Hello. My first post.

I'm changing the timing and balancer belts on my 2003 RL.

I have everything off, but have not taken off the belt themselves yet.

My question is : Where is that balancer shaft maintenance hole where you're supposed to insert the temporary 6mm alignment bolt? (see attached diagram). Do I have to remove the power steering pump to get to it? I see what looks like a 12mm bolt behind the AC pump, but it's totally unreachable with the power steering pump on. I can only see it using a mirror!

Also:
I saw that the marks on the balancer belt pulley do not line up every time you put the crankshaft and cam shafts at piston 1 TDC. On one instance the balancer pulley marks do line up. But then if you rotate the crankshaft until piston #1 is again at TDC (it takes 2 crankshart revolutions to do that) but then the balancer pulley marks are offset by 180°. So seems like the balancer pulley's marks line up only every second piston #1 @ TDC position.

 

Ok, in case someone else ever tries to change the timing and balancer belts on their 2003 Acura RL (probably applies to most 1st generation RLs):



I changed the timing and balancer belts without using the balancer shaft alignment port. That port seems to be in a really inaccessible spot. You need robotic surgery hands to get in there.



I think the trick to not using the balancer shaft alignment port is to realize that the balancer pulley is aligned before you take the existing belt off and that the balance pulley does have alignment marks (arrows). The alignment marks match at TDC but ONLY EVERY OTHER TDC ALIGNMENT!



Photo below shows the balancer pulley aligned to its arrow and black tab marks (well, almost aligned).


See black mark on pulley align to arrow on engine block (almost aligned in this case)
Now assuming that the balancer shaft was synchronized, all I had to do was replace the timing and balancer belts making sure that I don't rotate the balancer shaft by a full revolution, or more. Unlike the crankshaft and camshafts which have a lot of friction and tend to stay put when you remove the timing belt, the balancer shaft turns easily once you remove the balancer belt. So it prone to losing its alignment.



So, with that knowledge, I proceeded to change the timing and balancer belts as follows:



With the three timing belt covers removed, before removing timer and balancer belt I turned crankshaft to TDC. In that configuration, the balancer pulley either lines up to its marks, or is 180 degrees off. If it matches ok. If it is 180 off, then turn the crankshaft two turns to the next TDC. Now the balance belt pulley marks should match (as I said if they match on one TDC mark then they are 180 deg off at the next TDC and vice versa).



I carefully removed balancer belt without turning the balancer pulley too much (a few degrees is ok, what you DON’T want is to have it turn a full revolution or more!) and immediately I put some wire tie between the balancer pulley and somewhere on the engine block (I used one of the holes for the timing belt cover bolts) so that the balancer belt could not rotate but a few degrees. With the wire tie keeping the balancer belt from rotating too much I was ready to remove the timing belt.



I removed the timing belt and put a new one. Typically, crankshaft and camshafts don’t move during this operation (they have friction and are hard to turn). If you really yank on the timing belt taking it out the camshafts may rotate a few degrees, but you can just rotate them back to TDC.



Once I installed the timing belt, I lined up the balancer pulley to its marks and installed the balancer belt (as in photo). I had to remove the wire tie to do that, so with the tie gone, I was vulnerable to balancer pulley misalignment. I just made sure that I did not end up rotating the balancer pulley a full revolution (or more)! The balancer pulley goes on easily, so it’s easy to put it on rather quickly without turning the pulley a full revolution. That’s it for synchronizing the balancer pulley.



Finally, a note on how to adjust the tension on the timing belt. I had to rotate crankshaft and camshafts to the point where ALL THE SLACK ENDS UP ON THE TENSIONER. That is a very specific point and it is 10 crankshaft teeth AFTER TDC. So, after I installed the timing belt and the balancer belt, with everything still lined up, I loosened the tensioner and retightened it to get some initial tension, so that nothing would slip. Then I rotated the crankshaft 10 teeth clockwise. This gets all the slack on the tensioner. I loosened the tensioner and retightened it to get the correct tension. Then just to make sure, I rotated the crankshaft about 6 times (three TDCs) to get the belts to seat. Then I rotated the crankshaft 10 teeth one more time, released tensioner and then retightened to get the final tension. Timing belt was nice and tight.



Note: Before I figured out the 10 teeth past TDC position, I got frustrated trying to tighten the timing belt. I would tighten it at many different (random) positions but was never able to take out all the slack.

 

Love the detail!!

 

If anybody's still listening to this old post...
I took the belt off before I marked anything so now I've got to get into that maintenance hole. Can anybody tell me how to access it? Do you go in from the top or from underneath? I can get a socket on it but I have absolutely no room to turn it. I've wasted half a day trying to figure out where this bolt actually is and then how in the world to get it out.

 

you go in from the bottom, it is tricky to get to. I did mine in dec and have to redo it as soon as spring comes as the gates pump is leaking stay away from gates pumps
I used a 1/4 in drive sockets and extensions you have to remove a few things

 

link to the manual
https://www.manualslib.com/manual/12...ra-3-5-Rl.html

 

Thanks. Yeah I've been following that manual on manualslib. I think I've tried every combination of socket, extension and ratchet that I can come up with and I just can't get that bolt out for nothing. Can't get enough leverage. It's slightly rounded and super tight so that doesn't help.

 

put some heat on it with one of those hd propane torches tap it with a hammer or a chisel itll move