1995 Prelude SE timing belt

It's time for timing belt service on my 1995 Prelude SE (H23A 2.3 liter engine). The belts/water pump, etc. were last replaced in early 2000, about

60k miles ago. This time around, I'd like to do it myself. I have the factory manual from Helm, but I'm wondering if anyone here has any tips or tricks that might save time and frustration. I know I need to replace the timing belt, balancer belt and water pump. In addition, I know there is at least one seal behind the timing cover that is slowly leaking oil, so I'll need to replace that as well. The local shop would charge around $500 for all of this, and while that's not a bad price per se, I love to save money when I can.

Any tips or suggestions are welcome and appreciated (especially concerning the seals), including "just take it to the shop anyway."

Reply to
Andy M.
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How much hands on mechanical experience have you? If none, this job is probably not for you. If

I suggest figuring out how you are going to free the crankshaft pulley bolt, and then spending one day freeing it, first. This is probably the biggest hurdle. The site

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reviews all the options I've seen, though its author and I disagree on several points made there. My site at
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also discusses some of the tools one can make or purchase. Of course, if you haven't time to fool with this your best bet is your local mechanic freeing the bolt for you, snugging it up just enough for the drive home, and then you tipping him/her ten bucks or more.

Two shaft seals are typically replaced simultaneous to replacing the timing belt:

The camshaft oil seal, item 36, at

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The front crankshaft seal (also known as the oil pump seal), item 29, at
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I used an ordinary corkscrew to remove these, though the first time was a bit tricky.

This group's regulars has much experience with this job. If you get stuck, you can ask here, and someone will probably chime in with a solution.

"Andy M." wrote

Reply to
Elle

Due to some work delays, I haven't been able to get started on this job until now. In going through the Helm manual, one of the steps is to (I'm paraphrasing here), "remove two rear bolts from center beam to allow engine to drop and allow clearance to remove lower cover." In the illustrations, it does not show what the "center beam" is. I know under the car is a structural member than runs fore-to-aft, but I don't recall that it supports the engine. In any event, does anyone know what the "center beam" is? Thanks in advance for the assist.

Reply to
Andy M.

"Andy M." wrote

Item 1 in the drawing at the link below:

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Reply to
Elle

Exactly the piece I was thinking of. Thanks for the help, as well as the previous explanations.

Reply to
Andy M.

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