I need to change the water pump (and all belts with it) but I don’t see a good way to take off and reinstall the main pulley without Honda’s special tools. I already called a couple of places, no dice.
The special tools are #3, 4, and 6 in the attached image. I can deal with the smaller socket and a torque wrench, of course, but tool #6 is a 50mm hex drive (male offset wrench), hollow through the center to allow the torque wrench through. This holds the pulley for counter-torque. There are no holes in the pulley, so no real alternative.
Can somebody help me with this tool, please? Maybe somebody will do some or all of the job for $$$? I just don’t want to pay dealer prices for all the parts I’m going to need, and I don’t know who else might have the ability to deal with this pulley properly.
If you don’t know how to remove the crank pulley, chances are you are going to have a hard time with timing and such. Find someone that knows what they are doing and get them to help you.
I got myself a pretty good impact wrench. I’m not worried about getting it off, after all there are lots of ways. I see that the thread and engine rotation are right to just block a breaker bar in there with a short socket, then hopefully break it free by cranking the engine (without spark). The breaker bar fits in there very nicely against a forward frame element.
The trouble I expect is in getting it torqued on properly afterward. My 1/2" torque wrench, affordable Chinese trash, goes up to 150; Honda wants 181. I could buy a better one for $200, but that’s not practical. Even the 3/4" TW at HFT costs $70. And then there’s no good way to provide countertorque without the special tool, except through the transmission. I’ll try jamming the rotor studs against the caliper, maybe, but then it’s an automatic, so I don’t know if it’ll grab enough. A friend could stand on the brakes I guess. I also have a strap wrench that I might modify; might be enough on that big pulley.
So why do you two think I’ll have trouble with the timing? I haven’t read up yet, but I’ve done this on two 4cyl and an L6 before, and nothing changes. Match the marks, tension the belt, reassemble, run with the test jumper, turn the alternator until the right mark lines up. Anyway, I have the factory service manual.
I remember removing that bolt from my old Civic (twice). I did that without the benefit of heat and an impact wrench, but at least it had some holes in the pulley that I could work with.
Ok, so if you’ve done this before, then you should be all set. Just remember - it’s a honda. So all you have to do is use an impact to take it off (And any decent impact should pull it off without even using anything to lock the crank in place). And when you are done, use the same impact to drive it on tight. Done. Don’t waste any more time or effort with anything else. A whole new d15 or d16 can be had for less than a new impact gun.
Wow, I was a bit worried about putting it on with an impact wrench, but then that doesn’t matter if it never has to come off again, which is more than likely. Still, 625 ft-lb is a lot more than 181. I’ll see what it says about the lower settings, or using lower air pressure. Should be simple arithmetic to get close, right?
People keep hinting that Honda engines and transmissions are cheap and plentiful. Where does one look? For example, someone said that a '90 Acura 6-speed tranny that went with the 2.7l v6 will fit this Accord neatly. Where would I find that cheap? Junkyards? Just dreaming anyway. This would be a sweet ride with a 6-stick and some firmer brakes.