swet tea n bluz

I just bought the wife an 02 Accord 3.0 and one of the things I knew upon purchase was the oil leak on the pas side. I cant fully tell if its the main seal, oil pan, timing cover or all of the above. im somewhat new to Hondas as most of my mechanical ability is on late GM muscle.

im thinking about trying to tackle this myself. any tips, tools or things I need to know for doing this project? the previous owner had the timing belt replaced a short bit ago but im thinking they might have missed something due to the way its leaking.

accordturb96

well those engines are tightly packed into the bay. I know IVe done a few power steering pumps on those motors so check that as well. If you've never worked on hondas I would becareful doing this work. Its about an $800 in a shop for the timing replacement. How many miles are on it?

swet tea n bluz

it has 138k and the guy that worked on my wife's 95 accord said it would be $800-1000 without seeing it. even though the previous owner had the belt changed, being your that far in might as well change it. cheap ins.

accordturb96

Yea its never a bad thing to just do it. It wouldnt hurt to figure out better where the oil leak is coming from and if you do the belt do the water pump and crank seal. also check the oil pan while it is apart

Lost Again

As "turb96" stated - I would clean the area up and then see if you can get a better idea of "where" it is coming from.

If it is the oil pan...cool, fix it and move on.

If it is coming from behind the timing cover....then there is a bit of a decision IMHO. How long ago was the "job" done? If not too long ago I might skip the WP and just do the belt and seals....add the tensioners if you can't verify they were changed in the last job.

If you do have to change the belt/seals. Do yourself a favor, before you remove the old belt, make marks across the belt and gears - crank and both cams. Then transfer the marks from the old belt to the new one. Then when you install the new belt be sure those marks line up to the gears. The cam gears on the v6 will sometimes jump when the belt is removed.

However I do this on any timing/balance shaft belt I replace. That way I don't have to stress over getting the new belt into the same place the old one was....assuming the old one was right to begin with????

swet tea n bluz

Thanx for the tips guys, ESP about marking the belt and gears. I plan on cleaning things up and adding oil dye to track the leak.

The PO said he had the belt swapped a short bit ago but I can't understand why it's leaking so soon.

While I'm there I plan on doing everything for peace of mind and cheap ins.

poorman212

Yea, marking the old belt and gears is always a good idea. Once off count the number of teeth between the marks and transfer those to the new belt.

Then you know that "that painted" tooth on the belt goes in that "hump" on the gear.

I've done this enough on some of my older ones that I don't even bother setting it to TDC #1....no suggesting you do this, only once you've done it a few times and understand everything "in play" when doing the job.

A silver sharpie is my favorite, but I have taken some of my wife's nail polish and done the same......yes, I keep nail polish in the garage for things like this

swet tea n bluz

hey, if it works!!!

I keep a silver sharpie in my shop as well.