My 98 crv is doing great. It just needs some engine mounts to be replaced to get rid of vibration. But the timing belt has never been changed since 12 years. It has now 250K km on it. So do I just have to remove the head cover to gain access to the timing belt by opening the bolts on top of the engine, or is it a big job of removing everything. What do I have to do to gain access to the timing belt.

 

Go to www.helminc.com or eBay and buy a shop manual That way you have all the steps, diagrams, and torque specs.

To gain access you have to remove valve cover, timing covers, crank pulley, side engine mount....and other small stuff.

 

It's quite easy. Like above statement. Get yourself a good manual. The rest is cake if you are somewhat mechanically inclined.

 

Just did one over the weekend on my 2000 CR-V DOHC. It may be a little different on a single cam... I would get a chilton's or hayne's repair manual and follow the directions.

but here's a few notes

- take timing covers off, there's two, one on the top and on on the bottom. when you put them back on, make sure to do the top one first, otherwise the bottom cover is kinda in the way for a screw

- The camshaft sprokets just have a mark saying "up", so make "up" points straight up, but, you still gotta turn your crankshaft (after it's aligned), and the camshaft sprokets may move out of place

- your'll need a strap wrench to loosen the crankshaft pulley, a good one because those cheap ones break, or just buy a chain one - about $30

- make sure to replace your water pump at the same time and preferrably from napa if anything.

it's not too bad of a job, just difficult to loosen & tighten **** because you have such a small space to work with. definitely not worth paying $700-$900 for a shop to do it.

 

Chilton's and Haynes are garbage compared to Helms manuals.

VERY bad idea to use a strap wrench on the crank pulley, get the right tool.....most of these are not very good advice IMO.

 

Everyone has an opinion. The Haynes manual worked just fine for me. Maybe Helms aren't available in my area, but I'll have to check one out sometime.

That's why I said, or buy a chain one which is what I ended up doing. Is there another "right" tool besides that?

 

Yessir, just my opinion, nothing against you As far as I know, you can only get the Helms manuals online...but I could be wrong. They have amazing diagrams and it's laid out in an easy to read manner.

The right tool for crank pulleys is like a hex nut with a bar welded to it so you can hold the pulley still and put the 250+ lb/ft of torque on the bolt without issues. Amazon has one for $25....

 

Yeah, the Haynes did the job, but could've it used some more pictures/diagrams... YES!

I think I know what you're talking about. Sounds much easier.

 

Have done a few - on a Honda the crank tool is a MUST. Buy it off ebay, use it, and sell it for 50% or more if you do not plan on using it more.

The rest of the job is straight-forward. You can likely search the web and find some how to's and skip buying the helms (and I agree that is the ONLY one to buy).

 

Honda made a SOHC CRV?

 

Nope. Not in north america anyway, even overseas I think they were all B20 powered.