1990LX

How long does this usually take? never done one before....what else should be done while im in there? planning on replacing the 2 other belts as well

zoomersgarage

It's very do-able and user friendly only if you have a little time and the right tools. The time really varies on the tools that you have and the individual. Here is what you'll need to get the job done. a basic set of metric 1/4" and 3/8" sockets and ratchets, a car jack, two jack stands, a 1/2" breaker bar (longest you can find), 1/2" extensions (1 1/2'-to-2' in length), 1/2" metric 17mm 6-point socket, SPTools P/N 11500 cam gear wrench, a pair of safety glasses and a few glasses of tea. Expect a good days worth of work to finish the job and that's it.

BlueEM2

iTrader: (1)

Expect it to take around 8-12 hours if you've never done it before. Don't listen to anyone that tells you it will take a few hours. Total B.S. unless you've done it several times. You will run into issues, and tools that you may not have to your disposal. I guarantee you will run to the shop 3-4 times in the process. Each one of those trips will cost you time.

However, it's a straightforward job and you should be able to complete it if your prepared and know what your getting yourself into

TheRepairMan

I'm at a temporary dead stop on mine right now. Got the valve cover off and ran a valve adjustment, then got the mounts and accessory belts and brackets out of the way. Lowered the engine enough to get my short 17mm 6 point impact socket and 1/2" drive impact wrench on that rusty front crankshaft bolt... even shot a little Liquid Wrench on the crank bolt. but nada, nothing, she won't budge! I'm going to have to bring in the big artillery I guess and see if that works. Sort of frustrated right now.

A buddy of mine said he had seen the crank bolt on one Civic break off at the crank. I hope I don't have that kind of bad luck.

Update: So after a trip to town to grab my thundergun from work, I hit the crank bolt again, and in a couple of seconds it finally broke loose. It had loctite on the threads, so I cleaned all that out of the end of the crank with spray carb cleaner.

It's easy from here to assess any oil leaks or remove the timing belt and tensioner pulley, as well as the water pump. Just make sure you identify your timing marks and have them all lined up before you take anything else apart.

I had to google my civic's timing mark diagram images on line to make sure I was looking at the right marks for my engine. Doing these timing belts and components are just about as easy as any engine I've ever done, and I highly recommend that you replace everything in there while you're there. Water pump, crank and cam seals, timing belt, and tensioner pulley with spring. It's just not that expensive to do it right, and then not have to worry about it again for a long, long time.

-Roger