Hay to everyone!

Just bought a used 1991 Honda Accord.

It is due for a timing belt. As the engine is an interference design I do not want to put off doing it.

I read the basic instruction manual on the car to see what gets done at the same time. No real help.

I went to Rock Auto and saw timing belt kits from around 75 bucks to I think 150 bucks. Even though they where all kits, they seemed to differ in what was included. So I don't have a clue as to the better one to buy (most complete, and a good or better brand, for the best price).

I called some independate shops asking about the total cost and what should be done at the same time. I called 6 shops. All clearly said do all the belts at the same time, water pump, and tensioner pulley.

One said to also do the plugs and wires, but said nothing about the coil or distributor (cap, rotor).

Another said to do the valve cover gasket as the valve cover must come off to do the job.

Was quoted a high of $1,700.00 to a low of $550.00. All quotes with parts and labor...

So I'm now more confused.

Any one know if a great writeup on doing the timing belt and what is best/just smart to do at the same time?

The area I live in is mostly low income rural. Shops mostly charge 80 to 100 per hour. Yes, there is one that goes all the way to 150.00 an hour. Oddly the shop is known for crappy work!

So, folks any price/cost suggestions and so on....

Thank you to all.

 

Most kits should include belts, tensioners and tensioner springs at minimum. Some will come with a water pump, some will not. Some come with cam, oil pump and balance shaft seals, some will not. It all depends on how far down the rabbit hole you want to go. If you intend to keep the vehicle for a long time and it has higher mileage, it would be worth it to replace everything and a do a full tune up with distributor cap, rotor, plug wires, plugs, and air filter at the same time. I charge roughly $300 in labor to just do the two belts and tensioners but I'm just a solo gig and not a big shop. If customer opts for water pump, seals, etc etc labor goes up obviously. It's a simple job but it's pretty meticulous and can be time consuming. $1700 seems excessively high. It really shouldn't be more than 500-600 labor max. Most places will not install customer supplied parts either so you're likely going to pay a markup just from getting parts through their vendor.

 

The nice thing in this day and age is you can find a mechanic on craigslist if you can't do it yourself. Or you can use YourMechanic.com to get a price and they will come to your house to do it. As said above, labor around $400 I think for this, and you definitely want the seals and water pump added.

 

Check the FAQ at the top of the forum.
There is a writeup on how do to it on a 94-97 F22B1 Accord(w/pics), 90-97 cars are all very similar and nothing that would be different between the generations affects how do to the timing belt on a CB over a CD.
While you are in there before putting the new belt back on, adjust the valves.
Easiest way without damaging the valves is to simply rotate the crank 90°, this will put all the pistons half way down the cylinders.
With the belt off you can now rotate the camshaft 360° without worry of bending a valve, makes adjusting the valves so much easier.

As for brand, Aisin has the correct Koyo idlers and Mitsuboshi belts and Aisin water pump. I'd suggest Rockauto and google for the 5% discount code, usually covers shipping.
Go here >Aisin TB/BB/WP component kit.