03 Acura TL Timing Belt

[nikademo]

What up. I am fairly mechanicly inclined. I do all my own oil changes, brake work, I have done a couple of engine swaps, etc. How hard is it to change the timing belt and water pump on a 03 Acura TL? Anything else I should replace while doing this? Where can I find instructions on how to do it?
Thank you.

[younglifeunc]

I do all of my own work, too, and when it came time to change my timing belt on my RL, a buddy of mine (who is a full-time mechanic), advised me NOT to do this one by myself. He told me that, while I could probably figure it out eventually, there are simply too many things that can go wrong with severe consequences. He mentioned timing and the position of the pistons in their sleaves of whatever. However, if it's like my RL, you should replace the water pump while you're in there too just to save time and money down the road.

[SAKozicki]

Originally Posted by younglifeunc

I do all of my own work, too, and when it came time to change my timing belt on my RL, a buddy of mine (who is a full-time mechanic), advised me NOT to do this one by myself. He told me that, while I could probably figure it out eventually, there are simply too many things that can go wrong with severe consequences. He mentioned timing and the position of the pistons in their sleaves of whatever. However, if it's like my RL, you should replace the water pump while you're in there too just to save time and money down the road.

I have a trusted friend (set up my wife and I 20 yrs ago, and I still like him) who owns his own shop and has owned and serviced Acuras since they first came out, he agrees with this statement completely. Has given me th same advice.

[wipeout97]

Originally Posted by SAKozicki

I have a trusted friend (set up my wife and I 20 yrs ago, and I still like him) who owns his own shop and has owned and serviced Acuras since they first came out, he agrees with this statement completely. Has given me th same advice.

I believe what your mechanics are really trying to stear you away from is the close space for this operation. Timing belt and water pump jobs on this vehicle are standard as on any other car and getting timing right is easy since honda is nice enough to mark TDC on the crank, cam, balance shaft, and oil pump. What I am trying to say is if you have done a timing belt job before you can do this job. If you have not do not chance destroying the engine from lack of experience.

[jdgomez]

I agree. You'd seriously mess the whole engine up if you don't know what you're doing.

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