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Hi gang. My daughter's 01' civic ex, 95,000 miles. It was time for new timing belt. Went to local Honda dealer,,,,$525.00 for new timing belt, water pump, and drive belts. Not a bad price. The dealer showed me the prices of all the parts seperate from the labor. I thought i could do better on line finding Honda parts. I did. Timing belt, Valve cover gasket, water pump with gasket, timing belt tensioner, camshaft oil seal, 1 gallon of Honda coolant plus 2nd day shipping for $202.00. I figured I was saving $300.00 and getting more parts for less $$$$...I didn't mind doing the work. Also I was planning to do valve clearance adjustment..... Started last Saturday morning, got everything completed by that same late afternoon. No major surprises,,, Not much room in that engine compartment to work in. Put the key in the ignition and stared her up.....not good. Rough rough idle, check engine light came on and max rpm was 3,000 revs,,,,,,,what the hell did i do????....I knew i was right with the timing marks,,,I felt like maybe the ECU crapped out after not having electrical power on for so long??? I didn't know for sure but i was pissed and not in the mood to tear it back down...so i said screw it,,,call the tow service Monday, get it to the dealer and they will dignose it. I figured I did all the grunt work and now some kid technician was going to do a scann/diagnostic on it and push some reset button,,,then charge me $100.00 to $150.00, No big deal I was still ahead..Sunday morning i was 10 seconds from going to local NAPA store and picking up cam position sensor and crank position sensor and replacing them. But i talked myself out of it,,,,, So Monday morning call the dealer to come pick er up. They call me back 2 hours later with a TDC code and some other mumbo jumbo,,, I said get it fixed,,,,trouble was caused by a bent tab on the camshaft position sensor. I must have bent it when i snapped the connector back into place after installing the timing belt covers. $276 for dignostics and labor, $76.00 for sensor, $70.00 for tow service and the rest is taxes and enviromental fee stuff.....I should have back tracked my install and checked that stuff myself. I could have had that sensor removed and checked out with a visual inspection in about 30 minutes. It runs great and i got rid of the little bit of lifter tapping when i did a valve adjustment.... Sooooo be patient and follow your gutt instincts when you tackle these projects. If anyone has any questions on this project i would be glad to answer them,,,
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AGREED. Would you mind? Did you use a service manual? Please list the tools you used and any suprises you ran into. I have some rep availabe lol At least it wasnt that big of a mistake you did.. you could have done something stupid..really stupid.
ignoring a bent lower control arm for about 4 months until it snapped on me doing 75 on the interstate. Broken lower control arm, axel shaft, sway bar link and light body damage from the tire going thru the front bumper.
Cost: $260 to fix DIY
Could have cost: My Life (missed the tractor trailer by 3 feet)
Note: Always Always Always make sure you're driving a safe, non-half-assed Civic. Please! Preventitive maintenece is the KEY!!!
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2001 Nighthawk ES1 Sedan
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Injen IS
Magnaflow Axel Back
Custom Interior
Dropped 2
...more...
...working on that JDM Look...
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Yea how hard is it to change a timing belt on the D17's? I'm nearing 85k so a new one is in order sometime soon, when do most people have them changed out?
__________________ '02 EX Sedan, NHBP, Eibach Sportlines, 17" Momo RPM 215/45/17 BFG's
7th gen blacked out crew member #7
I used a Haynes Repair manual,, pretty simple. Just follow the instructions. Like all repairs or replacing parts, the next time you do it you can probably do it in half the time it took you the first time. If you don't have an impact wrench for the crank pully bolt, just use a 1/2" drive pull handle with two good quality 10", 1/2" drive extensions. After you jack up the drivers side of the car remove the drivers side front tire. Place a jack stand under the frame for safety. Now you must put the pull handle with the extensions and a 19mm impact socket on the bolt head. Make sure the pull handle and extensions are perpindicular to the face of the crank pully. Set another jack stand (for support) under the extensions, opposite of the pully bolt, where the extensions are connected to the pull handle. This will allow you to use your foot to apply the needed torque to brake the bolt loose. MAKE SURE THE EXTENSION AND SOCKET IS IN ALIGNMENT WITH THE BOLT. Also you will need a chain wrench to place around the crank pully to keep the crank from turning. How to use the chain wrench is spelled out in the manual but it shows a chain wrench around the biggest diameter part of the pully. That is a long chain wrench. You may not find one that long. You can use a shorter chain wrench on the smaller diameter (front) portion of the crank pulley. The portion that drives your power steering pump. Just make sure you use a piece of scrap drive belt under the chain wrench to keep from damaging your grooves on the pully. I had to actually almost jump on the wrench to get the bolt loose...first time i thought i would twist the dang extensions to failure...but they will hold. The bolt made a cracking noise 2 times then broke loose...Don't freak out when you hear that. I thought i split the socket. For sure though go get a 19mm impact socket. It is harder steel and six sided. If you use a regular socket and it splits or spins on the bolt head, you are screwed. The crank bolt is (regular) right hand threads, which means looking at it, to loosen it, it must turn counterclock wise...Please do not use heat,,,you will melt your front crank main seal...
Last edited by nucivicowner; 11-20-2007 at 07:10 PM.
If the "UP" is to the top, wouldn't that mean that cylinder #1 is at TPC?
I also read if you have a cylinder compression tester and use it on cylinder #1. Once it starts to register compression the "UP" should be close to the top..
Ok, I have the chilton manual and the haynes manual. I was going to do my timing chain on my 2001 ex in about 1 week.
Also I got an impact wrench...I'm not going to play around with the bolt and just get it done..
Hey, can you tell me why I would have to remove the valve cover if I'm not going to adjust anything in there?
Thanks
The timing belt cover is in two parts...an upper half and a lower half.....the valve cover has a lip that covers the upper half timing belt cover...Oh yeah,,,its not a timing chain..its a timing belt.
Since you are already going to have to remove the valve cover,,,take the time to check and adjust each valve.. If your in spec leave them alone..
If the "UP" is to the top, wouldn't that mean that cylinder #1 is at TPC?
I also read if you have a cylinder compression tester and use it on cylinder #1. Once it starts to register compression the "UP" should be close to the top..
What you think??
Thanks
Just like the manual says,,,if the "UP" is at the top of the cam pully you are at Top Dead Center on the compression stroke. Also look closely on the camshaft (back) side of the pully,,you will see 2 marks/lines across from each other. These lines should be in line with the top of the deck of the head,,,(where the valve cover sits when it is in place). There should be a picture in the manual for reference.
That explains it. There is a lip on the cover so it has to be removed. I did go to the dealer and picked up the gasket for the cover and I'm still waiting for the parts from majestic Honda. They have great prices. Also picked up Honda coolant fluid and taking back the Prestone coolant because of what I read. I'm going to hopefully do this next Friday. While I'm at it I'm going to replace the front struts (rear already done). Wish me luck!
lol At least it wasnt that big of a mistake you did.. you could have done something stupid..really stupid. 
Re: $420.00 lesson learned 
