Few questions- I did search

[coors87]

Hi. I'm new and I have a few questions I did search and found write up on timing belt replacement. I have basic hand tools and a pretty good self esteem and know how about working on cars. I have a 89' accord dx. I'm going to be doing the water pump and timing belt tommrrow I have the day off and have the whole day set aside to do the work. Ok heres my questions for top dead center for cly. #1 couldnt you use the distributer markings for that? I'm not sure how to find it I've only needed to once before in my life and that was on a vw bug. So how do I find that. And for sure do I need to remove the left motor mount? thank you very much. Any good tips or advice would be nice to.
Wil

[coors87]

also forgot to ask will a dash from a 4 door work in a two door? mines all broken and all the junk yards around here only have 4 doors. thanks

[russiankid]

Only issue you will run into is getting the crankshaft pulley bolt loose.

Now back on topic. There are two ways to do this. Remove the upper portion of the timing belt cover to expose the cam gear. On the cam gear, you will see the mark UP. This mark has to be in perfect alignment with the valve cover studs, or in other terms in perfect alignment with the valve cover nuts. Once you've achieved that, the cam gear has two machined notches on each side. If you cant find them, its a perfect 90 degrees both ways from the UP mark. Its a small line, these lines have to be in alignment with the machined surface for the valve cover gasket.

To make sure everything is still in alignment, there is a small peep hole between the engine and transmission. It is located under the distributor under the A20 tag on the engine. It is to the left of the exhaust manifold if you are standing from the front. You are looking for an arrow that points directly to a T.

After you get your new timing belt on. Spin the engine over 3-4 times to make sure everything is still in alignment. Make sure the you check the cam gear and the peep hole.

P.S. When you look into the peep hole, you should see the T on the arrow AND the cam gear should be in the UP position. Also, don't forget to replace your tensioner.

[nswst8]

Crank pulley bolts is going to be your only big problem. You can do it on your own easy with a breaker bar. Try to run to your local garage and see if the mechanic would spin it loose for you. Then slip him $5.

[russiankid]

Crank pulley bolts is going to be your only big problem. You can do it on your own easy with a breaker bar. Try to run to your local garage and see if the mechanic would spin it loose for you. Then slip him $5.

Hopefully his isn't stuck like mine was. I paid a shop $20 to break mine loose because they had to use their gas torch to heat the bolt up and then hit it with the impact gun.

[Dr_Snooz]

there is a small peep hole between the engine and transmission.

Hehehehehe, hehehehehe. He said "peep hole."

Make sure the you check the cam gear and the peep hole.

Hehehehehe, he said it again.

Sorry, I'm deliriously happy tonight. Anyway, like Russiankid said, the crank pulley bolt is the only thing that can turn into a real, big, hairy, ugly, nasty, smelly bastard that sleeps on your couch and drinks all your beer. Sometimes it's because it's on waaaay too tight. Mostly it's because the crankshaft spins whenever you go to honk down on the bolt. Think carefully about how you're going to prevent the crankshaft from spinning before you start the tear down. The easiest way, obviously, is to put the air gun to it, but if you don't have one, then you'll probably need to wedge something down the timing hole to prevent rotation. Again, think carefully about the tool you want to break... er, use to do this and how to avoid damaging the flywheel while you're at it.

Oh, and the crank pulley bolt doesn't care about your self esteem.

Good luck!

[coors87]

sweet sounds so fun well i'm about to start it and I'll let you know how it goes me and my brother inlaw are gonna start the project I got 6 24oz of busch for tonight and I'm the only drinker so lets see how it goes, I'm hoping when I get in there the timing belt is newish and I might not have to replace it but if so oh well. Does any one know about the dash interchange from four door to a two door? thanks again.
Wil