on the Acura tl 2.5. I cut the old alternator belt so that I could wrap
it around the crankshaft pulley. I used some scotch tape to hold it in
place. I then wraped the pulley with a nylon webbed tie down strap I had.
I left slack in a few of the loops that went around the pulley. Then I
stuck a breaker bar in the slack end and twisted it tight and left the long
end of the breaker bar pointing in the direct that the bolts turn. This is
important. As you turn the bolt the tie downs grip on the pulley gets tighter.
If you get the direction wrong, it will just slip. I slid a cheater bar on
the breaker bar so that it would wedge onto a sturdy suspension component. I
then used my 25" breaker bar to loosen the bolt. The Accord bolt was much
easier than the TL bolt. I loosened the Accord bolt by myself. The TL bolt
required two of us and another cheater bar yanking on it quite hard to loosen
it.