Just completed my first timing belt change

[sythe21]

I wanted to say thanks to Eric for the Accord timing belt video. I must have watched that video 3 times, but there is no way I could have accomplished the job without his help. Great site, keep the videos coming!

Ryan

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[Redeemer]

Congrats on the change!

[dreamer2355]

Congrats and welcome to the forums!

[peelout40]

I’m nervous about doing a timing belt change myself…I have a 99 eclipse that needs it, but it’s got a bit more room to work with on top and around the front of the engine bay so I’ll be re-re-re-watching Eric’s timing belt vid. Congrats!

[twiggy]

Welcome and congrats on your timing belt change. I am trying to talk myself into doing a timing belt change on a 2000 Toyota Sienna which will due on a few months. It’s scary but I really want to learn.

[sythe21]

An extra step that I did was to mark the old belts and gears in various places with white out. Then I took the old belt off and matched the new belt with the exact same marks. When I installed the new belt, I made sure all the white marks aligned. It really gave me peace of mind that the timing was correct. When replacing all the seals, it’s pretty easy to accidentally move a gear out of alignment.

Also, Eric put the lower cover on before installing the timing belt on the cam gear and I definitely did not have that kind of confidence. I put all the belts back on before putting the lower cover on.

[Shaun_300]

Welcome to the forums and congrats on the first timing belt change. They can be a little tricky. All of the ones I work on at the GM dealer are DOHC so you have an extra camshaft to line up. Great idea marking the old belt and matching it up with the new one, never thought of that. That’d definitely guarantee you getting it on the right way.

[Author]

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