Honda Car Forum

What other parts need to be changed or closely inspected when I change the
timing belt? I have heard that the water pump should be changed at the same
time but what else... tensioner, any seals or gaskets, etc. Thanks in
advance for the help. Also is there any one brand, for belt or water pump,
that you guys would recommend. Thanks.

I think most feel the tensioner need not be done every
timing belt change, but certainly by about every second or
even third.

I agree with folks who say to do the crankshaft and camshaft
oil seals (just under the sprockets, or thereabouts. The
parts are a few dollars. The labor, maybe another hour for a
skilled newbie.

Never heard of a particular brand of TB to use. For the
water pump, I'd go OEM. You might want to do a mass order
from www.hondaautomotiveparts.com or www.slhonda.com. Best
prices on the net, usually, all OEM, and almost always much
cheaper than the dealer.

My 91 Civic is on its original tensioner at 175k miles. I
change it for the first time next year.

"AL" <allenw26@yahoo.com> wrote
> What other parts need to be changed or closely inspected
> when I change the timing belt? I have heard that the
> water pump should be changed at the same time but what
> else... tensioner, any seals or gaskets, etc. Thanks in
> advance for the help. Also is there any one brand, for
> belt or water pump, that you guys would recommend.
> Thanks.

I would recommend changing your tensioner. Once they hit around 150,000
miles you're on borrowed time. Sometimes they give a little warning
noise, most times they don't. The tensioner is operating in a high heat
environment with very little cooling. The grease in the bearing gives up
and dries out. My 95 Civic's tensioner at 192,500 was as dry as a
bone......Replaced this week!
The consequences of a frozen tensioner is likely a destroyed engine on a
honda. A locked up tensioner will burn out the belt (due to friction) in
short order. The big reason I have been on this timing belt "trip" is I
lost my timing belt on my 89 Mazda MPV V6 van (with only 35,000 miles on
the belt). On Dec 25th, 2004 the engine died with no noise, 250 miles from
home, due to a locked up timing belt idler pulley(174,000 total miles on
the van). At 139,000 miles, everything felt fine. The belt destroyed the
hdraulic tensioner, made the crank seal leak, and destroyed the belt
covers. It killed my Christmas Break. But the van had a non-interference
engine, so it's still running today. It ended up being my very first post
on mpvclub.com 89-98 forum. What a story that was!