I took my accord in because it's been leaking. They said that the timing cover is leaking and they don't know from which gasket so they'd have to replace all of them, plus it'd be a good time to replace the belt. It's going to run me 650 for parts and labor. Is this something that is vital to the cars performance or safety for driving it? Thanks for anyone/all help.

 

What engine? The '94-'97 four cylinder cars have a timing belt cover made of plastic. It is purely a dust cover to prevent damage to the timing belt. If there is an oil leak coming from the front of the engine, it can be one of many things. There is the cam/valve cover, the camshaft seal, the crankshaft seal, the balance shaft seals, and the oil pan. Any one of these can cause an oil leak that will appear to emit from the plastic covers.

 

In short, if you have a leak that's definitely coming from a component behind that timing belt cover, then YES it's important to have that changed out.

Not only will you be sparing yourself from the waste of losing some oil every time you drive, you're doing a major preventative maintenance service.

You don't want oil on your timing belts. Your car has an interference engine. The timing belts keep the valves from slamming into the pistons. You don't want to have anything on those belts compromising their function or their lifespan.

Your oil leak may be coming from one or all of your seals -- crank shaft, cam shaft, balancer shafts - all of which require the belts (your car has two timing belts) to come off in order to be replaced as they are behind those belts. Get the belts done, seals replaced, and you may as well get the water pump replaced and accessory drive belts (alternator and power steering belts) replaced, since they're all pretty much in the way of changing out the seals anyway.

 

Hello I'm new to this forum.. I have a 97 accord lx non v-tec and I attempted to loosen the bolt on the tensioner for the balance shaft belt and stripped it pretty bad... I know the timing is fine.. it's just the tdc sencor is bad and the timing cover is bad.. I have a new timing cover and water pump and belt kit... I'm trying to avoid heli-coiling it... should I just put the new timing cover on and call it a day... also.. how do i keep the gasket on the bottom half of the cover? I need help I'm in way over my head

 

Please start a new thread.