duckbill wrote:
> Elle has a lot of good points. I'm in the middle of a timing belt change
> on my daughter's 98 Civic Ex with 99,000 miles. The timing belt was 8
> years old and still looked perfect. But, I guess it could have snapped at
> any moment. I would not let a generic repair shop touch and learn on my
> Honda. A dealer or someone who specializes in Honda / Acura would fit the
> bill if I was not doing it myself. My goal was to replace many parts that
> still had some life in them to help ensure no major problems in the next
> 100,000 miles. I plan on replacing the alternator or brushes at 150,000
> miles. The crankshft pulley was the tightest I have ever seen. I had to
> purchase a new impact socket and boost the pressure to 150 psi on my
> Ingersoll Rand Impact wrench (600+ ft pounds of torque).

what size air line are you using? they only reach that kind of torque
with fat line as the skinny stuff has too much flow resistance - it
tends to be a little elastic too and that drops pressure low in pulses,
which of course you can't see on a gauge as it's too transient.

i use the proper pulley wheel holder, a 3/4" drive, breaker bar and body
weight solution. bolt comes free at about 300 - 350 ft.lbs.

> I also had a
> major problem trying to remove the dipstick tube so I could remove the
> timing belt covers (it's posted 2 days ago under the Honda heading in this
> forum. I'm replacing the TB tensioner, water pump, fuel filter and Air
> Filter. I found the lower drivers side motor mount bad. Changing all
> belts, plugs (NGK), Distributor Cap and Rotor is what I'm doing. Don't go
> cheap on this and you will get a lot of additional miles out of your Honda.
> Changing the transmission fluid is also a must. Good luck.
>
>