[jolsen2011Pilot]

I did some digging on this site and wasn't able to find a thread that addressed the issue I am having. Here goes.

I started the process of replacing the timing belt on my 2011 pilot and got everything tore down and removed the crank bolt. I started the process of establishing TOD by turning the crank bolt counterclockwise. once I got started, I realized that I had removed the woodruff key and consequently the belt and cams were not rotating; only the crank itself was turning. I had it in my head that the woodruff key was only for the benefit of the harmonic balancer. In a panic, I kept going with turning the crank bolt clockwise until the woodruff key could be inserted. The catch is as I approached 12 o clock, the crank bolt jumped forward and I kept going for 2nd full 360 revolution before i was able to get the woodruff key in position.

What should I do at this point? How can I confirm that crank position is where it should be relative to the cams? Make sense?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[STMech]

I did some digging on this site and wasn't able to find a thread that addressed the issue I am having. Here goes.

I started the process of replacing the timing belt on my 2011 pilot and got everything tore down and removed the crank bolt. I started the process of establishing TOD by turning the crank bolt counterclockwise. once I got started, I realized that I had removed the woodruff key and consequently the belt and cams were not rotating; only the crank itself was turning. I had it in my head that the woodruff key was only for the benefit of the harmonic balancer. In a panic, I kept going with turning the crank bolt clockwise until the woodruff key could be inserted. The catch is as I approached 12 o clock, the crank bolt jumped forward and I kept going for 2nd full 360 revolution before i was able to get the woodruff key in position.

What should I do at this point? How can I confirm that crank position is where it should be relative to the cams? Make sense?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

I will try to sort this out. First, this is what I think you are saying happened:

1.You removed the woodruff key without removing the timing belt or crank toothed pulley
2.You then replaced the crank bolt and turned the crank clockwise as the toothed pulley and valve train slipped
3.You then realigned and replaced the woodruff key, and you want to retime the valve train.

First, it sounds like you may have forced the crank around while the cams were out of time. If so, there is a chance that you now have some bent valves.

I am assuming that you did not allow the timing belt to jump out of position--skip a tooth--on any of the toothed pulleys. If you tried to crank the engine counter-clockwise, I can just about guarantee that you skipped out of position.

To check valve timing: with the crank (woodruff key) in 12 o'clock, look at the top center of the forward cam pulley. It should read either 1 or 5. The firing order is 1-4-2-5-3-6. Any other number indicates that the cams are out of time. If you are just a tooth or two out of position, you can probably just reset the cam after you remove the timing belt.

To repeat, with the crank at top dead center, the forward cam should have either 1 or 5 at top dead center.

To check the rear cam pulley, when the front cam pulley is TDC at 1, you can see a little marker slot in the face of that pulley, right above the 1. If the rear pulley is right, you will also see the same little marker at TDC on the rear pulley.

Google Timing Honda J Engine and look for videos. There's good info out there.