LeonardDB

Any tips on the front motor mount location appreciated. My manual is not much help here. After I remove the motor mount bolt, how high can I safely jack the engine without worrying about damaging anything? The manual is really unclear on this.

Cuda70

Assuming you have the car on jack stands, it is actually easier to get to the crank bolt by allowing the engine to lower a little.

Otherwise, if you start to jack the engine up, I guess you could rip the motor/tranny mount insulators if you went too high, but I bet your car will raise before that happens.

Hope this helped...

snatch

You don't really want to jack the engine up, as stated before actually lowering it will help you get to the crank pulley bolt. Just use a jack with a flat board of some kind under the oil pan to support the engine and keep it at the same height when you remove the motor mount.

LeonardDB

So let me make sure I have this right.
1) Put a jack under the oil pan and lightly support the engine.
2) Remove the front motor mount (Where is this mount located?)
3) Slightly lower the engine until the crank pulley bolt is accessible.

Just how low can you safely lower the engine?

96CivicBoostCoupe

place a block of wood between the jack and oil pan to prevent damage

EE_Chris

The crank pulley bolt should be accessable from the little whole in the fender liner.

But yes, use a piece of wood between the jack and oil pan to support it. The front motor mount that you need to remove is the top drivers side. You need to be able to get the old belt out and the new one in.

Are you also replacing the water pump at this time too? That, the thermostat and a coolant change are something I do all at once when doing a t-belt job.

LeonardDB

Thanks everybody for the posts.

Yea, I'm changing all the belts, upper and lower radiator hoses, coolant, radiator flush before doing anything else, water pump, thermostat (I don't know where it is yet), timing belt.

Nobody replied whether I really need to lower the engine and how far I can safely lower the engine.

snatch

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by LeonardDB &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Thanks everybody for the posts.

Yea, I'm changing all the belts, upper and lower radiator hoses, coolant, radiator flush before doing anything else, water pump, thermostat (I don't know where it is yet), timing belt.

Nobody replied whether I really need to lower the engine and how far I can safely lower the engine.</TD></TR></TABLE>

You don't really need to lower the engine. Like EE_Chris said, there is an access hole in the fender liner to be able to reach the crank pulley bolt. I don't really remember lowering mine at all.

The thermostat is on the opposite side of the engine (passenger side). Look for where the lower radiator hose attaches to the engine. Remove that hose, then remove the two bolts holding the radiator hose neck on, and behind there is the thermostat. There's also some write-ups on here I'm sure with some pictures on how to replace it.

LeonardDB

Thanks ****** for the details. I think I'm ready to dive in and do the job. I've read most of the posts on Timing belt issues. Any other tips or "be sure to do this" advice appreciated.

Dave

Jim Truett

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by LeonardDB &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Thanks ****** for the details. I think I'm ready to dive in and do the job. I've read most of the posts on Timing belt issues. Any other tips or "be sure to do this" advice appreciated.

Dave</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yeah, set the engine to TDC on #1 cylinder before removing your old belt.

VtecAddict96

You dont relaly "lower the engine". Once you take that mount off it will kind of lower itself a few inchs... the jack is just for support.

EE_Chris

Have some HondaBond and a new valve cover gasket ready for when you have to put the valve cover back on.

If you have some PB Blaster, spray the crank bolt 1-2 times a day for a couple days prior to the job. The crank bolt is a bitch sometimes, so soaking it in PB should help when the day comes. Aside from that, if you don't have a decent impact gun, find a thick breaker bar and a 6-ft length of pipe to slide over it and use that.

Now is also the time to check/set valve clearances.

Do not totally change the coolant before you've done the t-belt job - drain it, sure. The t-belt drives the water pump so you're going to have to take it off which means coolant is going to spill out - so don't change it just yet.

And follow the Helms when your putting the new belt back on - as in, what order it should wrap around the drive pulleys/cam sprockets, etc.

When re-tensioning the belt - I've always found that the auto-tensioner assembly does the job fine. Don't try putting extra tension on it to secure the t-belt more. If you do and you start the car and hear some whining coming from that area, you'll know what it is.

After the whole job is complete, don't forget to bleed the coolant system, check timing and let the ECU re-learn the idle. Yeah yeah, some peoples engines seem to not be effected by it - mine and others are. I have a 99 stock hatch and when the job was complete, I didn't initially do this and suffered an oscillating idle when coming to a stop. Simply letting the engine warm up and then shutting it off cures it for me everytime.

LeonardDB

EE_Chris, I am trying to figure out what you mean by "let the ECU re-learn the idle". Can you give me a little help?

EE_Chris

With the engine cold, just start the car and let it idle till its warmed up. At that point, just turn it off.

When I did my first t-belt job, everything went smoothly enough. I start the car up and shes idling just fine. Pull out of the driveway and she's driving just fine. Come to a stop sign, push in the clutch and the idle now wanted to oscillate.

Thing is, I had an 89 Beretta along time ago that actually DID need to re-learn the idle after the battery had been unplugged, so when my Civic did the same thing, I thought to try it out - and it worked. Its help cure other peoples idle if they just recently unplugged their battery too. So, keep it in mind is all I'm saying.

LeonardDB

Thanks alot EE_Chris for the details. After doing such a major mechanical job the last thing you want to experience is the car idle cycling. The next thoughts would be, what did I screw up, and now what do I do...