Jabuuty671

Getting my '99 Civic Sedan ready for a Head-Gasket and Timing Belt + Water Pump change by myself and according to my Haynes manual, i'd need to put my motor at TDC first. I'm asking if this is TDC because when I first got the car, I took it into my Automotive course at school and my instructor said that the timing was too retarded, and I don't know if we fixed that or not because I left my car in his class for his other class periods to work on; would ask my instructor but it's the weekend and I'm trying to get it fixed before Monday.

Looks a bit off, probably due to the parallax or I could be just a bit off, is this it though?

phranky

Next time use a better title if you need help fast. if your changing your head gasket it doesnt matter what position the engine is in because your pulling the head. If your just doing the timing belt there are marks on the can gear that will line up with marks on the inner timing belt cover. Read your manual a little harder.

Former User

Probably not, but you need to post a picture of the cam pulley and it's unclear whether the white crank TDC1 mark (separated from group of three) is aligned with the pointer in your picture.

Jabuuty671

Well i'm changing both the headgasket and timing belt and there's no instructions on which should go first so I'm assuming the headgasket should be done first...
What i've read online and in my manual says to put the motor on TDC before anything else; i'll take off the cam cover, forgot about that.

DropSquadCivic

when your rotor for your distributor is facing the number 1 spark plug hole its at tdc. or when you camshaft pulley says up(if its factory) worst case scenario pull your number 1 spark plug out and stick a straw in the spark plug hole and roate the crankshaft until the straw is at its highest point.

Jabuuty671

Okay, took off the valve cover and upper timing belt cover; I got the Cam to say "Up" and my distributor is pointing at my 1st spark plug wire mark but my crankshaft is pointing at the middle mark of the 3 marks bunched together.

Former User

Your timing belt skipped a tooth or two. Buy a new belt and install it so that the cam and crank are synchronized at TDC1.

Jabuuty671

I already have a new timing belt; should I just worry about the headgasket now and then install the timing belt later? What would I need to do specifically to make sure that the crank is on TDC1 along with the Cam at the UP position. Remove the old belt, Turn the crankshaft where its aligned and the Cam is still up, then put the new belt on?

Former User

Yes, remove the crank pulley and timing belt and then replace the head gasket. When done, set the cam and crank to TDC1, and then install the timing so that there is no belt slack on the forward side closest to the front of the car.

Why are you replacing the head gasket? Give some background on that problem.





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Jabuuty671

At first it was just overheating and was diagnosed as a bad water pump, but over time it turned into a bad head gasket and just last week the head gasket blew I assume (white smoke, coolant in oil cap etc)
I bought a timing-belt kit (timing belt, water pump, belt tensioner)
and Head Gasket kit (Head, Valve, intake and exhaust gaskets etc) from RockAuto

Is the chain-wrench method good? I don't think I can get the Crank Pulley tool shipped in on time so I might as well head over to Home-Depot and get a chain-wrench unless Napa has the Honda Crank tool. There's no "Autozone" where I live so that's ruled out.

Former User

Did the temp gauge reach the red zone when the engine overheated?

How do you plan to ensure that the head/block mating surfaces are perfectly flat prior to installing the new gasket?

soon2bdropped

yes chain wrench method is good. also if the engine did get overheated. id check the head for warpage using a straightedge. Auto instructor should have that tool.

Jabuuty671

Yeah, Temp reached HOT many times and there was a lot of coolant loss, I went through about 3 bottles of 50/50 Prestone over the past months.

I called up a local shop that does shaving, will cost $40 and will take about an hour or two for them to work on shaving the head. I'll check if the head is good though with that straight-edge method

Marvin1985

iTrader: (5)

Here is every bit of info you need. http://www.civicforums.com/forums/23...t-96-00-a.html

Former User

That's a great DIY for timing belt replacement.

Former User

You may not want to hear this, but a severely overheated engine is generally not worth keeping because it will become a headache and money pit. You'll get more satisfaction out of finding a replacement engine. If you can replace a head gasket, you can remove and install an engine.

Jabuuty671

Already have that bookmarked actually along with these:
http://hondaswap.com/general-tech-ar...ts-pics-71528/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=YayYzTDV0uo
http://www.civic-eg.com/viewtopic.php?t=2865
, the head gasket is the hard thing right now. -.-

Well I plan on doing a swap in the following months anyways. I guess I'll just fix the headgasket and timing belt components now and if it overheats again, i'm throwing money straight into a new engine; or just selling the car and grabbing a 240sx or Integra. So what engine should I plan on dropping in? Go straight for a B-series?

Former User

It's a personal choice. The easiest and cheapest swap would be an identical low mileage engine or a jdm (from japan) equivalent.

Jabuuty671

I'll ask some locals on how they got their JDM engines in and how much I should spend then. Thanks, I really appreciate all the help!

Jabuuty671

Quick question; are these the two bolts I take off (along with the exhaust manifold bolts on the Engine Head) to get the exhaust manifold pulled away from the engine head?

94EG8

Yes.

Also like Ron said, a nice low mileage JDM engine is IMO a way better idea than putting a headgasket in one of these once it's been overheated.

Former User

Jabuuty671

Okay, thanks!

Yeah, that's true, if it overheats again fml, if it doesn't then i'll roll with the engine a bit longer so I can at least save up more money for a better engine.