87 Accord Hatch

[87revival]

Hey guys my name is Jay and I'm from New Jersey. I have an 87 Accord DX with 45K miles. I just finished replacing the brakes, suspension, and exhaust. Aiming to restore the body back to the original condition (the outside is looking a little sad rn). I'm feeling pretty excited to be a part of this community :D.

Also, I'm currently trying to change the head gasket and I don't know how to get the timing belt off. I know there is a tensioner adjustment bolt (I posted a pic of what I think it is, a 12 mm bolt), but it won't budge and my breaker bar won't fit. Do you guys have any suggestions for removing the head? Thanks!

[Shane86]

Welcome to break that bolt loose I usually use 2 end wrenches. I line the car up to top dead center I zip tie the belt to the cam gear loosen the cam gear and Slide the whole cam gear off with the belt zip tied to it. On fuel injected models you remove the exhaust and leave the intake bolt it up to the head

[87revival]

Thanks I'll give it a try!

[AC439]

Welcome to break that bolt loose I usually use 2 end wrenches. I line the car up to top dead center I zip tie the belt to the cam gear loosen the cam gear and Slide the whole cam gear off with the belt zip tied to it. On fuel injected models you remove the exhaust and leave the intake bolt it up to the head

Hey Shane.... I'm planning to do my head gasket again and thinking about zip tie the cam gear and slide it out. But wouldn't the cam turn when we loosen the cam bolt ?

Also, do I still need to "break that bolt loose" before I can slide the cam gear out ?

[night]

(quickly typed while at work...)

You dont have to do anything special. I did this regularly for 15 years on single and dual cams. Put it to top dead, unbolt the cam, use 2 screwdrivers to slide the gear off (or belt off the gear) and do whatever you need. Can also use a small bungie to hold the belt out of the way too. Most honda tensioners bolt down and do not rely on the spring for anything but assembly assistance. The belt isn't going anywhere.
When putting it back, with the cam bolted in the head and off the block slide the gear onto the cam and use it to turn/make sure the cam is at top dead. Take it back off, set the head down, torque, etc. then slide the gear down into the belt and slip it over the cam nose. Just take your time lining it up over the key or you can push the key out and then have to fish it out of the timing cover.


(Small tangent.. You also don't need to have the cam bolted down all the way, in fact you usually can't with dual cam, giving some room by lifting the cam and 'setting' the gear into the teeth. But it does take some more finess because the gear will rotate some as it torques down. But, even if you do get it off a tooth nothing will be hurt.)


Once you get it on and cams down, give the crank a little turn to the right then back left (counter clockwise) to check the marks and belt tension. You don't need to spin all the way around.

Also.. a trick to tension the belt is loosen the tensioner bolt, bend a hanger into a hook and grab the tensioner arm and give it a tug while snugging the bolt.

[Shane86]

Hey Shane.... I'm planning to do my head gasket again and thinking about zip tie the cam gear and slide it out. But wouldn't the cam turn when we loosen the cam bolt ?

Also, do I still need to "break that bolt loose" before I can slide the cam gear out ?

Break the bolt loose first

[AC439]

(quickly typed while at work...)

You dont have to do anything special. I did this regularly for 15 years on single and dual cams. Put it to top dead, unbolt the cam, use 2 screwdrivers to slide the gear off (or belt off the gear) and do whatever you need. Can also use a small bungie to hold the belt out of the way too. Most honda tensioners bolt down and do not rely on the spring for anything but assembly assistance. The belt isn't going anywhere.
When putting it back, with the cam bolted in the head and off the block slide the gear onto the cam and use it to turn/make sure the cam is at top dead. Take it back off, set the head down, torque, etc. then slide the gear down into the belt and slip it over the cam nose. Just take your time lining it up over the key or you can push the key out and then have to fish it out of the timing cover.


(Small tangent.. You also don't need to have the cam bolted down all the way, in fact you usually can't with dual cam, giving some room by lifting the cam and 'setting' the gear into the teeth. But it does take some more finess because the gear will rotate some as it torques down. But, even if you do get it off a tooth nothing will be hurt.)


Once you get it on and cams down, give the crank a little turn to the right then back left (counter clockwise) to check the marks and belt tension. You don't need to spin all the way around.

Also.. a trick to tension the belt is loosen the tensioner bolt, bend a hanger into a hook and grab the tensioner arm and give it a tug while snugging the bolt.

Thanks ! That's great information !

[InAccordance]

Just take your time lining it up over the key or you can push the key out and then have to fish it out of the timing cover.


been there done that... lol