2002 Honda Civic EX Timing Belt Change
 

I just bought my mother-in-laws 2002 Honda Civic. It only has 78,000 miles on it. I debated on where or not to do a timing belt replacement b/c of low miles. Since it is past the 7 year mark and well on its way past 10 years. I decided to do a DIY replacement.

My progress thus far is I have gotten the bolt off. I can see the timing belt and it looks like it is in great condition. I suppose it should still be replaced???

I am having problems finding the pointer on oil pump mark. I can't seem to be able to locate it??


Also I bought a timing belt from NAPA . The man at the store seemed unsure if this was the exact one needed. It is Mitsuboshi CD312. I have no idea is OE or not. Any suggestions??

Re: 2002 Honda Civic EX Timing Belt Change
 

I did my 02 EX with just about the same amount of miles at the 9 year mark. I went with OE replacement parts bought online. I replaced the drive belts, timing belt, water pump, timing belt pulley and spring, cam and crank seals. I also replaced the valve cover gasket and spark plug tube seals. I checked my valve clearances as well since I was already there. Everything looked fine when I replaced them. That's why they call it preventive maintenance. Things should be replaced before they go bad, not after when they may cause massive amounts of damage.

If I were you I would have gotten all this material together before starting the job.

You may need to clean the pump off to find it, but the arrow for TDC is part of the oil pump casting. There is just a line notch on the crank piece that the belt rides on.

Do a search for 7th gen timing belt change on youtube. One guy has an OK video on how to change the timing belt and what to look for. I'd never follow it, but then again I knew what I was doing when I did my timing belt and associated components.

Watch out for that recessed timing belt cover bolt. I broke my lower timing belt cover because I didn't get that bolt out. So did the guy in the video, but he never realized it.

Good luck!

Re: 2002 Honda Civic EX Timing Belt Change
 

STOP! don't go any further! return that belt to NAPA. This is a critical part of your motor and you don't want to buy it from some parts store guy who can't look stuff up on computers. I never trust any part store guy to look up stuff for me. Especially NAPA, everyone working there seem to be particularly retarded, especially when it comes to import stuff.

Get a HONDA belt. There are a few websites where you can get original OEM stuff at reasonable prices.

Re: 2002 Honda Civic EX Timing Belt Change
 

hondapartscheap.com and hondaautomotiveparts.com is where I order OEM stuff from

Re: 2002 Honda Civic EX Timing Belt Change
 

Napa is fine. Most belts you get from Honda dealerships tend to be aftermarket anyway. Mitsubishi is a good brand.