Timing belt/water pump

Maintenance/Repairs
,
1

Going to have a mechanic do my timing belt/water pump on my 2000 Honda CR-V 2wd AT.
I’m using Gates parts (saw recommedations here and elsewhere).
He said would R/R belt/tensioner and spring/water pump and all associated gaskets. Should there be anything else during this job that would be advisable to look at. Someone told me something about “seals under there” that should be checked for leaks.
One other quick question. I’m R/R my fuel filter. I’ve seen your supposed to prime the fuel pump by turning the key to the the auxillary position and then to off and do this three times??? Is that the correct way to do it? Do I even have to do that, didn’t on previous cars.
Any advice on both questions will be appreciated as always.
Thanks guys.

2

Yes, and given age, I would just replace them preemptively, even if they are not leaking.
Much cheaper than to go back there in a year or two and essentially paying full price for the new timing belt service.

3

That means camshaft- and crankshaft seals

Don’t just “check” them . . . replace them all, even if they look fine

you do NOT want to assume they’re okay and not replace them, only to have them start leaking 6 months later. The car is 20 years old, after all.

Also replace the timing belt idler pulley(s) along with the tensioner and belt, which you already mentioned

The bottom line is this . . . you want to replace EVERYTHING under the timing belt cover. This is to ensure it’s all good and you can sleep well until the next timing belt job, which will be several years down the road.

Carefully inspect the accessory drive belt(s) now. If they’re in any questionable, have new ones on hand. That way, when you’re reassembling everything, you’ll just toss the old belts and install the new ones instead. Same thing goes for the accessory drive belt tensioner and idler. Check now have new ones on hand if they’re at all questionable.

3 Likes
4

thanks greendrag0n

5

db4690,

Thanks for the specifics. My mechanic did say the Gates kit he uses does include the pulleys.
But I will tell him I want the camshaft and crankshaft seals replaced also. Looks like there about $20 - $30 total.
Are there any particular brands that are better, and more importantly any brands to avoid?
Again, thanks db.

6

Have them check the oil pump gasket as well while they are there. It’s only another $10 to change it.

7

thanks Keith.
Can anybody lend some knowledge about “priming the fuel pump” after I change the fuel filter tomorrow?
Thanks.

8

You might need to “key dance” to get fuel and fuel pressure up to the engine: turn key to Run (not all the way to Start), back Off then Run, etc. Each Off-Run cycle gives the fuel pump a couple seconds to run and the engine should then start when you turn all the way to Start.

9

thanks shanonia

10

Replace all the coolant hoses.

11

If it hasn’t been done recently I’d probably replace the cooling system’s thermostat when doing that job also, as well as refilling the cooling system w/fresh Honda coolant. A point of clarification, it’s only the cam/crank seals at the front of the engine that are replaced, not the rear seals.

As far as the fuel filter, I’ve never had to do any priming afterward. The Corolla apparently knows how to do this by itself. Might be necessary w/the CRV, don’t know. When removing the existing fuel filter I always depressurize the fuel system first. That’s so gasoline doesn’t spray all over the place when I disconnect the fuel lines to the filter. I do it by removing the fuel pump relay and starting the engine. It starts, then stalls in 10 -15 seconds, and then I know the fuel system is depressurized. Be sure to carefully clean the area around the filter’s connectors first to avoid getting gunk in the fuel lines during the filter replacement.

12

Thanks to all of you for your advice and furthering my car knowledge. As always, I appreciated the help.

13

Had the work done, including valve adjustment.
And db4690 thanks for the tip about the seals. I had the camshaft and crankshaft seals replaced. The camshaft seals were definitely bad and leaking, althought the crankshaft seal seamed dry.
After replacing all, the car seems to be running well, except I think that it sounds like the engine runs a bit louder. The RPM idles at about 700 and it use to idle at around 500 although I had more than one trusted mechanic tell me over the years that they both thought my CR-V always idled lower than others they’ve heard.
The car runs smooth, the idle is steady, but it just seems it runs a little “louder.” My imagination or just overconcern or is there a reason for this?
Any thoughts. Thanks for all you advice prior to the job and any thoughts on this louder sensation.

14

Sometimes this “louder” thing is just you listening to the engine instead of kind of ignoring it before the work was done. Mostly we don’t really pay attention to the noises a car makes until they change, but when you get a service done or buy new tires or even change the oil we listen a little more closely for a while, until everyone forgets about it.

1 Like
15

Wentwest. That’s why I mentioned whether it was “my imagination or just overconcern.” But there are many here who are great mechanics and extremely knowledgeable, so I never assume something is a dumb question.

16

As part of the R/R of the timing belt, should they have checked the ignition timing using a timing light, or is that not necessary?

17

Does this vehicle have a distributor?

18

yes, it does

19

I am happy to see that you got some excellent advice, just in time for this Timing Belt service to go properly. The people here did you a “solid” for sure. Nice work people.

This brings up a topic i have had issue with for a long time regarding T belt kits. I love T belt kits…but why on earth are they always lacking something? They seem to be trying to assign a “level” to the kits, but honestly I don’t consider and essential item being left out of a kit as a correct way to go about selling different “Tiers” of T belt kit. I dunno…maybe offer a different belt type or bearing mfg, or water pump mfg as a choice to tier the kits…they should never leave out the seals that they seem to always leave out… imho that is just wrong.

But this is another topic for another day maybe…it is definitely one that I have mentioned before and one I feel is rather important…or at least it used to be when T belts reigned supreme for a while there…

Thankfully it seems that we have gone back the way of the Ole’ T chain these days. We should have never left the chain… another topic… OK i need to stop typing now

20

Agree with you about leaving thing’s out of kit’s that should be included I have no experience with T belt’s but was thinking about a incident a few year’s back I got a thermostat when I went to put it in there was no gasket for the new one thought they forgot to put it in the box went back to the store asked about it was told they was all that way the gasket was sold seperate I remember when part’s came with all gasket’s or whatever was needed for the job. As far as the T belt vs chain as you said another topic.