Koko4

I experienced a somewhat catastrophic harmonic balancer failure on a work trip (2 states away from my home state of GA), last week. I am going to take the blame, because I didn't use an impact to tighten down the harmonic balancer bolt when I did my timing belt job, which was 30,000 miles ago. The harmonic balancer backed off of the crankshaft a bit, and loosened the crankshaft bolt significantly. It snapped both accessory belts, and left me stranded. I needed a new Woodruff key, and luckily I caught it in time that it didn't do any damage to the crank itself, or the keyway slot. I did, however, have to leave my car at Honda and will be paying $508 when I pick it back up. That's for a new harmonic balancer and new key.

When I did the timing belt originally, I didn't have a torque wrench that would go up to the ~180 ft lbs, so I used a breaker bar and a huge piece of fence for leverage, and cranked it down as good as I could. I should have probably hammered it down a bit with an impact or something similar.

I got off lucky, because I won't be replacing my crank.

However, this incident got me thinking. I can't afford to be stranded like this again, as I take work trips every month for my job. I normally drive 2,000 miles or better on each of these trips. I haven't had ANY issues out of the timing belt that's on there, ever since I replaced it. The water pump is not leaking, and I also made sure to replace the crank and cam seals while I was in there.

Problem is, I used an eBay kit (GMB I think was the brand name, but it was purchased in 2012 and my eBay history won't let me go that far back). The kit itself was only $56.05 (crank / cam seals, timing belt, tensioner, water pump). That's why I'm skeptical.

Also, I don't think I followed the tensioning sequence correctly. If I remember correctly, all I did was apply tension to the tensioner and ensure the the belt was tight but not TOO tight, and tensioned her down. I rotated it a few revolutions to ensure that everything would stay lined up.

My question is this: should I go back in (after only 30k) with all Honda OEM parts, do the entire job again, in order to have better peace of mind? Or should I leave it alone, as the saying "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" goes?

My next trip is in June, to Wisconsin. And before that, I took this thing to Vermont. From Georgia. So I will be putting miles down, and don't want to get caught with my pants around my ankles if something unexpected happens again (I consider the $508 getting off lucky - it could have been SO much worse).

And before you guys bash me for paying $508 at the dealership - I actually did the math. I would have had to pay a $99 diagnostic fee (even though I told them EXACTLY what the problem was..) then I would have had to tow it the 400 miles home, and then buy the ~$230 OEM harmonic balancer and key. So it would have come out to ~$500 either way you look at it..

Thanks for the advice. Maybe the timing belt kit that I bought was a decent one and there's nothing to be worried about? Decisions, decisions.

chrysler kid

I don't think you need to replace it yet however if you have any doubtS it might be wort it to just have the dealership take it off of your mind. If you are entrusting this vehicle with long drives and it is what you want for another 3 years or so have it replaced

My sister needed a new timing belt and waterpump and honda did all of it for $850 which I though was very reasonable for labor and oem parts.

tony_2018

Concern would be to do a better job on the crank pulley so that this doesn't happen again. The debate for quality parts vs aftermarket parts can go on forever, or it can be a "peace of mind" decision. You should already know what I mean by that.

Former User

If the belt wasn't damaged, it's probably fine.

If the Honda dealer didn't properly tension the belt for you, then do it yourself. Follow the service manual procedure to the tee.

Koko4

Belt wasn't changed during this ordeal. Literally all they did was put on the new harmonic balancer and woodruff key, and put the two accessory belts back on.

The problem with re-tensioning the belt (as stated in another thread) is the fact that I can't see the alignment mark on the crank sprocket. I could take off the top cover easily enough to see the cam sprocket, but that'd be it. I wouldn't be able to verify that I'm rotating the crank sprocket three teeth CCW.

If I had to take off both covers, then the easiest thing would be to install quality OEM parts. And I wouldn't be getting the Honda dealer to do this - rather, a friend that has been a Honda mechanic for a VERY long time (so hopefully just paying labor, which would be substantially lower than a Honda-dealership's labor).

I might be overthinking this. I know when the balancer came off, that the sprocket did not back out or anything like that. The cam sprocket is keyed separately from the harmonic balancer, so it shouldn't have changed timing / messed up timing at all. My concern at this point would be with the quality of the parts used for the timing belt job, but I guess if they haven't failed now after 30k....

The harmonic balancer should have been put on correctly this time, as it was done at a Honda dealer, but I can take it to my Honda mechanic friend and have him double-check. I even had blue Loctite in the trunk for them to use. I thought I'd get away with just a new Woodruff key and be on my way..

Former User

Was the lower timing belt cover damaged?

So what's the issue? Why can't you see the mark?

Koko4

Nope, not at all.

Isn't the mark the little "dot" on the crankshaft timing belt sprocket itself? Which requires me to remove the lower cover / harmonic balancer (and all the other stuff in the way) to see?

Because I need a way to see that I am rotating the crank sprocket 3 teeth CCW, and can't do that without removing all of the other junk (at which point, I might as well throw on those OEM parts since I'm there anyways). Right?

Former User

The crankshaft pulley has a white mark (TDC1), so there's no need to remove the pulley or the lower timing belt cover.

You're over complicating the tensioning job. All you must do is lift up the valve cover and remove the upper timing belt cover. Then pop out the rubber plug to give access to the tensioner pulley bolt.

Koko4

Thanks Ron. So I would loosen the tensioner bolt, then I'd just be guessing at the 3 teeth CCW (to set enough tension between the crank / cam sprockets). And then the tensioner spring would supposedly pull on the tensioner arm, setting the right tension?

I think that's the problem I had when I was in there - I didn't trust that tensioner spring to do a damn thing (it's so tiny, and didn't seem to pull much, if any). So I "helped" the tensioner by hand a bit. I don't recall doing the 3 teeth CCW though.

Former User

Trust the tensioner. It works.

Koko4

Thanks again - now if it were you, would you go back in there with all OEM parts, or would you give it 30k or so more (making the total around 60k) and then do it RIGHT with OEM the next time around?

I'm just worried about any type of premature failure, as I don't want to experience another breakdown on a long trip like that

Former User

I would properly tension the current belt and run it for a 100K miles.

The crank pulley has presumably been tightened properly now, so put the past behind you.

TomCat39

I doubt the timing belt will be the issue. Your issue will be the GMB water pump. I've heard they don't last as long.

That being said, it will start weeping before it's an issue so you can drive it quite some time as is, once it weeps, then worry about the full timing belt, water pump job.

As for timing, the white mark on the pulley sitting away from the three marks lines up to the sites when TDC and the spot on the crank gear will be in it's position at the same time.

The only thing you need to see is the cam gear so you can see the 3 teeth roll onto the cam gear.

Like Ron said, you are overly complicating things. Retension it, and run it until the water pump starts weeping. Probably going to be at least another 30K miles before that happens so lots of time left.