I bought my kid a 98 Civic LX, 5 spd. 147k on it. Previous owner purchased it w/90k on it. He hadn't changed the T-belt or water pump. I figured it had an interference engine in it & looked it up. Recommended change at 105k, so I know it's way over due. I'm pretty good with a wrench and changed out T-belts on my Volvos. This ain't no Volvo, so how much time should I reasonably allow to do the job? Can I get away with using parts from, say, NAPA, etc? This isn't going to be driven like a performance ride. Thanks for any info.

 

Besides being a little tight, the timing belt isn't really much of a trick on those cars.

As far as NAPA parts go, that's your call; I prefer OEM, but have used the Duralast (Autozone) stuff for T-belts in the past with no issues.

I'd also recommend a factory service manual, but there are plenty of DIY T-belt write ups online for D-series Hondas (Check out D-series.org).

 

if you not going to be dragging this thing go with the napa parts you will be fine, just don't go extremely cheap, if you want it to last for a long time go with oem, you wont have to double think if whether or not the duralast belt snapped, but that is up to you goodluck with the job.

 

I appreciate the D-series.org tip. I'm not looking for "cheap" parts. I'll use the NAPA stuff for this. My Volvos & BMW never did well on anything but OEM. Thanks for the advice.