Man what a pain in the ass and the knuckles.

My rear brakes needed replaced, then the alternator decided to stop... alternating. As the timing belt was coming due anyway I decided to go ahead and just get it all done while I have it tore apart. All toghether I replaced the brake pads and rotors, alternator, alternator and A/C belts, timing belt and it's pulleys, and the water pump. I'm not a mechanic, but I've done these jobs before. Though generally with my brother's assistance. He is a mechanic and MUCH faster than I am.

With time to set up, tool runs (DAMN those gear wrenches are nice), lunch, dinner, cussing, and breaks it took me 23 hours. I wanted to get it done myself as he was only coming up for one week from Georgia. I'm much more meticulous than he is. I lay out the parts and their bolts in a line on the floor as they come off. Finally wrapped it all up and checked the timing by cycling the engine a couple times by hand. All felt well and started it and ran it around the airport to test drive and everything was awesome. Felt good to complete it myself.

Started it the next day and the engine light came on... dammit. Sure enough it was the crankshaft position code. It ran and idled fine. Checking forums I figured I must have been one tooth off. Enough to throw a code, but not grenade the interference engine. I limped it home and waited for Dan to come home before messing with it again.

Fast forward to his garage, sure enough it was one tooth off. We reset it and went for a test drive. Started fine ran about a mile ok, then lost all pick up again. Same thing, ran fine, idled a bit rough. What the hell? We were sure the timing was fine this time. Thinking the code hadn't reset and may still be holding it in limp mode. I shut it down and tried to restart it. Cranked, but no fire. No spark. Replaced the crankshaft position sensor and still nothing. (We were in my parent's driveway at night in the cold rain by this point.) Checked the timing and we were off, way off. Reset it again, and dumbfounded, took it to his garage and called it for the day.

The next day we decided to just tear the entire thing apart again. Almost immediately noticed that the brand new timing belt had cuts and scrapes on it. Continued the teardown and found this.



Apparently it is a washer of sorts for the belt cover. Must have come off and fell into the cover without me noticing. It would randomly take a trip around a sprocket and throw the belt off a tooth, or five. Another new belt and put everything back together and now it's all good again.

Pissed me off that I was that close to completing it myself and not relying on my brother again.

Nick, you and I must be brothers from another mother. That missing nut is something that would have happened to me. I'm glad I'm not the only semi-moron out there.

I too am not a mechanic but have convinced myself to attempt some serious maintenance on my Hondas. I did the timing belt etc on my 03 Odyssey. Should take 4-5 hours took me 8 hours.

Last weekend I finished the clutch in my 02 Civic Si. Take down took 4 hours, but reassembly took nearly 8 hours because I was working on my back with a failing floor jack. I even did the rear main seal for good measure.

I've done brake pads, rotors, bushings, half-shafts, struts, etc. Those are fairly fool proof.

the car makers must have had me in mind. I opened my hood, and there's a cover over the whole engine. Like there was no way they were going t let me try anything. I'm such a klutz.

quote:

Originally posted by Russ59:
I too am not a mechanic but have convinced myself to attempt some serious maintenance on my Hondas. I did the timing belt etc on my 03 Odyssey. Should take 4-5 hours took me 8 hours.

I was gonna, but after reviewing the procedure and the time taken away... I had to punt on that one.

years back I had a 928 Porsche. Changed out the timing belt and a new water pump in like 4 hours if not less. This was WAY before YouTube or anything like that. I had copied pages from the service manual. It was surprising how easy it was to complete, NO surprises.

Considering the money I saved, I was VERY proud of myself.

Congratulations! Nice to over came a problem isn't it?

I vividly recall my old man making me learn, identify and explain the function of every component of a 61 Chevy Biscayne before I could even crank it over. Tire change school too. Try that with your kid today!

It's admirable that you are not intimidated by the timing belt service. I do mine because I am a cheapskate. It takes me 8 hours but I choose my weekend in advance and do it when the conditions are least urgent. I'm on my fourth belt now. I see it as an opportunity to preemptively address devices and parts that fail. I change all belts, water pump, thermostat, idler bearings, tensioner bearings, tensioner, check the alternator, power steering pump, fluids, gaskets, seals, change oil, trans fluid, diff fluid, filters, plugs, battery and check for codes.

It is an opportunity because were it not for this 90,000 mile service, much of this stuff would get ignored and I might find myself stranded somewhere. I have a friend whose truck has a chain so he never keeps up with maintenance. He has been stranded many times because he does not do a regular service on his truck.

I did a similar service to my 1999 Accord recently. A month later it started leaking oil like a sieve. When I replaced the cam seal I pushed it in with a deep socket that apparently contacted the lip and damaged it. I was able to replace the seal with the belt in place. Ziptied the belt to the pulley, and tied a rope to maintain tension while I pulled it off the cam. Took a couple of hours including cleaning everything.


I take too much time to do my repairs and I am a mechanic. Not a line automotive mechanic, but an inboard marine mechanic. I have served a similar role as your brother for my brother on his Accord belt job.

quote:

Originally posted by darthfuster:
It's admirable that you are not intimidated by the timing belt service. I do mine because I am a cheapskate. It takes me 8 hours but I choose my weekend in advance and do it when the conditions are least urgent. I'm on my fourth belt now. I see it as an opportunity to preemptively address devices and parts that fail. I change all belts, water pump, thermostat, idler bearings, tensioner bearings, tensioner, check the alternator, power steering pump, fluids, gaskets, seals, change oil, trans fluid, diff fluid, filters, plugs, battery and check for codes.

It is an opportunity because were it not for this 90,000 mile service, much of this stuff would get ignored and I might find myself stranded somewhere. I have a friend whose truck has a chain so he never keeps up with maintenance. He has been stranded many times because he does not do a regular service on his truck.

What model vehicle do you do this for? When we change vehicles, I want to buy something I can do more work on myself.