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How to change Timing Belt and Water Pump on an Acty video

Discussion in 'Honda Acty' started by JonP, Mar 17, 2019.

  1. JonP

    JonP Member



    Hope this helps some people. The information out there on how to do this job was pretty nonexistent. Took way too long to do figuring it out on my own, but now that I’ve done it I’d say it’s a 2-3 hour job if you follow the video.

    2 tips: when refilling the coolant if you do the water pump, make sure to find the air bleed valves on the radiator lines. There’s one at 10 o’clock when looking at the engine. Open that a bit and let it run for a while so you don’t get air lock.

    Also, make sure to check your passenger side motor mount for wear. Mine was shot at 55,000 miles, and I hear that’s a common problem. Oh, and take note of how tight the main bolt connecting the rubber mount part to the frame is and reinstall it to the same spec. I tightened mine too tight and it was making the car shake. I thought I messed up the timing but it was just the mount.

    Cheers!
     
    Last edited: Mar 17, 2019
  2. shogun

    shogun Active Member

    Thanks, good info. My Acty now has 63000 km and so far no problems. Iss there a recommended change interval in one of the repair manuals or what are the experiences of the members here?
     
  3. JonP

    JonP Member

    100,000 kms OR 7 years is what I read. Being that my van is 25 years old and I have no idea when it was changed last (or ever) I thought it was worth it to change.

    Also, I remember reading that the e07a engine is prone to premature timing belt breaking even as low as 50,000 kms so if that’s true I thought it was very much worth it!
     
  4. fmartin_gila

    fmartin_gila Well-Known Member

    Haven't really seen anything in writing on these engines but most that I have seen (other makes) that use a timing belt do indicate a change at 100,000 Kms or 60,000 Mi. Always best to play it on the safe side, especially if an interference engine.

    Fred
     
    Limestone likes this.
  5. shogun

    shogun Active Member

    Vamos: there they also recommend 100000km https://katuhito.info/en/bamos_tbelt/
    The parts are all same for Honda Acty Timing Belt Kit - HA3, HA4, HA5, HH3, HH4 , here they say 80000km or 7 years http://rightdriveparts.com/honda-acty-timing-belt-kit-ha3-ha4-ha5-hh3-hh4/
    diagram was posted here https://minitrucktalk.com/threads/95-honda-acty-timing-belt-installation-diagram.6694/
    I forgot, we talked in 2013 already about the intervals https://minitrucktalk.com/threads/the-importance-of-replacing-timing-belt-before-it-breaks.15026/
     
  6. shogun

    shogun Active Member

    Today I did that on a Mitsubishi Town Box with the 3G83 engine. Brother in law asked me to repair the car as it made loud noise. Procedure basically as shown in above youtube also for the Town Box. The car had 124000 km and apparently never a service has been done to replace these parts. The housing of the timing belt still had the factory sticker notice to change the belt at 100.000 km, never done before, the other 3 belts were also scrap. With the new timing belt comes a new sticker where the km and the date has to be written down and then the sticker should be placed on the housing, so one can easily check if there was ever a timing belt change done before.
    The noise mainly came from the belt tensioner bearing, was running rough, also replaced that one. New water pump made by GMB, new coolant, 3 belts, tensioner pulley, new crankshaft seal, new timing shaft seal, timing belt, all together cost for the parts was about $180, new belts are from Mitsuboshi, water pump GMB was abt. $80.
    Time required with a helper 5-6 hours, a MaxJax lift in the garage helped to make the work more comfortable. Access to the parts from below the car and from under passenger seat.
     
  7. I have read that the timing belt should be changed at 100k km for Honda Acty. That being said, mine just let go yesterday at 78k. It is a '93 HA4 ATTACK so I assume the age did not help. I have yet to open anything up and as I am still researching and prepping my garage for the job. My biggest concern of course is if there is any valve damage. I have only had it for a couple months.
     
  8. JonP

    JonP Member

    Dang, that sucks. Yeah, it's 100k or so many years. After 27 years it gets old and can break easily.

    I think the cheapest quickest way to check if a valve is bent is say a prayer and do the timing belt job. Once you turn it over by hand you should be able to feel if one of them is bent. Otherwise you have to pull the head and on the Acty that is a pain.
     
  9. Jigs-n-fixtures

    Jigs-n-fixtures Well-Known Member

    I’d check the valves with a bleed down tester, by turning the cam by hand or with a wrench, before I put on the new belt.

    Bleed down testers will let you detect far more than a compression test, such as a valve that is not seating correctly, because it has been bent.

    At fifty dollars or less they are one of the best deals in mechanic tools you can find.
     
    Limestone likes this.
  10. Thanks for the feedback. It will be a couple days before I get to it. I don't have alot of resources where I live but I was going to look into shipping the head to a pro to do the valve work. Anybody know if it's possible to remove the head without removing the engine? I know I have to drop the engine slightly to get to the belts but am hoping to avoid having to pull the entire engine.
     
  11. shogun

    shogun Active Member

  12. I have the Danko manual. It is very helpful.

    I did get the belt covers , etc off and the timing belt was completely shot as expected. I have done some more research and as per the suggestion above (by member 'Jigs n fixtures') I think the next step is a bleed down test. If everything goes well with the bleed down test (I am betting against that) I will probably put a new belt on and start it. Everything feels good when I rotate the engine but that is all the hope I have to cling to at the moment.

    If the bleed down test shows a leak I will get started pulling the head off.
     
  13. Jigs-n-fixtures

    Jigs-n-fixtures Well-Known Member

    Have you determined that the valves or head are damaged? For the cost of shipping, your head somewhere, you can get inexpensive tools and check things out yourself.

    I’ve never had to dig into my engine yet, but I’d pull the engine and get it on a stand, if I needed to. the whole engine and transmission, doesn’t weigh much compared to full sized vehicles. I think the entire engine weighs less then the intake manifold on a Ford 460.

    And, with an engine on a stand, you can keep things clean, and not be drawing around with things falling in your mouth and eyes.
     
  14. Limestone

    Limestone Well-Known Member

    I agree with Jig's! If your gonna do it, not only do it right, but complete!
     
  15. Thanks for the feedback. I just had a timing belt flown in this morning and I spoke to the importer that sold me the truck. He had a timing belt break on one of his Actys and the engine was fine. . . .another shred of hope for me anyway

    I agree with pulling the engine if I have to pull the head. For now I was planning to put the new belt on and just see if it idles OK. I should be able to get a bleed down tester and compression tester tomorrow. I am hoping to find time to at least get the new belt on today.

    Even if everything checks out I still plan to replace water pump, idler pulleys, engine mounts, etc.
     
  16. aomorisambar

    aomorisambar Member

    Going to attempt my first timing belt change sometime in the next two weeks. From watching videos, and reading instructions from all over the web, it really does not seem too difficult. I only need to pull the engine mounts on the passenger side to lower it right? Also for those of you over here in Japan, i found a rakuten shop that has timing sets for decent price, ill be ordering one later today, they don't include a new valve cover seal, but I'll just order one from Monotaro.... On a side note, I just grabbed a new muffler on sale from monotaro for ¥8500

    https://item.rakuten.co.jp/auc-star-parts/tbfnostp-h0019/
     
  17. JonP

    JonP Member

    You can remove the head without taking out the engine. It's super tight but I have done it on the Acty.
     
    Limestone likes this.
  18. Thanks for all the feedback and great info on this site. As I mentioned above my timing belt broke at 78k. It is a '92Acty with no service records. To make a long story short removing the head revealed lots of valve damage. I ended up replacing 9 valves (all 6 were noticeably bent on the intake side). I did not have to remove the engine but I am sure it would have been easier if I had the proper workshop setup to pull the engine out. The GOOD news is that I was able to clean up years of carbon buildup and now I won't have to worry about the condition of intake, exhaust, head gaskets, etc. I just had a new water pump, idler and tensioner pulley shipped as there is a slight whining noise coming from that area. I should have replaced all of these when I had the chance but another 300 clams would have been a waste if I had found a problem in the block. Now that I have gotten this far a water pump and pulley replacement is no sweat. Getting the heat shield off the exhaust manifold was one of the most tedious things as it required removing 4 "shields" (2 upper and 2 lower) and I had to drill out every pre-fastened bolt that connected the upper and lower shields together. The 8x1.25mm bolts that actually secured the heat shield to the exhaust manifold were removed easily.
     
  19. Limestone

    Limestone Well-Known Member

    Chris,
    Glad to hear your making progress! You'll be rewarded for years of enjoyable service, and you'll really know your vehicle! Sounds to me like your doing it right. Go in one time, and replace or repair any and everything that needs it! I know it's easy to spend other peoples money, but the saying, "pay me now or pay me later", really holds true here! Good Luck, and keep us posted!
    Limestone
     
  20. jpaul70631

    jpaul70631 Member

    Where do you get the belts?
     
  21. I actually got a belt from the guy that sold me the truck. Everything else I was able to get very quickly from Proline Parts (minitruckgarage.com); they should have some in stock. Any parts I tried to order from Japan would require months of waiting and/or exorbitant shipping costs. I learned ALOT completing this project as I've never had to dig this deep into an engine before. The truck runs like a champ now. I was worried that the cylinder head would need to be resurfaced but there is no machine shop close enough to me to make that an economically viable option. It did not appear to be warped so I cleaned it by hand and so far so good (I've been driving it daily for 4 months since repair). I've uploaded a PDF with some images if anyone finds that helpful
     

    Attached Files:

    shogun likes this.
  22. shogun

    shogun Active Member

    very nice DIY, thanks. As for shipping time/cost: Shipping international is a problem worldwide in COVID times, not enough airplanes (because most passenger flights are cancelled which usually take a lot of freight in the cargo bay), not enough container ships. Prices for air shipments and even seafreight are skyrocketing. For example from Japan to the US I cannot send private packages to the USA and more than 100 other countries since more than 6 months.Only letters by airmail they accept.
     
  23. Bert Stevens

    Bert Stevens Active Member

    after lapping how did the seats look? I order all my parts just after I bought mine, from Japan, came in 14 days and cost $36 shipping filled a box, belts and pulleys , water pump, motor mounts, all hoses, vacuum and water, a whole bunch of stuff. reNewed my truck. it was all factory parts, in honda bags, and much cheaper then anyone state side was selling it, BUT that was thee years ago. it is all different now. I like the pdf you made. someday I'll learn how to do that. Good Job
     
  24. Bert Stevens

    Bert Stevens Active Member

    shogun, are you saying that you are in Japan?
     
  25. I lapped the new valves in and tested them by spraying brake cleaner inside and watching for any signs of leakage which seems to be fine as I have compression and plenty of power now. Once I knew I was going to be able to drive it again I went back in and replaced water pump, etc. I didn't want to spend any more $ than I had to as I would have looked for a new engine had there been significant damage to pistons/piston walls. So basically I have dropped the engine 3 or 4 times by now. If I had to do it again it would take 1/5 of the time!!!! But that's how it goes.
    It does idle high until it warms up but I think that is small potatoes and after all it is a 28 year old engine. Honestly I can't even remember if it did the high idle before I went into it or not.
     
  26. Bert Stevens

    Bert Stevens Active Member

    I had really low compression in #1 2-3 where fine. don't know why. I've been using Engine Restore for decades. I tried that first, and as transmission uses same lube, it help my bad synchro on third gear too. helped didn't fix. it builds up worn parts, cylinder walls, rod bearings. so I recommend you run that from now on. I use the large can. there is an adjustment for cold idle, it's on the bottom side of the throttle cable cam, adjusts the arm that reaches out to the choke mechanism , hard to get at
     

    Attached Files:

  27. Thanks Bert. I will check out the cold idle tomorrow but I am going to avoid additives for now as the engine is running great. Thanks much for the info.
     
  28. Adam C Spry

    Adam C Spry Member Supporting Member

    the higher cold idle is normal for Actys, based on my reading and other discussions. I received my timing belt and water pump kit last week and am trying to convince myself that i can handle the job... haha.
     
  29. Jigs-n-fixtures

    Jigs-n-fixtures Well-Known Member

    Isn’t it supposed to high idle until it warms up.

    There wasn’t a spec in, what I have that passes for a manual for my Hijet, but I set it for 115% of the idle speed of 950-rpm. So, it is at 1150-rpm.

    I’m thinking from the way it acts on really cold mornings of setting it up, next tune up, a bit more to around 1350-rpm.

    These little engines are set a bit higher than a larger engine.
     
  30. shogun

    shogun Active Member

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