Thank you much TexasHonda. You rock! I'm curious, I've seen people use an extension from the breaker bar to the 19mm deep socket. Is this something that is needed? I'm guessing yes, as it has to reach outside of the wheel well. I have a foot long extension, but I'm not sure if this is good enough. Also, where do people get cheater bars? You just buy one at a local hardware store?

Thanks so much for all the help!

 

I used a long extension (a 24" craftsman) to get the breaker bar outside of the wheel well. I used a 19mm deep 6-point impact socket. They were all 1/2 inch drive. TexasHonda is right, the 3/4 socket will be too big.

If you use a long extension, put the doughnut on the front driver's side. Turn the wheel so your extension will not hit the tire. Use a jack stand to support the bottom of the extension and keep the extension parallel to the ground. The reason to keep all four tires on, is that you will be surprised how much torque it will take to break the bolt loose. You could pull your car off the jack stands.

I also put a small extension on the pulley holding tool and wedged it against the sub frame to keep the crank from moving.

I had a long breaker bar with a 5ft piece of pipe over top of it. Pick up the pipe at any hardware store. I started with the pipe/breaker bar the 3 o'clock position, and the bolt broke loose at the 10/9 position.

It takes a lot of force to remove the crank bolt. This is the hardest part of the job.

Hope this helps.

 

This is awesome advice, thank you much! Just to clarify, does this mean that I wouldn't need a second breaker bar, or do I still need a second one to hold the pulley bolt tool in place? When you say loosen the bolt with the tire on, is this basically done before I remove anything else? Ie, replace wheel with donut and removing timing covers, lower car, break bolt, jack back up, place jack under engine and remove engine mount, and proceed to swap the belt? I'm guessing this means I need to actually losen the bolt before I set the engine to TDC? It won't mess anything up that I losen the bolt first and then align to TDC?

Sorry for asking so many questions. I've feared doing the timing belt for a long time.

 

Do the crank bolt first.

Here is my order:

Jack up car, remove driver's tire.
Take off splash shield covering crank pulley.
Put on spare tire.
Remove crank bolt.

I didn't have a second breaker bar, so I used a 1/2" extension and turned the crank so the extension was up against the sub-frame.

Once you get that bolt loose, you can put the bolt on hand tight. Remove spark plugs, so you are not fighting the engine's compression when turning it. Remove the valve cover and upper timing belt cover. Then use a socket on the PS pump to turn the engine by hand. That is when I would put the car to TDC. I leave the two outer belts on so you can do this. Plus you can watch the cam sprocket from on top of the car.

Once you get to TDC, then you can start removing all the stuff that you need (outer belts, PS pump, timing belt covers,....).

I would also make my own marks on the original timing belt and on each sprocket, so I have a second set of marks. Then you can transfer the marks to your new timing belt by aligning the belts, or counting the teeth. It just gave me the extra confidence that I got the belts on properly.

Also, in the common DIY thread on top of the gen tech help forum, there is a link to timing belt tensioner post by TexasHonda. One of the tensioners pivots on a post that can be easily overlooked.

 

O'Reilly's (Checker) loans out the pulley holder; 48 hours free.

 

Regarding the 3/4" drive 19mm socket...I forgot, I did have to have it turned down slightly so that it would fit inside the restraining tool but it works great! Doable with QUALITY 1/2" drive sockets and breakover bars with lots of leverage! Good Luck and keep us posted.

 

I would also suggest that before you take either timing belt off, make sure that you see all the timing marks and that they are lined up properly. Note that when the crankshaft TDC mark is lined up, the #1 cylinder MAY NOT be on TDC of the COMPRESSION stroke. You'll know that because the cam sprocket timing mark will be 180 degrees away from where it's supposed to be. If so, simply turn the crankshaft 360 degrees (1 revolution) and then all the marks should line up (remember that the crankshaft turns 2 revolutions for every 1 revolution of the camshaft). Be careful with the balance shafts timing marks. The rear balance shaft mark can be hard to see sometimes. It helps to remove the bolt in the block directly behind the rear shaft and insert a punch, drill bit, screwdriver, etc, into the alignment hole of the balance shaft to help keep it in place (don't forget to remove it and replace the bolt before you turn the crankshaft!).

After you have installed the new timing belts and you think that you have everything lined up, turn the crankshaft two complete revolutions, stopping at TDC, and double check that all the other timing marks are still lined up. This will be easy to do with the spark plugs out. Good time to put new spark plugs in!

 

Hey y'all. About to buy the tools and timing belt kit found here: Amazon.com: Timing Belt Kit Honda Accord DX LX Only (1994 1995 1996 1997): Automotive . I'm curious if anyone knows of any good DIYs about how to replace a couple of seals in this kit. I'm guessing all of the seals are pretty accessible if they are included in the kit. In particular, any good resources for replacing the camshaft seal, front crankshaft seal and balance shaft seal? Thanks for all the help. I'm incredibly grateful!

 

That ericthecarguy video goes through this. I highly recommend it.

From the pic, the one seal that looks like it is missing is the seal behind the rear balance shaft gear case. That seal can get brittle and leak over time.

You also want to get the front balance shaft seal retainer. That will prevent the seal from popping out again.

It is likely that the seal retainer wasn't installed. You may want to call your honda dealership to see if this was installed as part of their recall. They will be able to find out by your VIN if it was installed. They should still honor the recall and install it.

 

I used a radiator hose tool like this one to pop the old seals out,

Radiator Hose Tool - product summary - Bing Shopping I bought mine from pep boys..

I used a couple pieces of cut down metal tubing to tap the new seals back in place. You might be able to use cut down PVC tubing, It didn't take much force to get the Honda seals to slide in place.
Make sure you clean the seal cavities well, and apply a super thin layer of either ultra grey permatex, or Hondabond grey sealer to the outer Circumference of the new seals.

I had a tough time getting the crank gear to slide off of the crank, there isn't enough room to insert even a small screwdriver behind it. So I used the old timing belt as a gear protector, and a large pair of water pump pliers, and gently worked the gear back and forth while applying outward force. Soak the gear with some kind of penatrating oil.