A couple of weeks ago I started the task of changing ALL of the cooling hoses, timing belt/water pump, thermostat, and etc. I took me a week to get every thing back to normal.
Thanks to the help/tips from Larry B. and others who have posted this preventative maintenance task for those of us who "Do-it-yourself".
Just a couple of things I'd like to mention about doing the timing belt/water pump if you plan on doing it yourself:
1. Jacking up the motor slightly (as the manual tells you to) is a must for removing the rear and center timing belt covers easily. I tried to remove the covers without jacking the motor up and after an hours or so, I gave in....removed the transmission mount, supported the motor with a jack, removed the motor mount. It's pretty darn easy once you do what the manual tells you to do :smile: . There is some manipulating (rotating) of the covers before they come out, but it's no big deal.
2. I tried to remove the crank pulley using an extension so the breaker bar was extended past the wheel well. I used an extension on the bar (pipe) and all I accomplished was to bend/tweak my 1/2 inch extension :frown: . So I used the setup (see picture below) and the bolt came loose on the first try. I just slid under the car, grabbed on to the suspension, and pushed with my foot. Easy.
3. If you plan on changing the cooling fluid, go ahead and remove the oil filter housing from the hoses. Makes removing the bottom timing belt cover easier for sure. Then replace the two hoses. It looks like it would be a real pain to get the hoses off and replace them...but it's not.
4. If you plan on changing all of the cooling hoses, getting to the heater control valve and hoses with out removing the blower motor (for ventilation) on the firewall (the front firewall ....where the spare tire is) is almost impossible. Removing the blower is nothing more than four bolts plus one bolt for a fuse box.
5. There are three hoses under the car in the center (just about where you sit). Getting to the two large hoses was nothing, but getting the clamp off of the smaller hose that sits up into the channel was a big pain. I could not get to the factory clamp well enough to move the clamp off of the hose. I ended up cutting one clamp off with a dremel moto tool and a cutoff wheel. Wow...what a pain.
6. And finally, after you have aligned the timing marks on the cam gears (they shouldn't have moved if you have been using pins to keep them in place), have a helper hold the rear and front belt down on the gears while you struggle to put the belt in place. There is enough slop in the cams where the alignment pins hold it in place; the cam can move enough to become misaligned if you are pulling the belt to get it over the tensioner wheel. Having a helper hold the belt in place over the cam gears really helped a lot.
Just take your time. Take lots of pictures before you remove something that looks complicated. Good luck.
By the way, the original timing belt looked great, but there was some streching. My NSX has 39k miles.
Parts that were replaced Spring of 06
My way of removing the crank pulley bolt
Thanks to the help/tips from Larry B. and others who have posted this preventative maintenance task for those of us who "Do-it-yourself".
Just a couple of things I'd like to mention about doing the timing belt/water pump if you plan on doing it yourself:
1. Jacking up the motor slightly (as the manual tells you to) is a must for removing the rear and center timing belt covers easily. I tried to remove the covers without jacking the motor up and after an hours or so, I gave in....removed the transmission mount, supported the motor with a jack, removed the motor mount. It's pretty darn easy once you do what the manual tells you to do :smile: . There is some manipulating (rotating) of the covers before they come out, but it's no big deal.
2. I tried to remove the crank pulley using an extension so the breaker bar was extended past the wheel well. I used an extension on the bar (pipe) and all I accomplished was to bend/tweak my 1/2 inch extension :frown: . So I used the setup (see picture below) and the bolt came loose on the first try. I just slid under the car, grabbed on to the suspension, and pushed with my foot. Easy.
3. If you plan on changing the cooling fluid, go ahead and remove the oil filter housing from the hoses. Makes removing the bottom timing belt cover easier for sure. Then replace the two hoses. It looks like it would be a real pain to get the hoses off and replace them...but it's not.
4. If you plan on changing all of the cooling hoses, getting to the heater control valve and hoses with out removing the blower motor (for ventilation) on the firewall (the front firewall ....where the spare tire is) is almost impossible. Removing the blower is nothing more than four bolts plus one bolt for a fuse box.
5. There are three hoses under the car in the center (just about where you sit). Getting to the two large hoses was nothing, but getting the clamp off of the smaller hose that sits up into the channel was a big pain. I could not get to the factory clamp well enough to move the clamp off of the hose. I ended up cutting one clamp off with a dremel moto tool and a cutoff wheel. Wow...what a pain.
6. And finally, after you have aligned the timing marks on the cam gears (they shouldn't have moved if you have been using pins to keep them in place), have a helper hold the rear and front belt down on the gears while you struggle to put the belt in place. There is enough slop in the cams where the alignment pins hold it in place; the cam can move enough to become misaligned if you are pulling the belt to get it over the tensioner wheel. Having a helper hold the belt in place over the cam gears really helped a lot.
Just take your time. Take lots of pictures before you remove something that looks complicated. Good luck.
By the way, the original timing belt looked great, but there was some streching. My NSX has 39k miles.
Parts that were replaced Spring of 06
My way of removing the crank pulley bolt
. I'll take a look tonight since the NSX is on the lift.
