.Ry

everyone knows that they want all their DIY jobs to go as smoothly as possible. I have a Helms and have been reading it religiously, searched for a few hours on honda-tech just to see what I am dealing with. Since I have read so much I have an idea where I might run into problems. I have seen this done before, so I feel confident to do it on my own. Questions though have come up. I used to work at a service shop, and I am going to take my car to them to loosen the crank pulley bolt and re tighten it so that I can easily get it off. Are they going to have to remove anything (ie. the fender lining) to get to the bolt, or can they raise the vehicle and access the bolt with little problems? If they need to remove **** I would rather do it myself then take it to them. I may get charged $15 bucks to do this if anything at all so I consider myself lucky. The other thing I keep hearing over and over is even though the cam and crank shaft pulleys are TDC once people tension them and they rotate the engine, they dont line up anymore after you installed with everything lined up. Is this just people going to quick and not paying attention? Something you have to do a few times to get it right? I got the parts coming, timing belt, water pump, tensioner & spring, accessory belts. I guess I am just looking for reassurance on such a crucial to get it right on the first try DIY type job. I have done a few DIY write ups and I might do one on this as well.

Cliffs:
1)Can I loosen the crank pulley bolt, without taking any piece off of the car?

2)Any tips on how to ensure the timing is right the first time after I install the belt versus having to do it ten times?

.Ry

stock_honda_coupe

there should be a access hole in the fender lineing to get to the crank pulley. you can look and see for your self. they may need to take the wheel off to reach in there though.

If your marks don't line up after rotating the engine around, then you screwed up somewhere and you'll need to take the belt off and try again.

.Ry

Thanks man. Why does my helms say 14ft/lbs + a 90degree turn for my crank pulley torque for the D16Y8 and for the B16A2 it says 130ft/lbs. Obviously 14 is not right.

ihaterust

torque it to 14ft/lbs mark the bolt and pulley.
make a mark 90 degrees past that.
tighten the bolt ttill the new mark lines up.

just tighten it with an impact gun like everyone else

.Ry

Oh boy, I will cross that bridge when the time comes. I just want this to be over with.

.Ry

Do I actually take out the power steering pump, or just take the belt off? D16Y8. I am also doing a write up or DIY with pictures, so I want to make this go smooth as possible. Ive got the helms, and it says remove the pump, but to remove the pump I would have to deal with the P/S fluid wouldnt I?

vrrodri

take the ps pump belt off by loosening the ps bracket and setting the ps pump aside..

dc2doi

once you get everything on to the TDC and have the belt on, rotate it by the crank bolt a couple of times and check if it is still on TDC. That way you don't mess up and have to redo everything when you crank the motor.

vrrodri

It might still jump a tooth when you crank it up and you will notice the engine running poorly...

.Ry

If its tightened down properly how is it going to jump a tooth? Oh well, I had my good freind at his shop try and get the crank bolt loose today, and using three impact guns, one being a snap-on it would not budge. He said he belives the last tech put loctite on there. So he suggested I take it to honda and have the use their crank pulley tool (like everyone talks about) and have them use a breaker bar. I called Honda and the service write who I have dealt with before, and had a great visit with said it would $35.00 or so. Well it would cost more than that to buy a breaker bar, and that special tool. Plus I am not the strongest man alive. Only time will tell, I did my homework to forsee this problem. I am glad I was not in the middle of this and realized it would not come off. I still have 10k before its suggested to be changed. I have just learned in life to deal with the crap life throws at you and deal with it. So I will have to find time next week to get this done. Sorry for the long post, but I had to vent.

vrrodri

It does happen sometimes. If it happens, simply loosen the belt through the port hole under the pulley on the cover, slip the belt off the cam and position the cam with the "up" position on top (assuming you had the crankshaft at TDC), then slip the belt back on and rotate the crank three teeth past the UP mark and tighten the tensioner...

vrrodri

It will come off, use a long breaker bar and the Honda tool attached to another bar stuck on the floor, then stand on the breaker bar and use your weight to push it down until it loosens...that is how I have done it in several cars....also you can always apply some heat from a torch to help it get loose.

Ketone

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by vrrodri &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">It will come off, use a long breaker bar and the Honda tool attached to another bar stuck on the floor, then stand on the breaker bar and use your weight to push it down until it loosens...that is how I have done it in several cars....also you can always apply some heat from a torch to help it get loose.</TD></TR></TABLE>

^ this is what I have done too ^

real pita, but it finally broke the bolt loose!

.Ry

Yeah but I run the risk of doing it wrong, and break the head off the bolt. Then what? I would rather just take it to someone who might have experience using that combination, and having a better chance at doing it right than I would.

vrrodri

There is always going to be risk in everything you do around cars but if you want to learn and save some $$ you have to try...just make sure you are following proper procedures and you should be fine.

.Ry

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by vrrodri &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">There is always going to be risk in everything you do around cars but if you want to learn and save some $$ you have to try...just make sure you are following proper procedures and you should be fine.</TD></TR></TABLE> Oh I agree with you on that. It's just that right now, I can not afford to risk breaking this bolt. If this car goes down for ANY length of time, my life pretty much stops. I have no doubts that I can complete this DIY, but I have hurt myself, and my car when it comes to stubborn bolts. I peridocally will go through my car and blast certain bolts with PB Blaster, and have done more so recently with bolts related to the timing belt change. If Honda can truly take that bolt out with minimal problems for $35.00 it will be $35.00 well spent to me.

dc2doi

Sometime you gotta tighten it a little to break the rust or loctite. Then reverse it out.

Open up your starter and have someone put a pry bar in the flywheel to hold it down so you can work with the crank bolt.

Here's what I did with an eg not too long ago. Took me 2 days to take it off. I was using a 1000ft pount impact gun too the whole time.

Have someone hold the pry bar on the flywheel. Attach a 17 socket and socket wrench on to the crank bolt. Go grab a mallet and break that sucker from breaking loctite. Then use the impact gun. Within 15 mins of using the mallet/hammer and the impact gun I was able to get it.

.Ry

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by dc2doi &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Have someone hold the pry bar on the flywheel. Attach a 17 socket and socket wrench on to the crank bolt. Go grab a mallet and break that sucker from breaking loctite. Then use the impact gun. Within 15 mins of using the mallet/hammer and the impact gun I was able to get it. </TD></TR></TABLE> Yeah, I would just rather use the tool and do it the proper way. If you knew my luck, you would not tell me to do this haha