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Hey All,

I'm new to this forum and new to Honda, I've always had VW before this. I have a 2005 Civic, my AC compressor just went out and when I had that replaced they gave me a list of other items I need to do (of course). As I haven't done work on Hondas before, I'd like to ask a few questions...

First, timing belt is up for replacement. I just hit 105k, which is the Honda recommended. How long can I wait before doing this one? Is it pretty straight forward or do I need to take it in. From what I've found removing and installing the belt isn't too bad, but I'm not sure in regards to making sure the timing is right.

They also listed that my suspension knocks and front suspension bushings are shot. Would replacing the bushings fix the knock or does the suspension need to be replaced? I don't plan on having the car longer than another 2 years so I'm wondering if I can just ride this one out, not sure what could happen though, any insight on this?

The last thing is that my steering wheel is loose. When looking into this I found a lot on tightening up the steering, but this is literally just the steering wheel. is this a pretty easy thing to do?

Lastly, is there a recommended repair manual for this car? Hayes, Chilton, etc?

I know this is long, but trying to give as much info as possible.


Thanks,
Tim

 
Rep Power: 511

Depending on your mechanical ability, the timing belt can be pretty straightforward, but you have to be meticulous while lining everything up. Also, you need a Honda/Acura crank pulley holding tool to do it. I'd recommend doing it yourself, so long as you're confident in your mechanical ability. Dealerships charge about $650 for the job, you can knock it out for $183 (or $250 if you want your parts sent next day FedEx), and probably 4-6 hours, depending on how slow you wanna go.

For your bushings, I'd replace those and see what that fixes from there. I don't quite know where the knock is coming from, so I can't really answer that question.

Steering wheel? Got nothing. lol

And on top of grabbing one of those Haynes manuals from say, autozone or something, I'd take a look around the forum to see what we got in the way of DIY guides. I personally have a Haynes manual, and I use it often, but if we have a guide on the forums, then I just use the manual for extra guidance and/or torque specs.

Check out the head gasket link in my signature as well as this link: https://www.civicforums.com/forums/1...-belt-diy.html
They're a LOT more in depth than what you need, but there is some good information there regarding timing belt/head gasket jobs. In the link in my sig, there's a parts list for a timing belt job.

I'd recommend getting the parts from wither www.hondaautomotiveparts.com or www.hondapartscheap.com. The former of the two links is where I got the price approximation I listed above

 
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How mechanically inclined are you? I would say a tb is pretty involved considering most other things.

To tigten the steering wheel bolt you need to remove the airbag. Make sure you follow the correct procedures that way you dont have the airbag going off.

 
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Thanks for the replies. I'm moderately mechanically inclined, but I've never done a timing belt. (I've done oil, brakes, suspension, alternators, radiators, water pumps). I'm a bit worried on this one as if I mess it up, it could cost me good $$ to get the engine fixed, but other than that aspect I'm not worried about it. Also the time piece. I've read 4-6 hours and I've read at least a day for the first time doing this job. I'm just over 105k right now at 105700, I'm looking at doing it in a couple of weeks if I do it myself, or waiting until August if I have to pay someone to do it. Anyone see an issue with going slightly past the suggested mileage for this repair? I'll take a look for a DIY on removing the airbag to tighten up the steering wheel, that doesn't sound too bad at all. Thanks for all the info!

Tim

 
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I was worried about doin my timing belt myself, too. That said, I just did it and realized that it was a lot easier than I thought, just a bit time consuming and intimidating. Make sure to double and triple check the timing alignment. Oh, and I didn't change my timing belt til 127k miles. I think you'll be fine

 
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Sorry to bring back an old thread, but I'm having trouble determining what all parts I'm going to need/want to replace. For the timing belt, do I just want the TENSIONER SET, TIMING BELT, or there are covers, bolts, guides, etc. Do I need to replace any of that? Gaskets that should be done at the same time? For the water pump, I see the pump and two o-ring's, one says "Yamada", which one of the o-ring's do I need, or both?

Thanks,
Tim

 
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If you order #3 on the drawing, it'll include an o-ring. Check out the headgasket link in my sig, I have a parts list for replacing your timing belt included in the first post, just above the tools list. If you don't feel like clicking it, you really just need the timing belt, tensioner, and water pump. If the crank pulley looks like crap, then replace that if you want.

 
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Thanks for the info. I went to the link, but I must be blind as I didn't see the parts list, but from what you're saying, the Timing Belt/Tensioner Kit is good. Then the Water Pump and that comes with my o-ring. For the crank pulley, is that something a local shop should have? I don't want order it in case I don't need it and I'm presuming it'll be ok. Lastly for tools, I'm thinking torque wrench, socket set, breaker bar and that Honda/Acura crank pulley tool, am I missing anything else there? I've heard it's quite difficult to get off, does the crank pulley tool help significantly and is it absolutely necessary? I've also heard I can just put the car back on the ground to get it off.

Thanks,
Tim

 
Rep Power: 252

Just so you know.. if you do happen to mess up the timing and your are off one tooth nothing will happen except you will have to pull everying off again.. Engine will just run rough..

Dont be nervous about it.. there is a good DIY on this site.. with pictures and it explains everything you need to know.

It can be done in 4 5 hours, but my first tb it took me Over a day..I was just very careful.. if I had to do it again it wouldnt take more then 3-4 hours.

Having the right tools is kinda a big deal as getting the crank bolt off is not an easy task, and probably the hardest and most time consuming of the entire job.

 
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Here's some feedback from the TB job I did on my daughters '03 last month. First, there are (at least) 2 excellent DIYs in the DIY forum. I also used a DIY done by a guy named "Big Dave" - links to that are at the bottom. I'm a low-level amature mechanic (1 other prior TB job on a different vehicle), but felt very comfortable with this one after going through all of the DIYs a few times. The 50mm pulley bolt tool is a must - link at the bottom to the one I got on Amazon. Also you should use 1/2" (or bigger) breaker bars and impact socket for the pulley bolt. I used an 8' length of galv pipe as a slip-over extension to the breaker bar, and this made the pulley bolt removal/installation the EASIEST part of the job. A shorter extension might work just as well, but it was just so easy once my hands were 6-7 feet away. Using this extention, it took just one turn to break it free.
But what did take me a really long time was all the rest of it. There is nothing especially difficult, but the parts that need to come off have lots of bolts in unfriendly locations. I did lots of fumbling around figuring out what tool to use. One big lesson that I learned from this job is that tools need to be really well-organized, in order to avoid wasting time searching. You get alternating bolt sizes and will need to switch sockets and wrenches quite often. I had never done a job with so many tool changes, and wish I had good organization of the tools before I started. With tools organized, and knowing the bolts, I could probably do this 5 times faster a second time around.
Here is the one thing that bit me in the butt - HARD. When I refilled the coolant, I THOUGHT I was following the correct procedure for getting air out. Test drove it 5 days in a row, and everything seemed fine with no leaks. But it turned out that I didn't burp it long enough, and had air remaining that caused some 3/4 overheating on my daughters 500 mile trip home, and maybe caused a head gasket problem. With the car now 500 miles away, I'm still trying to get my daughter through the air purge procedure. So, you should study the coolant refill procedure carefully, because if not done correctly and long enough, it can result in a whole new problem that you didn't have before the job began
If you review the DIYs a few times, you should begin to feel comfortable with this job. If there's anything that bothers you, try to figure it out from another source before you begin the job. If you're stuck on something after the job begins, you can get help on this forum. Another key thing is to not be rushed on this job. It would be a REALLY bad thing to hurry the reassembly because you need to use car. If you follow the instructions and don't rush anything, the job will work out fine. Good luck with it!

 
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I guess it would be kind of hard to find the list if you're just skimming it, but in case you want part numbers, here's the part that pertains to you that I have in that thread
and I'd say the crank pulley removal tool is a pretty vital tool to have. Even with the holding tool, it took a 160-lb me jumping on the end of a home-made 3-4-foot breaker bar (really just a pipe slipped over the end of a 2-foot 1/2-drive breaker bar) to break that thing loose. I wish you the best of luck if you wanna try to use your transmission and your tires (actually, tire.. you'd most likely have the driver side tire off) to hold it still. Hopefully nothing breaks.

Granted, you're not doing a HG change, but I'd give my thread a thorough read through. There's some good in the first post.