How to Change the Timing Belt on a Honda CRV

Replacing the timing belt on a Honda CRV is not an easy task; it's much more difficult than removing the other drivebelts. The main difficulty lies in getting to the belt itself, as there are several other parts you'll need to disconnect. If possible, changing the timing belt is a task best left to a professional auto expert.

Things You'll Need

• Jack stands
• Floor jack
• Lug wrench
• Socket wrench
• Breaker bar and sockets
• Pressure gauge
• Timing belt

Instructions

Accessing the Belt

1. Unplug the battery's negative (black) cable. Apply the parking brake and block the rear wheels. Raise the front end of the car on jack stands and remove the left (driver's side) wheel. Remove the splash shield below the engine by disconnecting its fasteners.

2. Remove the drivebelts by loosening the tensioners (rotate the tensioner bolt clockwise with a socket wrench). Unbolt and remove the power steering pump without disconnecting its hoses. Disconnect and remove the alternator and the valve cover.

3. Support the engine with a floor jack, placing a wood block on the jack to prevent damaging the pan. Remove the engine mount bracket on the upper left side

4. Position the engine's number one piston at its top down center position as described in Section 2.

5. Disconnect the camshaft position sensor and the side engine mount bracket so you can remove the upper timing belt cover. Loosen the crankshaft pulley bolt with a socket and breaker bar, and remove the pulley from the crankshaft to remove the lower belt cover. Remove the crankshaft position sensor.

Top Down Center

1. Remove the spark plugs from the engine. Remove each ignition coil by disconnecting its electrical connector and removing its mounting nut. Use a ratchet with a spark plug socket to remove the plugs from the engine. Install a compression gauge into cylinder number one's spark plug hole.

2. Disable the fuel system. Remove the gas cap, remove the engine cover and loosen the pulsation damper by a full turn.

3. Attach a ratchet or breaker bar and socket to the bolt on the crankshaft. Turn the crankshaft until compression registers on the gauge. Slowly turn the crankshaft again until the top down center notch aligns with the pointer on the timing belt cover.

Changing the Belt

1. Loosen the timing belt's tensioner bolt on the center pulley with the socket and breaker bar. Push on the tensioner to release the tension and slip the belt off the pulleys.

2. Make sure the sprockets are in the right position. Align the camshaft sprocket so the part with the word "up" is at the 12 o'clock position. Temporarily put the crankshaft pulley and bolt back on to turn the crankshaft until its sprocket's timing mark aligns with the pointer on the oil pump.

3. Install the new belt around the crankshaft sprocket first, followed by the tensioner pulley, the water pump pulley and the camshaft sprocket.

4. Loosen the tensioner's mounting bolt with a 180-degree turn so the tensioner can slightly tension the belt. Turn the crankshaft counterclockwise two full times and check its timing marks and the camshaft sprocket's index marks to make sure everything is aligned. Insert a 0.12-inch diameter pin into into the tensioner pulley's holes and tighten the mounting bolt to 33 foot-pounds.

5. Remove the pin from the pulley and install all the other parts in the reverse order of removal. Adjust the drivebelts as necessary, tighten the fuel pulsation damper with new sealing washers and reconnect the battery.

References

• Chilton Honda Civic and CR-V Repair Manual; 2004