2000 acura 3.5 rl slipped belts off
 

I was idling at the store this morning and heard a different noise under the hood and the battery light came on. Popped the hood and the belts were still on but really loose. I came to the house pulled all the belts and the crank pulley will move up and down probably a 1\4". Is the rubber gone? If so could there be other damage. What else can I expect to find. I plan to put a timing belt, idler, tensioner, water pump, and a crank pulley. What if anything can I except to add to the list?

Thanks

Sounds like the tensioner failed perhaps.. Are you sure it was the timing belt and not just the accessory/drive belt? I don't htink you would have made it home from the store if it was a loose timing belt :rofl: Just replace the drive belt and drive belt tensioner.

:nod:
Sounds like a failed tensioner on the accessory belt. Had that happen on my Saturn years ago, no power steering was a pain, but no water pump was worse, engine temps climbed quite quickly. Took >1 hr to make a 10 mile drive.

OK all accessory belts are off THE CRANK PULLEY WILL MOVE UP AND DOWN OVER A 1\4 INCH. It may sound like it but its not a failed tensioner. The 2000 has a timing belt driven water pump. No alt. no power steering no ac cool as a cucumber.

I never thought it was a loose timing belt.

My mistake, didn't read it properly that you 'pulled all the belts" https://www.oemacuraparts.com/v-2000...ton-crankshaft


That much play leaves me to believe one of the guides is broken and hopefully not one of the bearings within the engine itself. Can you pop off the crank pulley and look at the guide?

I will however I hope it is not as big a problem to break the crank bolt as it appears to be on the internet. I have a Chevy with a Duramax in it and it has a gear driven water pump and there is one bolt behind the harmonic balancer that you can not get to without removing the balancer. A 3\4 drive IR impact with 160 psi going to it would not break the crank bolt. A cutting torch heating it up is what finally broke it with the IR impact. After the fact I learned that they put red loctite on them. Could that be the same way on these 3.5's as in the crank bolt has red loctite on them?

In the piston crankshaft parts diagram you left the url for I noticed item E-11-5 it shows to be between the crank pulley and the timing belt guide. What is that part it is not on the list?

I have a 96 rl and i'm wrapping up the final stages of this exact repair. I was having issues with the car intermittently starting and replaced battery, checked alternator. Still had problem starting on occasion. Then while driving the power steering stopped working and i heard a clunking sound, After inspecting I presumed the rubber dampening part of the harmonic balancer/crankshaft pulley had separated. I was wrong...it sheared the crankshaft key off at the balancer sprocket and the crank snout was spinning inside the pulley ie reason power steering and alternator weren't doing their job.
I purchased a new key way from the dealership, pulley and balancer sprocket from salvage yard. $25 total so far invested.

"Necessity is the mother of invention." Props for avoiding the dealership prices and coming up with a cost-effective fix to your problem!

In the piston crankshaft parts diagram you left the url for I noticed item E-11-5 it shows to be between the crank pulley and the timing belt guide. What is that part it is not on the list? CAN ANYBODY TELL ME?

To remove the crankshaft pulley on the 1st Gen RLs go to amazon and search "honda crankshaft pulley tool". With that tool you can hold the crankshaft still while applying torque. Two 1/2" wrenches or breaker bars and two good 2'-3' pipe extensions and the crankshaft pulley loosens rather easily. The tool holds the crankshaft, then you insert the 19mm socket for the crackshft bolt THROUGH the tool.
I had to do that when I changed my timing belt so I paid the $10-$20 for the tool. As the name implies, the tool will likely work on other Hondas too. I had tried to loosen crankshaft pulleys on Hondas before without the tool and it is really hard, lots of improvisation needed. With the tool and an extra wrench or breaker bar the bolt comes off easily.

I did not see red loctite on my crankshaft pulley bolt (2003 RL). Also you will eventually have to put the pulley back and re-torque it to about the same torque (181 lb ft) so the crankshaft pulley removal tool will help with that. The drawback is having to wait for shipping.

OK I finally made time to look deeper into this problem and what I found was a loose crank pulley bolt and a worn out crank pulley and half the key way was gone. This car was serviced only at the dealership until I purchased the car. It had the timing belt water pump changed at 100,000 miles. It appears the mechanic did not torque the crank bolt or use any loctite or both. The crank bolt backed off and it caused the crank pulley to wobble in turn making the ID of the crank pulley much larger than it was. When it finally became loose enough it sheared off what was left of the key way and let the crank pulley drop down and that is when the belts came off. I am going to replace the timing belt water pump thermostat key way and crank pulley. In the diagram it shows a balancer pulley. Does the 2000 3.5 have a balancer belt if so I intend to replace it also. Outside of the parts I mentioned is there anything else I need to order? Thanks

Hi madfisherman,

Yes, the 1st gen RLs do have a balancer shaft and a small balancer belt. It is behind the timing belt covers next to the timing belt. My suggestion would be, as you take out the balancer belt make sure that you don't loose the alignment on your balancer shaft/pulley. If you do loose the alignment then, I think, it will not be sufficient to simply align the marker on the balancer pulley. You will have to find the "balancer shaft maintenance hole" to resynchronize the balancer shaft. And in my experience, see this thread, that balancer shaft maintenance hole is not something accessible by a human (without perhaps taking off a bunch of other stuff).

So, bottom line, I got a wire tie ready and THEN I removed the balancer belt and immediately (without rotating the balancer pulley) REINSTALLED the wire tie through one of the balancer pulley holes to prevent the pulley from turning while I completed the rest of the work. That balancer pulley spins very easily once you take its small belt off. Now if the pulley rotates just a bit it's no big deal, just realign it to the mark. But if you get it to spin, say, 1/2 revolution or more then, I think, you may end up loosing the alignment -- and I'm not sure what happens if you put things back together with a misaligned balancer shaft.

Also, in the link above, read the last part on how to remove all the slack from the timing belt before tightening the idler pulley. If you don't follow the procedure (...10 teeth past TDC etc...) you will most likely end up with some slack in your timing belt.

Also IMHO bite the bullet and drain the coolant so you can remove the hoses to the radiator. Removing the timing belt covers with the radiator hoses on seems virtually impossible (though if you manage to do it I'd be interested in knowing).

...and here is a preview of what you will see once you open the timing belt covers. See that smaller belt down lower? That is the balancer belt.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...b2334eccb0.jpg
1st Gen RL timing and balancer belts

Also here is the crankshaft pulley removal tool I was talking about in one of my earlier comments. This second photo is from some other Honda/Acura engine, not the RL, but it is the same tool. In your case the pulley is already loose but you will have to torque the new pulley. The photo shows how you hold the crankshaft in place. Then with another drive you insert the 19mm socket through the tool to loosen/tighten the crankshaft bolt.
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...175212a175.jpg
Honda/Acura crankshaft pulley removal tool.