When the TL first came out, acura boasted about no tuneups til 105K, and that included the valve adjustment and timing belt servicing. I don't have a manual or anything on paper in front of me but I remember seeing it on paper somewhere.

 

Well, apparently yes. There haven't been a whole lot of 3G owners that have achieved that milestone yet, but most seem to be getting a "4" on the MID around 105K. Yes, this does include spark plugs. Check your owner's manual, pg 199.

If you don't have an owner's manual, the 04 manual can be found here:

https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-problems-fixes-114/119-diy-egr-replacement-770698/

 

That $295 deal is tempting to pick up, considering I'm going to be about due around Christmas time. I never did my TB on my Eclipse because I didn't feel like taking the engine mount off, and it looks like this is about the same way.

May bite the bullet and take the chance this time. Hopefully that special will run for a few more weeks.

 

Taking the engine mount out is simple stuff. Just put a jack with a wood block under the oil pan and take out the bolts. Very simple....

It's just the crank pulley bolt that's the tough part...

 

get the `Honda pulley removal tool` from kragen online 20 bucks, will make life good
there are a few makers/sellers- see internet~

or you can use the starter and a big breaker bar with socket - blip the starter a few times and bolt is loose
gen2 has been doing this for years with no ill effects,,how many times do you plan to change the timing belt?

to hold flywheel for pulley install- remove inspection cover under trans/engine connection and stick a sturdy prybar in the teeth

Excellent time to install a light crank pulley- lose 8 pounds of 10 and the thing revs fast- gets to vtec right now!
top of the line $200, or Bomz makes lots of billit stuff and pulley is used by gen2 megamod for 2 years 50kmiles+ with no probs-see ebay, bomz will post one for you if not already listed

 

I'm glad I never got around to changing the belt... It's getting traded in tonight. Of all the cars I've owned, she was definitely one of my favorites, but she's not getting any younger and I'm tired of borrowing a truck.

I started to put the stock intake back on, but when I remembered how much of a pain it was to remove I figured selling a used AEM wasn't worth the time.

Anyone want to buy all the parts to change a timing belt?

 

MisterFubar,

I'm curious, why are you trading in your TL? Is it a 3rd generation?
How many miles do you have on her? What kind of shape is she in?
6MT or AT? Why are you borrowing a truck?

Thanks,
TL-Rocket

 

Of the 2 vehicles I owned it made more sense to trade it in. It was an 04 AT w/nav and it's got 111,000 miles, it had it's share of parking lot scars but wasn't in horrible shape. It's been paid off for a couple of years and I figure

I've been doing a lot of projects around the house and finishing my basement... that's why I've been borrowing a truck, although I did find out you can fit 1" x 12" x 8' pine planks in the TL if you open the passenger door and window, slide them through the window and onto the rear deck and then squeeze them through the door opening and rest them on the dash. You can also fit at least 6 rolls of R-19 throughout the car or 8 studs through the ski passthrough... People at Lowe's look at you funny when you are stuffing an entire TL full of materials.

I thought about keeping it, but there are only 2 drivers in my house and we really don't need three vehicles.

 

list your 105 kit in the black market section- private sales
someone will scoop it up~

 

That was my first time ever changing a timing belt too.
One of the main issues was making sure when releasing the tensionser that the cam didnt move.

Car didnt blow up so I guess i did a good job

 

its normal for the rear cam to move slightly and you set it back in place

The trick is use paint- fingernail polish- permanent marker.. something--
on ALL the alignment marks before you take anything apart

 

Had my local shop do the timing belt,water pump, tensioner, and two idlers from GATES timing kit Part # TCKWP329,UR pulley,and serpentine. I disconnected to battery long enough it asked for the audio code so the car could relearn the parts that were replaced.After 2 weeks I notice the timing belt making a light grinding almost a ticking sound when sitting still(parked or neutral),can't hear it while driving. Took it back to the shop. They said it's normal and should go away in at most 5,000 miles due to the timing belt stretching and settling in,"good to drive the hell out of". Haven't noticed any leaks in coolant or steering fluid,but the coolant level is lower than it was last week when I checked it.

The sound does not change based on RPMs or tempature and it coming from inside the timing belt cover. Always use 91octane,oil and steering fluid levels are good. Some sites are saying I need to add a shim to a tensioner or loosen up one of the tensioners. I listened to the audio in the Acura timing belt chirp TSB and it's way louder than what I'm hearing. Wondering if they are right about the timing belt or just too lazy to take it apart?

 

Quick question how many hours does the stealership say a full timing belt replacement takes. It'd be nice to know how many hours I'm going to have to pay the tech at my sister's dealership. Luckily for me he's only charging me $25/hr. Gotta love having family/friends that work at dealerships.

 

I just installed the Gates kit last week. I have the same slight noise and it has lessened. I am not worried about it - my last car had the same noise with OEM pulleys but worse and with RPM. It is only at idle and as soon as you put any load on, it stops. I rather have the new stuff in there than the old leaking tensioner and leaking pulleys. I am sure the slight noise will go away... if not, I don't care as long as it does not get worse.

 

i had a weird sound immediately after turning on my car, not a grinding but a low rumbling noise. Found it to just be the air in the cooling system making its way out to the radiator.

No noises to report since I DIYed my belt a few months ago.

 

Before class I walked over to Dobbs and had one of the guys listen to it. Said it will be safe but if I wanted I can spray a very small amount of WD-40 on the serpentine belt to see if it stops.If not pull back the timing belt cover slightly and give it a quick hit of WD-40. Good or bad idea?

 

bad idea lol. imo. Why not take the serpentine belt off and see if it still makes noise rather than spraying stuff on it. timing belt is covered for a reason, best to keep fluids out of that area and on the belt.

 

Petroleum products like wd40 will decay the rubber in the timing belt. The manual says to keep oil off of it for a reason.

 

+1

 

Here is a video of the sound I'm getting.
30seconds long and
about 2 minutes long with an engine rev. made not change after revving up. I did not spray anything on the belts after this advise. I'll have to look up how to take off the serpentine belt.

 

I have the same exact thing... Must be something with these idlers.

 

Any headway so far? My noise is the same or worse still. I am thinking about contacting Gates. I followed the service manual to the T when replacing, all bolts correctly torqued. Seems like maybe we received defective idler or tensioner pulleys?

 

Update: I contacted Gates regarding the issue and it seems like the issue may be due to belt alignment. I ordered the shim kit for the 08-031 TSB for 05+ TL's just in case. If the parts come in tuesday morning, I will likely tear the car back apart and see what's going on that day.

 

One cause for timing belt noise is reinstalling the belt guide on the crankshaft backwards. In this case the sharp edges of the guide would be chewing into the belt edge causing a noise. See step 10 below:

 

I made very sure to put that on facing the correct way during assembly. Sucks that the damn shim kit costs $150... only way to get the shim is if you get it with the whole kit. Includes a belt, shim, and the crank pulley gear.

 

Now roughly with 2,000 miles on the belt there is no change. It sounds louder but most likely just in my head.
If that shim kit does the trick I may consider it if my shop will do it for free under warranty or as kind gesture. Maybe we can resell the belt and pulley.

 

Same issue when the engine is turned on, I can see the rpm indicator being unstable. The car runs fine but sometimes the rpm drops when I'm coming to a stop and I feel like the engine is breaking down. when running the car, while the car is accelerating smoothly, I can still see the RPM doing the same thing, but you can't feel it in the car. It's like the indicator is not connected to the engine or something I'm scared to do compression check to see if the valves are bent or not :/

Please Help

 

I just did mine (2002 CL-S) , and have the same kind of noise. Googled all the way here. Wonder if anybody found the root cause.