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First post for me. Recently purchased a 2002 Civic LX Automatic Transmission ~130k Miles. Previous owner had some maintenance records and nothing indicated that the timing belt had been replaced. So I bought a Honda Timing Belt, Water Pump, Tensioner, thermostat, radiator cap, and coolant. Figured might as well do it all in one swoop. I had done this same repair on a 95 civic that I owned in the past, but that was many years ago. So I definitely needed a refresher. So while looking for DIY guides I came across this forum. Thank you all for the great write ups on Timing Belt Replacements and lots of other interesting things!

When I replaced the Timing Belt on the '95 I was able to get the crank pulley bolt loose fairly easily by blocking the flywheel with a screw driver. No such luck today. Spent about 3 hrs fighting with it, finally gave up and checked local part stores. Auto Zone had one available for loan. Literally took 3 minutes to get it loose with the tool!

Although I have said and been told this many times in the past, maybe, just maybe, I will actually follow these words myself in the future :P The right tools for a job make the job infinitely easier!

So, I will have to finish this up over the weekend. Thank you all again for the wealth of information on this site. I have spent many hours on here the last week or so, reading about all kinds of things beyond the Timing Belt DIY guides. I hope to be able to contribute something useful in the future!

-Nimbus

 
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glad it worked well for you and thanks for the kind words!

 
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Finished up this morning before heading over to the family's for Thanksgiving! Spent a lot of time cleaning everything as I went along. Will post some pictures of the engine compartment this weekend, wish I had taken some before pictures for a comparison. Since it wasn't going to get done in one day and with my work schedule only allowing me a few hours of daylight a week at this time of year. Kind of went overboard, wiping everything down by hand and/or cleaning with hand brushes, soaking anything with any rust overnight. Went as far as running ALL the fasteners through dies afterwards to clean up the threads etc. Got to keep the project alive in the evenings on the basement bench that way :P

Only thing I would add to the other Timing Belt DIYs, would be to purchase a Lower Timing Cover Gasket, 11831-PLC-000, as well. The on this vehicle was a little brittle. I soaked it in some silicone spray and it rejuvenated some what. Enough to hold its form in the channel. It seemed to seal back up and since as far as I know it is just for keeping out grime, I think it will still serve its purpose as is.

If anyone has an opinion to the contrary, I'd like to hear about it!

Overall, very pleased with how this project turned out. There are some other items I am planning on replacing in the near future. I may try to make a contribution by putting together a proper DIY for whatever I do next.

-Nimbus

 
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I wish my engine bay was that clean, without all the work needed to make it that clean!

 
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I hope your tensioner pulley kit came from Honda.

Too many premature catastrophic failures (including bent valves) have been reported here in this forum (and others), some people even installed units from well known brand names that failed prematurely....
Some didn't even make it to the next oil change.



Make sure all your recalls have been done too!

 
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: ) Prior owner must have been driving on dirt roads with how dirty everything was under there before, literal dirt. Really wish I had grabbed a before picture. The airbox had a decent amount of dirt settled in it as well, looked almost like a dried out riverbed. But the air filter was surprising clean comparatively, since been replaced anyways. In cabin Air Filter was disgusting as well. It may of never been changed!

 
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Yes! All OEM from Honda except for valve cover gasket kit, priced out between https://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com/ and https://www.hondapartsnow.com/. https://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com/ won out on pricing, so I went with them. From all my reading on the forum, two truths for the 7th Gens seem to be....It's always the head gasket! :P and trust only OEM Honda parts when it comes to engine components.

I had not done that, but just did. No open recalls based on http://owners.honda.com/service-maintenance/recalls.

On a side note, thank you ezone for all the information you have put out there on the forum. I have learned a bunch from your posts as I have lurked around for the last month or so : )

-Nimbus