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2003-2007 Honda Accord J30 V6 Timing Belt Replacement DIY procedure

Discussion in 'Tilted Gear' started by telekinetic, Aug 29, 2011.

  1. telekinetic

    telekinetic Vertical

    I spent my weekend doing some maintenance on my Accord, and found the internet sorely lacking in useful timing belt writeups. I figured I'd record what I did for posterity while I still remembered it--I feel like I'm missing doing something with the timing belt idler pulley, I will have to look at the manuals and try to remember.

    I just jotted this down from memory just now, when I have time *(as long as I have the ability to edit this) I will add all the diagrams, tools, and and torque specs, so you can do this job completely from this thread. This is specific to a 2006 Accord V6 sedan with a J30A5, but should generalize to all J-series Honda V6's.

    My part cost was about $240 for timing belt, tensioner, and water pump from Honda, $60 for NGK plugs from Autozone, and $15 for coolant. A dealer quote on this procedure is around $1200-$1400, so decide if spending 10-12 hours working on your car and scratching up your hand is worth the $1100 potential savings.

    Break the passenger side lugs
    Jack the car and support on jackstands stands
    Disconnect the battery
    Disconnect the grounding strap to the motor mount bracket
    Release tension on drive belt tensioner and slip serpentine belt off
    Remove PS pump ( 2x 12mm) and res, leaving connected if possible—I broke my res
    Support motor
    Remove engine mount bridging bracket (1 x big bolt sideways, 2 x medium bolts on top)
    Remove chassis side motor mount on chassis (2 x 14mm)
    Remove drive belt tensioner-1 x 12mm? + the 14mm ‘axle’ bolt from the idler
    Remove upper timing covers (5x 10mm each…4 perimeter, one hiding in the middle)
    Disconnect wiring harness from engine side motor mount (1 x 10mm)
    Remove engine side motor mount—3 x LONG 14mm, all from the side
    Remove spark plugs: front engine cover off with two flathead plastic screws, coils disconnect with a plug and come out with an allen key. To get to the rear bank of plugs you need to ‘build’ your extension in two 3” pieces as you feed it into the head rather than use one 6”.
    Align forward cam gear’s #1 with timing mark by turning the crank pulley with a 19mm. Verify rear cam is also at notch.
    Break tension on crank pulley bolt with 19mm—good luck.
    Remove crank pulley, taking care not to lose woodruff key
    Remove lower timing cover (7x 10mm)
    Remove timing belt drive pulley dustcover
    Thread 6mm - 1.0 x 40mm into boss below rear timing gear to keep timing belt tensioner stationary
    Mark timing belt with paint pen at each cam gear and at crank gear—you’ll need to pick a point to mark on the crank gear and do so.
    Remove the timing belt idler pulley’s center bolt and idler
    Remove timing belt.
    Remove timing belt tensioner pulley—can’t remember if this is 1 bolt or 2, but it’s at least the center of the idler and its bushing.
    Remove the auto tensioner—2 x 12mm
    Drain the coolant—there is a finger-spigot right under the front bumper to drain the radiator, and what looks like a large bleed screw right above the oil filter on the back of the block. You’ll need a hose to not make a mess with that one—1/4” x 2’ should do
    Remove the water pump—5 x 10mm, then pry with a flathead
    Install new water pump
    Reinstall timing belt tensioner pulley
    Install new timing belt tensioner. Leave pin for now.
    Transfer the paint marks from the old timing belt to the new. This is easier if you make one mark arbitrarily (I started with the rear cam mark), then lay the two belts out next to eachother on their flat sides to find the distance to the next mark, and the one after that.
    Reinstall timing belt starting at the crank sprocket, making sure to align all paint marks.
    Remove pin from timing belt tensioner, then yank the pin HARD to release tension—this required pliers, sweat and swearing for me.
    Thread crank pully bolt into crank sprocket and cycle through 720 degrees of crank rotation to make sure the crank and both cam pulleys hit TDC #1 at the same times.
    Install lower timing cover (7x 10mm)
    Install timing belt dust cover
    Install crank pulley. Torque to 47lbs, mark the bolt and the pulley with paint pens, and then turn the bolt another 60°---this takes about 180ft-lbs.
    Install motor side motor mount bracket, attaching wiring harness
    Install upper timing covers, front and rear (5 x 10mm each)
    Install power steering pump and res
    Install chassis-side motor mount and motor mount bridge piece
    Install serpentine belt tensioner and idler
    Install serpentine belt by taking pressure from tensioner with a 14mm and a breaker bar on the tensioner pulley nut pushed towards the rear of the car
    Install spark plugs
    Refill radiator (be sure to close the drains first) and overflow with coolant—about 1.7 gallons.
    Reconnect battery
    Start car, re-add fluid as needed.
    Tend wounds, congratulate self.
     
    • Like Like x 2
  2. ralphie250

    ralphie250 Fully Erect Donor

    Location:
    At work..
    some people dont have 10-12 hours to do this as you say. do you know how much is actually labor cost from the dealer? i shouldnt have been more than 500.00
     
  3. telekinetic

    telekinetic Vertical

    Depending on the dealer, the total installed cost seems to vary from $1000 to $1600...not sure what percentage of that is labor vs parts. I got my parts essentially at dealer cost (except my spark plugs) and still spent $300 to change out plugs, tensioner, t-belt, and water pump.
     
  4. ralphie250

    ralphie250 Fully Erect Donor

    Location:
    At work..
    realisticlly i would think labor should (note should) be no more than 500 to 600 dollars and that is at 100 per hour. i have a hard time finding that a dealer would charge $1600.00 to do that work. im not saying that you wernt quoted that but thats high ashell
     
  5. Innocentmiss

    Innocentmiss Getting Tilted

    I wouldn't put it past a dealer to charge over the odds for a job most cant/ wont do at home. I was quoted £1200 for an essential job on my car and told it would take about 10 hours to complete but might need two mechanics at times ( do it or write car off kinda job). I was told it could only be done by dealer due to specialist tools/ settings/ computer programming. I couldn't afford it so I bought the part (from a different dealer who would sell it to me). I had my car in bits and the new part fitted in under 40 mins! It took another 30 mins or so to put the car back together and I had a fully working car for under £200. I had no real idea what I was doing just a general knowledge of where the part was located and it was the first job I have done independently. I managed to do the whole job with a screwdriver a 10mm socket and a small pink claw hammer. The hardest part was taking out the passenger seat so I had room to work!
     
  6. ralphie250

    ralphie250 Fully Erect Donor

    Location:
    At work..
    as i work in a dealer, the manufactures are making it harder for the average joe to work on their own car, as independant dealers. some of the newer cars ahve so many modules it not funny. sometimes when you repalce a part you ahve to have a computer with the right software to update it
     
  7. Innocentmiss

    Innocentmiss Getting Tilted

    Yea I was told that the part had to be coded to my car once installed or my car wouldn't ever start or run again.......ummm well it does and it was changed a year ago! I agree about making it harder, a lot of 'small' jobs on my car 'need' the engine to be dropped! (My other half tends to curse and swear, skin knuckles and make unique tools to do the job!)