How to replace your 03-04 Timing Belt (finally)!!!

[94eg!]

I've had a thread going on Honda-Tech for a while now about replacing the timing belt:

Honda Pilot (03) Timing Belt & Water Pump - Honda-Tech

Of course I didn't have scans of the actual shop manual, so it was never illustrated. Well I finally found copies of the manual that I used to do the job. Here they are along with some tips that I learned from doing the process:

Tips:

- Removing the lower splash guard is pretty easy. The difficult part is that there are about 5 or 6 different types of clips holding it together. Be sure to pop them back in the hole they came out of just after removing them. I had a very difficult time figuring out which ones went where because I just put them all in a pile.

- Removing & installing the AC/Alternator belt is quite difficult. Honda has a special extra long 14mm box-end wrench to lever back the tensioner pulley. I found using the open end of a 14mm combination wrench worked well. This is because I had to slide a pipe handle over the box-end to give enough leverage to let the belt come off. Space is tight and the wrench can easily slip off. My buddy got a nasty pinch when it slipped off so be extremely careful when removing & installing the belt.

- Removing the piece of engine mount-bracket covering the water pump pulley, requires the removal of the large rubber mount on the frame. This was not mentioned in the manual. I could not get any tools to fit into the tight space so it had to come off. The rubber mount is held onto the chassis with 3 14mm bolts. You also need to remove the bolt & nut holding the PS pump on because it's covering the 10mm wire harness bolt on the top of the mount-bracket. This was also not mentioned in the manual.

- Removing the crank pulley bolt is a *****. 18" breaker bar and 1/2" ratchet, both with long pipe handles slid over them as cheater bars, still was very difficult to remove. Don't give up...

- You do not need the battery bolt step. Simply un-bolt the auto-tensioner and it will pop right out. Because of this, you won't need to remove the idler pulley and mess w/ lock-tite reinstalling it.

- Water pump goes in & comes out easy. Just be prepared for a rush of coolant. Even after draining the radiator AND block, there was still a flood pouring out when I popped it off.

- Installing the new auto-tensioner was quite difficult. There is very little room so you cannot see what your doing to insert the two bolts. If it seems like the timing belt is too tight to get the new auto-tensioner on, you've got the timing belt slack in the wrong place. Be sure to pull it very tight from the crank to the front cam, and the front cam to the rear cam. Once the belt was tight in those spots, there was plenty of extra push in the tensioner pulley to get the auto-tensioner in place. Torque the nuts and then pull the pin...

Parts I replaced:
- Timing Belt
- Drive Belt
- Water Pump
- Hydraulic Auto tensioner
- Dip Stick O-ring
- You could also replace the idler and tensioner pulleys (but they're expensive)

Onto the good stuff:

Coolant drain & fill (necessary if your doing the water pump):





Timing Belt removal:







Timing Belt Adjuster pulley replacment:



Water Pump replacement:



New Timing Belt Install:













Used Timing Belt install:

[dustino8]

Thanks for the tips! I was thinking of doing this myself the second time around (I had the dealership do it the first time), but your writeup may have discouraged me .

[94eg!]

It is time consuming, but still very doable. I'm good, but far from a pro. I guess it depends on weather or not you can be without your car for a day or so. That is if you run into trouble.

[capt2455]

What are the chances we could get a copy of page 10-7 of the service manual? (I was thinking of just changing the coolant and the above images show page 10-6 and 10-8). (unless steps # 8 through # 20 don't show anything good!) Thanks again for taking the time to post this valuable information!

[archie]

Thanks. A big A+ for the write up.

[rocky]

I just coughed up the cash to have this done, albeit a 7500 miles late. Had the rest of the 105k service done at 105k, but with brakes and tires needing replacement at that same time, something had to give.

Between the two services, the car is running better. As the belt ages, I assume it stretches a little resulting in some fractional change in timing.

[94eg!]

I will be doing my wifes 04 next month (Sep 2011). I will only be doing the belts and dip-stick o-ring, as well as changing the coolant. Of course I will carefully inspect the water pump, idler bearings and the hydraulic tensioner for problems, but these are rare. Should cost around $120 total.

No reason to replace other parts if your doing it yourself. You can always get in there again in half the time if you do develop a leak or an idler bearing starts going bad.

If it aint broke, DON'T FIX IT!

PS: Sorry about the 2 missing pages for the coolant replacement. I must not have gotten them from the dealer. I went back to my papers and couldn't find them.

[mudbog]

Well I've been lurking on this site for a while and recently entered the 100K club. So I decided it was time to do the timing belt +idler +tensioner +water pump, etc.

Great instructions 94eg!. The parts list also helped a lot. I ended up saving about $500 doing the job myself and buying genuine Honda parts online at a discount.

The only part of the procedure I did differently has to do with the removal of the crank pulley bolt. I tried the breaker bar with pipe extension -did not work. I tried a 300 ft-lb. impact wrench -did not work. I went in search of renting a more powerful electric impact wrench -no success. Then I remembered a technique where the starter motor is used to loosen the bolt. Here's what I did:

1)
Place the breaker bar +socket on the bolt and position the breaker bar against the frame rail that is closest to the rear of the car. You have to position the breaker bar on this side of the frame rail since the engine spins clockwise and the bolt has right hand threads.
2)
Stabilize the breaker bar with 2 jackstands -one near the head of the breaker bar, one near the end of the handle.
3)
Unplug all six connectors going to the spark plug coils -to prevent the engine from starting.
4)
Touch the starter "on" by turning the key to the start position momentarily.

It worked like a champ. The bolt was nice and loose. The most difficult part was positioning the jack stands just right so that the breaker bar does not shift when the starter spins the engine.

[jestmaty]

So.... when it comes time to loosen the crank bolt, lefty=loosey is correct, or not?

I'm gonna do this job when it cools down like in November or December and will probably get the crank bolt tool available on the web.

Just wanna know if I turn the bolt backwards, counterclockwise (lefty/loosey), or is this some reverse thread nonsense where if I turn it clockwise to loosen it?

thanks again to the op for the work putting this thread up! Jestmaty

[mudbog]

You turn the crank bolt counter-clockwise to loosen it. I had the crank bolt tool that I bought from Amazon (Schley P/N SCH60100A) but it didn't help with the looseing. If you have a lot of miles on your Pilot and use a breaker bar, be prepared to get out a 3 to 4 foot extension bar. And make sure you support the bottom of the engine with a floor jack. Otherwise, it will twist quite a bit.

P.S. -You'll also need the crank tool and floor jack (supporting the engine) when tightening the bolt to 181 ft-lbs. In addition, I suggest placing a jackstand under the rotating end of the torque wrench to support it when applying pressure.

[sambojoho]

I just completed this procedure on my 2005. It is pretty close to the same, except for the dipstick and drive-belt steps. I used a Haynes manual for some of this, and they screwed up the description of re-install. They specified installing in a clockwise direction for the timing belt, but this gets the slack in the wrong spot, as 94eg! points out. I also had to remove the drive belt tensioner to get at all the bolts for the top timing belt cover. I removed the timing tensioner to free up the belt instead of using the battery bolt, but reinstalled the same one as it seemed to be in good shape. I depressed the piston with a 6" C-clamp, and inserted a small drill bit to hold it in place until installed. I don't think that Honda techs usually replace this automatically do they? Anyone ever had one fail on them?

I had no problem with the crankshaft pulley bolt, as I used a 1000 ft-lb 3/4" impact wrench and a big compressor, which took it right off in less than 2 seconds.

[94eg!]

Good job. I'm glad my thread is helping out!

I found out some interesting info for everyone. You can buy the Koyo tensioner bearings in "Koyo" brand boxes for a little bit less than "Honda" boxes. Amazon sells them for the best prices with free shipping (if they are in stock). This will save about $15 if you really must replace them...

Parts for the 04 Pilot:

Amazon

Amazon

Amazon

Amazon

Even better is that you can also buy the Gates timing belt kit TCK286 (again for the 04) which includes both OEM/Koyo pulleys for only $55 shipped with the belt (complete kit with gates brand pump & hydraulic tensioner TCKWP286 for $202). The nice part is that Gates is the OEM manufacturer of the timing belt for most Japanese honda motors (called Unitta in Asia). I found this out when I received an OEM Integra Type-R timing belt from the dealer with both the Honda & Unitta names printed on it. I looked up Unitta and found it's just the Asian division of Gates. If Honda thought they were good enough for an 9000rpm race engine, I know it's good enough for me. Can't beat that deal really.

Amazon

Amazon

For the pilot, the OEM water pump is made by Yamada. Perhaps these can be found in aftermarket boxes as well for a lot less money. I haven't found one yet, but who knows!

[94eg!]

Well, I just started the t-belt on my wife's 04 this afternoon. I'm taking my time because she and kids are out of town. I forgot what biznach it is to get all those small bolts off that hold on the timing covers. I spent over an hour just getting them off.

BTW: I bought the TCKWP286 timing kit from Gates and I can confirm everything is OEM except the water pump. Pulleys are Koyo, and tensioner is Aisin just like the Honda ones. Belt is Gates, but they make the Honda version as well. I think it cost me $175 shipped with the AC & PS belts tacked on as well from Rockauto.com (with google 5% off coupon code). Can't beat that deal. Were else are you gonna get a timing belt & water pump for less than $200 installed?



Should get it all finished up tomorrow.

[jestmaty]

Good for you!

For some reason, I thought you had already done your tb/wp

I guess with all your help and guidance I'd assumed you were riding along on new 'innards' for a long time

Let us know when you've finished and I'll personally raise a glass of home-brewed beer to celebrate your achievment

[94eg!]

lol... Thanks for the nice words.

The Pilot I worked on before was my Mother-in-laws 03. I did her timing belt & water pump a couple years ago. That's why I had the copies of the shop manual and all the tips. Since that time my wife purchased an 04 with 91k miles on it. It just tipped 105 on my way back from Vegas after Christmas, so I figured I would take care of business while her and the kids stayed behind with family. Funny thing was that a couple years ago the price for the same parts from Honda was $300, and that didn't even include the tensioner & idler bearings (another $75 or more). This kit truly is a great deal.

Everything went very well. Got it all finished up today and went for a couple drives. I took my time, but a few steps were a royal PITA to do all alone (my best friend used be my wing-man back in Vegas). I recently moved to Reno, so I don't have a close friends to assist.

The difficult thing to do alone was threading the timing belt. The rear cam is easily knocked forward and it will SPRING far and scare the pants off you. You just have to roll it back and try again. It's tough cause those valve springs are stiff and you MUST use a box-end to turn the gear.

But by far the most difficult part was actually threading the AC-Alt belt on by myself. You need to push back the tensioner with a long wrench while holding the belt or it will just fall off all the pullies. Total BS, but I got it. New belts are very tight even with the tensioner pushed as far back as possible, and you've got hoses and wire harnesses in the way. FUN FUN FUN.

Totally worth it.

Kudos to Gates for selling such a great kit, and kudos to anyone who tackles this job at home!!!