Tips / tricks for Honda timing belt replacement?

Keith Quistorff · **Posted:** Tue May 04, 2010 3:11 pm

My '04 Honda Pilot is due for a timing belt replacement very soon, and I'm planning to order the parts ASAP from wherever I can get OEM Honda parts for best price. Anyone have any suggestions on best/lowest price source?

Also, any tips/tricks for addressing the following (and/or any other known Honda-specific timing belt problem areas)?:

1. Re-torque'ing the crankshaft pulley bolt: I have an impact driver to remove the bolt, but reinstallation is supposed to be done with a torque wrench (181 ft*lbs), and I have no way to keep the pulley from turning when re-torque'ing the bolt. Of course the Honda manual shows a special tool that engages into the pulley, which surely costs a small fortune. Any alternatives, besides just using the impact driver and hoping to get close to the correct torque? Any local source(s) known to carry a loaner tool like the Honda special tool?

2. Removing the crankshaft pulley: In the past (on a different vehicle), I've tried a standard "steering wheel" type puller with not-so-good results, mainly because it grabs onto the thin lip at the front edge of the pulley, which cracks easily (ask me how I know). Ideally, the puller should grab the back edge of the pulley, but I don't have or know of one that can do that. Any known source for a loaner tool that might work, or any other suggestions?

As an aside, something that's always puzzled me is why do car/engine manufacturers block the space around the crankshaft pulley so the timing belt cannot be removed without first removing the crankshaft pulley? Seems like it would be simple enough to allow enough space for the timing belt to be freed from the crankshaft pulley once the belt has been removed from the camshaft pulleys.

JamesShort · **Posted:** Tue May 04, 2010 3:31 pm

Cranky pulley holder: http://www.amazon.com/Powerbuilt-648796 ... 304&sr=1-1

It's effectively a 50mm nut.

For pulling the crank, I'm not sure you need a puller unless the v6 is different than the couple d series i4s I've done but once that bolt is out, the pulley comes off pretty easily.

Michael Westerfield · **Posted:** Tue May 04, 2010 3:39 pm

Always had good luck with service and pricing from Majestic Honda
http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com/

Their diagrams for parts can be very handy as well.

Richard Casto · **Posted:** Tue May 04, 2010 4:00 pm

Keith,

I think there are enough Honda owners here that you will get some good tips. I have changed belts on my 1998 Civic and my 2000 Odyssey. I suspect the Odyssey will be pretty close to your Pilot. I have about 80k on the Civic and about 60K on the Odyssey, so I am approaching the second belt replacement for both. Here is my 2 cents.

1. I can't remember, for sure what I did, but I think I just used the impact driver. However, I think that there are a bunch of third party versions available of the Honda pulley tool. I would check online or at a local autoparts store. I will probably buy one the next time I do this.

2. Mine came off from both cars without using a puller. I am assuming that Honda just doesn't use an interference fit on the pulley.

I have been buying my parts from...

http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com/

Two tricks/tips. One Honda specific and the other not so.

First the Honda trick...

On my Odyssey (might be the same on your Pilot), there is a trick to use the battery hold down bolt to compressed the belt tensioner. There is also a special process for the tensioner itself, but I don't know if it is the same for the Pilot. Here are some photos of someone doing this on their Odyssey. Some or all of this might apply to the Pilot...

http://home.comcast.net/~desmo888/OdyTB.htm

Now the non-Honda trick...

I manually turned the crank until I was at TDC for #1. I think in this position all of the markings on the cam pulleys, etc. line up. Then I used a white sharpie to mark the belt in three places that aligned with the markings (crank, and two cam pulleys). Once removed, I transfered those marks to the new belt (count the teeth to ensure you do this right) and it makes it much easier to get the belt in the right place. Once the tensioner was released all should match up (cam timing) and you will not be off a tooth or two anywhere. I was then able to rotate the crank to ensure there was no slack and that the cam timing still looked good and that there was no piston/valve interference.

Good luck!

Richard Casto · **Posted:** Tue May 04, 2010 4:12 pm

PS: I have heard stories of beefy impact wrenches not being able to loosen the crank pulley bolt (my HF "Earthquake" wrench did just fine). There is also a trick in which you bump the starter to pop it loose. Personally that trick scares me a bit and I would just go somewhere and have someone loosen it with a monster impact wrench (then re-tighten it, but not to mega torque) drive home, then loosen it again with your gun.

Aaron Buckley · **Posted:** Tue May 04, 2010 4:17 pm

Richard Casto wrote:

PS: I have heard stories of beefy impact wrenches not being able to loosen the crank pulley bolt (my HF "Earthquake" wrench did just fine). There is also a trick in which you bump the starter to pop it loose. Personally that trick scares me a bit and I would just go somewhere and have someone loosen it with a monster impact wrench (then re-tighten it, but not to mega torque) drive home, then loosen it again with your gun.

Easier yet if the impact can't get it done, a 36mm breaker bar with a pickle fork jammed in the teeth of the flywheel (by removing the starter) will get it off pretty easily. I did this on my sister's Civic and it worked perfectly. - AB

JamesShort · **Posted:** Tue May 04, 2010 4:36 pm

Richard Casto wrote:

PS: I have heard stories of beefy impact wrenches not being able to loosen the crank pulley bolt (my HF "Earthquake" wrench did just fine). There is also a trick in which you bump the starter to pop it loose. Personally that trick scares me a bit and I would just go somewhere and have someone loosen it with a monster impact wrench (then re-tighten it, but not to mega torque) drive home, then loosen it again with your gun.

This would not work on a d series engine due to the rotational direction. Not sure about the Honda v6 though so be cautious.

If the engine spins clockwise, this can work...if it spins CCW, then it will not as the engine will try to tighten the bolt.

If clockwise, rest your breaker bar on the ground on the right side of the engine and bump the starter (I emphasize the RIGHT side as you look at the crank pulley).

Richard Casto · **Posted:** Tue May 04, 2010 5:17 pm

JamesShort wrote:

Richard Casto wrote:

PS: I have heard stories of beefy impact wrenches not being able to loosen the crank pulley bolt (my HF "Earthquake" wrench did just fine). There is also a trick in which you bump the starter to pop it loose. Personally that trick scares me a bit and I would just go somewhere and have someone loosen it with a monster impact wrench (then re-tighten it, but not to mega torque) drive home, then loosen it again with your gun.

This would not work on a d series engine due to the rotational direction. Not sure about the Honda v6 though so be cautious.

If the engine spins clockwise, this can work...if it spins CCW, then it will not as the engine will try to tighten the bolt.

If clockwise, rest your breaker bar on the ground on the right side of the engine and bump the starter (I emphasize the RIGHT side as you look at the crank pulley).

Absolutely. You need to know the rotation. This would not work on my B series Civic, but the Odyssey engine is one of the newer engines that rotates in the other direction. You need to know what you are doing when you use this method.

JamesShort · **Posted:** Tue May 04, 2010 5:53 pm

Richard Casto wrote:

JamesShort wrote:

Richard Casto wrote:

PS: I have heard stories of beefy impact wrenches not being able to loosen the crank pulley bolt (my HF "Earthquake" wrench did just fine). There is also a trick in which you bump the starter to pop it loose. Personally that trick scares me a bit and I would just go somewhere and have someone loosen it with a monster impact wrench (then re-tighten it, but not to mega torque) drive home, then loosen it again with your gun.

This would not work on a d series engine due to the rotational direction. Not sure about the Honda v6 though so be cautious.

If the engine spins clockwise, this can work...if it spins CCW, then it will not as the engine will try to tighten the bolt.

If clockwise, rest your breaker bar on the ground on the right side of the engine and bump the starter (I emphasize the RIGHT side as you look at the crank pulley).

Absolutely. You need to know the rotation. This would not work on my B series Civic, but the Odyssey engine is one of the newer engines that rotates in the other direction. You need to know what you are doing when you use this method.

Yep, d/b are CCW, K are CW and I think the Odesey has a J30 so I'm assuming all the J's are CW.

Keith Quistorff · **Posted:** Wed May 05, 2010 2:16 pm

Thanks, guys - all great info.

My Honda is a Pilot, which is the same V6 engine layout as the Odyssey. For sure I'll confirm engine rotation direction before attempting the starter method, assuming I have to resort to that method. I'm hoping a combination of my impact wrench and the special Amazon tool James mentioned above will do the trick.

Keith Quistorff · **Posted:** Thu Jul 08, 2010 2:04 pm

Following up, I bought the special tool via Amazon and borrowed a huge (~30" long) breaker bar to attempt to break the crank pulley bolt loose this weekend. Unfortunately, no luck, looks like it's going to a shop for the timing belt swap, costing almost $400 in labor alone.

The process I used (failed) was as follows: I pre-lubricated the bolt with PB Blaster a few times, and started out hitting the bolt with my impact driver, which did absolutely nothing. Then I switched to the big breaker bar, even put a pipe on the breaker bar to extend it to ~40", which was as long as could fit in the space I had to work in. Since the car was on jackstands (I don't have a lift), limited space availability under the front fender also forced me to pull on the breaker bar from a kneeling position, so I wasn't able to apply as much force as if I was standing.

Aaron Buckley · **Posted:** Thu Jul 08, 2010 2:29 pm

Keith Quistorff wrote:

Following up, I bought the special tool via Amazon and borrowed a huge (~30" long) breaker bar to attempt to break the crank pulley bolt loose this weekend. Unfortunately, no luck, looks like it's going to a shop for the timing belt swap, costing almost $400 in labor alone.

The process I used (failed) was as follows: I pre-lubricated the bolt with PB Blaster a few times, and started out hitting the bolt with my impact driver, which did absolutely nothing. Then I switched to the big breaker bar, even put a pipe on the breaker bar to extend it to ~40", which was as long as could fit in the space I had to work in. Since the car was on jackstands (I don't have a lift), limited space availability under the front fender also forced me to pull on the breaker bar from a kneeling position, so I wasn't able to apply as much force as if I was standing.

Hmmm... with the tool you bought, the old starter trick with the breaker bar on the floor would have worked easily. Ugh. Sorry Keith. - AB

Richard Casto · **Posted:** Thu Jul 08, 2010 3:29 pm

Sorry it's not working out.

You mentioned lack of space due to fender well. I can't remember if I actually did this, or it was my backup plan...

The idea was to use a few of those 12" 1/2" drive extensions so that I could move the breaker bar out of the fender well. I was going to use a jackstand as a pivot point. Then use a long extension on my breaker bar and use all of my weight on it.

DickRasmussen · **Posted:** Thu Jul 08, 2010 3:35 pm

Is there a way to use a hydraulic jack for "lift" on the breaker bar? (use a looooong handle on the jack in case something snaps :cry:

BriceJohnson · **Joined:** Thu Apr 13, 2006 7:33 am **Posts:** 2230

Keith Quistorff wrote:

Following up, I bought the special tool via Amazon and borrowed a huge (~30" long) breaker bar to attempt to break the crank pulley bolt loose this weekend. Unfortunately, no luck, looks like it's going to a shop for the timing belt swap, costing almost $400 in labor alone.

The process I used (failed) was as follows: I pre-lubricated the bolt with PB Blaster a few times, and started out hitting the bolt with my impact driver, which did absolutely nothing. Then I switched to the big breaker bar, even put a pipe on the breaker bar to extend it to ~40", which was as long as could fit in the space I had to work in. Since the car was on jackstands (I don't have a lift), limited space availability under the front fender also forced me to pull on the breaker bar from a kneeling position, so I wasn't able to apply as much force as if I was standing.

Your not alone, I also had the same failing on a Honda timing belt job. Big ass breaker bar, but it would have to be on a lift to be able to get enough torque on it.

Great quote from my friend when we were trying to get it off: "Man, those japanese are STRONG"

As soon as I saw this thread, my advice was going to be "just pay someone to do it".

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Tips / tricks for Honda timing belt replacement?

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