Leaking oil pump / timing-water pump RnR

[mward]

Hello everyone. I've been reading this forum for years, ever since I got my 1989 Honda Accord. I went through a bad spot in my life and the bank took my beloved Subaru back and a friend of mine gave me this car as she had a new one and was moving. The information on this forum is invaluable.

It's an A20A3 motored Accord LXI 2 dr, runs absolutely great, 30+ mpg, 260,000 and change on the odometer. It's a bit rough on the outside and inside. Passenger side window doesn't work, AC doesn't work, cruise doesn't work, the stereo was stolen at one point and the dash is missing a big chunk so my current stereo I kept in place by stuffing a trash bag in next to it. But she was FREE and runs awesome. I drive her to races all over the midwest almost every weekend.

The head was redone about 100k ago but the lower half is original, near as I can tell. It started leaking oil and changed the valve cover gasket and ignored the rest. Then it started barfing oil and I'm like WTF so I read all these threads and you guys say replace ... well, everything except stuff inside the engine, so I've started. I thought it was the front main leaking but turns out I'm pretty sure it's the oil pump. Seals and gaskets are on the way. Got everything apart and think (hope) I preserved the position of the crank and cam so I can just put it back together. It's at TDC right now. I'm pretty worried about getting everything back together okay. I've got big hands/arms and the cramped workspace is giving me fits. I feel like I'm doing brain surgery through someone's ear.

So far on the list of things to take care of:

Front main seal
Camshaft seal.
valve cover gasket
distributor o-ring
timing belt
tensioner
oil pump gaskets/seals
water pump
replace timing belt guides (the last guy who did the timing belt left the front one off). >:|

Any tips you guys can throw out would be greatly appreciated. Stuff along the lines of "Hey, don't forget to turn the deframulator 1/4 turn to the left when putting it back in or you'll be hating life" are the kinds of things I am looking for. I was a mechanic before I went to college 20 years ago... holy crap it doesn't seem that long - anyhow, so can get the job done but the little 'makes life easier' tweaks are appreciated. I'd love to get another 250k out of this car.

Thanks!

Marcus

I was going to attach a pic of the car but the board says I have to have 5 posts first, so I'll attach a pic in 5 posts.

[Pico]

Looks like your list is pretty much covering what you need done.
I'm sure there will be more recommendations as more members chime in
Welcome to the forum and Enjoy

[mward]

Thank you, appreciate it. Here's a pic of the car in question:



it gets driven to a lot of bicycle races.

Anyone know how to remove the back seat? I could use the cargo room.

Oooh also, the rear end shakes like mad at 65mph. I've had the tires balanced about 10 times and it still shakes. Anyone got a read on that? Shocks are pretty shot, I'm sure.

[mward]

Well I positively identified the culprit after I got the oil pump out and disassembled:



I believe that's supposed to be an O ring, not a C ring.

[Dr_Snooz]

Welcome! You've definitely done your homework which is greatly appreciated. Your car looks great too. I think when you start throwing it into some corners, you won't be so sad about the Subaru. They really are wonderful little cars. You may have it all put back together now, but if you haven't, here are a few tricks.

1. The easiest way to put the timing belt back on is to put it over the cam gear last. Tension it on the spark plug side first and walk it over the top of the cam gear. That will work best.
2. Check to make sure that the head and block are still both at TDC AFTER putting the timing belt back on. They can move while you are tugging on the timing belt. A quick check can save you a full tear-down later.
3. There is a factory service manual for the 89 Accord here. Follow it religiously and you will be miles ahead before you even start.
4. The best way to tension the alternator belt is with a ratcheting box-end wrench. If you don't have one, buy it if you can. That's the only time you'll use it, but you won't regret the purchase.
5. There are gobs of 3gs in the junkyard with all kinds of good parts for very cheap. Use this resource and you'll have a very nice car before you know it
6. One area you want to check soon is the cooling system. What often happens is that the cooling system gets ignored for about 50 years and then suddenly everything goes to crap all at once: radiator, water pump, thermostat, all hoses and freeze plugs. The hoses are expensive and even more difficult to replace than the timing belt, but you only need to blow one to be stranded on the side of the road.

What kind of bike do you ride?

[mward]

Hey Doc, thanks for the info!

I have downloaded that service manual and love it. It's a million times better than the haynes manual I had before. Been referring to it for a while now.

The cooling system doesn't look bad, I think someone replaced the hoses at some point in its life. I might have to revisit that soon but so far it's doing fine and holding pressure. *cross fingers*.

I haven't put it back together yet, the timing belt guides that go on the crank pulley are being shipped here from California, so I've got till next Thur with it apart. I'd just go ahead and do the hoses now but I've stretched our budget to the breaking point doing this. The last person to do the timing left the front guide off the pulley so the timing belt has ground a groove into the cover, and the main drive belt pulley has ground a groove into the outside of the cover. There are a couple of small holes in it now. Should I replace that cover while I've got it apart or will it be okay to reuse it in this shape?

When I took the timing belt off, it appeared when the crank was at TDC the cam was slightly tilted with reference to the marks, about a degree. Is this normal?

I race a Waltworks 29er mountain bike. It's a custom steel frame, probably not as light as the most recent carbon fiber stuff, but I'm not racing in the world cup either. Love this bike, it rides like a dream and fits me perfectly.

My other bike is a Kona Jake cyclocross bike. I do about 95% of my riding on that, training, and cyclocross racing. I'm missing a race this weekend because my car is in the garage, resting, while parts are being shipped.

This car handles great, given the shocks are probably toast, but I miss the Subaru in the snow. Otherwise, yeah I love this car. Runs like a dream. I'd buy another one in a heartbeat. Thanks for the welcome!

[mward]

Finished the job up this weekend after parts arrived. Was definitely less troublesome than I thought it'd be. Thanks for the tips!

[Oldblueaccord]

The rear upper links the joints go bad. There factory non greaseable. If you jack up one side and pry at the 6 o clock position look for play at that joint.


wp

[Dr_Snooz]

Finished the job up this weekend after parts arrived. Was definitely less troublesome than I thought it'd be. Thanks for the tips!

Glad you got it running. Be aware that the junkyard is a wonderful source of low cost parts. And you won't have to wait for shipping!

[mward]

Glad you got it running. Be aware that the junkyard is a wonderful source of low cost parts. And you won't have to wait for shipping!

Ah I was waiting on the O-rings from Honda. Nobody local had them in stock or could even get them.

[Dr_Snooz]

Cool. It just sounded like you were waiting on the timing belt guide and that's a junkyard item for sures.