Honda timing belts........

After buying an aftermarket timing belt (Gates or Dayco, can't remember) and having the timing mark be WRONG, causing me to tear it down again. I will only buy oem. Lesson learned, don't trust the marks and always do a tooth count.
 
I’m in Cedar Lake Indiana. Why does Gates have a bad reputation?

I can't speak for everyone else, but I don't think the issue is (necessarily) with the Gates belts. It's the timing Gates kits that include the Gates belt + other parts of unknown origin. When I was going through this for our Toyota Sienna, there were a lot of posts where a Gates Kit included no name/unknown brand tensioners, idle pulleys, etc. There was bit of discussion that the quality of those component had changed over time .
With the "Aisin Kit", you got (or should) brand name parts that were OEM. For example an Aisin water pump, a Koyo Idler bearing, Mitsuboshi belt , etc.

I have never used the Gates kits so I don't actually know their current level of quality. I have used an Aisin Timing belt kit for my 2004 sienna and was very happy with what I received. It was a little bit more than the other kits but only about $40 more.
 
Honda parts

Aisin kit
 
In 2015 my local indie shop did the full replacement on my Ridgeline and charged me $525 labor and $440 for parts. I think he used a Dayco kit. Seems like I got pimped a little on the price, but I've had no problems since.
 
So I called the mechanic today and asked if I supplied the parts if he would still do the labor on the job. He said sure, but don’t bring me any junk Autozone parts and labor will be $400.

I called the dealer and got a price for just parts and that alone was almost $700.

I purchased the Aisin kit and will bring that along with 2 gallons of Honda coolant.
 
Honda parts

Aisin kit


I would not buy anything marked as 'OEM' parts from eBay. If you want OEM and want to buy online, get it from one of the online Honda/Acura dealers. There's way too much counterfeit stuff out there to trust eBay or Amazon.

For me, both of my cars are wearing the Asin kit. Self-installed. One thing I always preach is have a good close look at the oil seals in that area. For a 2015 they shouldn't be leaking, but they probably will by the time the next timing belt rolls around. If they are leaking/seeping, now is the time to replace them if you care about small oil leaks. If you can deal with a slight amount of seepage, you can leave them until the next belt.
 
Just wanted to add that I've never heard anything good about aftermarket timing belt kits/parts, even the "well known" brands like Gates and Continental. When I last did one of our Hyundais I got all of the idlers, tensioner, water pump, belt from the local dealer for something like $30 more than I could've found the parts online.

What fun a timing belt job is on a transverse V6.
 
What fun a timing belt job is on a transverse V6.

Actually, I find the hardest part is getting one of the bolts out of the rear cover(Other than the crankshaft pulley)*. After that, there's plenty of room to do everything you need to. Not a hard job at all.

*Can be a total nightmare, however, there are tips, tricks, and special tools that help. That, and/or the willingness to use the starter bump method.
 
Actually, I find the hardest part is getting one of the bolts out of the rear cover(Other than the crankshaft pulley)*. After that, there's plenty of room to do everything you need to. Not a hard job at all.

*Can be a total nightmare, however, there are tips, tricks, and special tools that help. That, and/or the willingness to use the starter bump method.
I just looked up the engine... are they really SOHC? That's... amazing, honestly. That alone would make it an easier job. All of our Hyundais are DOHC. Not sure how Hyundai managed to get 200 horsepower out of a DOHC 3.5 V6, but they did. What a turd of an engine. Reliable turds.
 
I had the timing belt on my V6 Accord replaced by the dealer and the service did not include valve adjustment.

I was digging through my paperwork for my Accord the other day and when I had the dealer do mine the first time it was belt, cam and crank seals, and tensioner. So the OEM tensioner pulleys made it 218 until I did the belt a second time. They still felt fine. Mine also didn't include the valve adjustment. That didn't get done until somewhere around 200k, which is stretching it. Most of the Exh valves were pretty tight by then.
 
Breaker bar/starter method works okay on these engines if you dont have the proper stuff.

Yup, just nerve-wracking the very first time. After that, its not a big deal.

Is harder with the cars that only take a single twist of the key to start. Those are slightly harder to 'bump'.
 
I just looked up the engine... are they really SOHC? That's... amazing, honestly. That alone would make it an easier job. All of our Hyundais are DOHC. Not sure how Hyundai managed to get 200 horsepower out of a DOHC 3.5 V6, but they did. What a turd of an engine. Reliable turds.

Yep, J Series is all SOHC across the board. 240hp out of the 3.0L in the early 2000 Accords, to 305 out of some of the 3.7L Acura motors. They're great motors without VCM, but they dropped the ball when they started adding that stuff to them. Slightly less than good with the cylinder deactivation on the early versions.
 
Yep, J Series is all SOHC across the board. 240hp out of the 3.0L in the early 2000 Accords, to 305 out of some of the 3.7L Acura motors. They're great motors without VCM, but they dropped the ball when they started adding that stuff to them. Slightly less than good with the cylinder deactivation on the early versions.
I have had the VCM turned off for a very long time. Glad I did that
 
Another vote for the Aisin kit



Honda still makes timing belts today! Ford is even worse: they even have an engine where the timing belt is covered in oil! :mad:

Nothing wrong with timing belts. Chains wear and result in incorrect timing. They break. The tensioners can stop working properly, and the guides can fail.

Chains are good. Belts are fine. Both have pros and cons. Chains aren’t necessarily forever.

While Daimler gives protocol to measure chain wear and remediate its effect with offset woodruff keys, but how many chain lovers actually do that?
 
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