I had experience in my youth where a mechanic diagnosed my mom's car as bent valves from a broken timing belt. But it was on a non interference engine..... He ended up with the car for free and he secretly threw a timing belt on it and drove it..... He was one of those not honest mechanics. Glad it's fixed
I remember commenting on the earlier video that all those counterfeit parts should have been replaced just to be safe. Glad it ended up mostly working out for the TL.
My son in laws pilot did the same thing. Probably 275,000 miles. Same thing. Did a timing kit and it started right up and ran fine. As well balanced as J series seem to be you’d hear and feel low compression right away. Damn Honda!! Impressive!
I floored the odyssey and jumped timing and bent a valve.. had to rebuild that engine.. and you cranked the shit out of this TL without any timing belt and you didn’t bent anything.. you sir are LUCKY!!
The TL lives on! I see so many of these mistreated. And while you've done a little hackery to keep it running for now, you definitely keep it in great shape. Love to see it.
most people ignore than these Acura's are far better quality and more reliable than German money pits. Love 'em and they'll take you home everyday. I am at 165kMi and keeping it up!
When I was doing research into changing the timing belt on my 02 WRX, I read a handful of horror stories of failing belts within 10,000 miles and the consensus was the cheap knock off kits were very failure prone. I have to admit I was a bit skeptical about this. I went with the OEM kit as I wasn't trying to save money on the job (well aside from doing it all myself) but I still suspected that those early failures were more likely user error than parts failure. Watching this video and reading the other comments, I'll only ever choose OEM parts for a job like this for sure. Crazy how catastrophically that failed so soon.
The key takeaways are to avoid CHEAP aftermarket parts. Quality aftermarket parts from reputable brands are still worth using especially with how outrageous dealership markups can be on some OEM items.
Really glad this one worked out for you. I'm thinking the original cause of the failure was that boss for the crank sensor bolt. If that sheared and the crank sensor bracket moved, that could have shredded the belt - the build up of fibre in that area does give more credence to this also (slowly shredding on the bracket in that area, before ultimate failure)
Samething happened to my accord timing belt broke after replacement less than a couple months, luckily there was no damage, from my research and experience the 3 liter v6 is a non interference engine, was so happy when she purred back up. Great video
Those were definitely counterfeit parts. The shrink-wrapped water pump is a dead giveaway. I bought a counterfeit timing kit for my 07 TL on ebay but thankfully I realized what they were and got a refund before I installed them. Then I bought the Aisin TKH-002 instead. Amazing that your engine survived! Time to buy a Lotto ticket.
Hey man I bought a timing belt kit on eBay last year for my 2005 mdx with 250k on the odometer. I’ve been postponing the job just because of time and I’d prefer to do it myself. The belt that’s on the engine is still in good shape so I figured I’d wait until the summer. But now I’m 🫤 skeptical about the part that I bought. Can you please tell me how to tell if the parts are counterfeit or not?
I also purchased likely counterfit parts off amazon for the timing belt on our '07 MDX. Crazy thing is that ours also failed in late November 2021, but that was after almost 30,000km of driving on it. Weird thing is that the serpentine belt that came with the kit failed in the exact manner that yours did (chunks missing), and that really should have been a warning to go in an replace the timing belt again. The mechanic we had the car towed to also suggested we put a timing belt on it and see what would hapopen, but with our needs for that vehicle having changed (only one person driving it at a time, the space and fuel waste was unneccesary) and the vehicle having done almost 400,000km at the time (was also starting to succumb to rust), we decided it was time to part ways. Easily the best vehicle we've ever owned. We owned it since new, and it definetly didn't owe us a even a single dime.
Wow that's incredible! My TL had crank sensor issues causing multiple misfires at high rpm. I'm astonished that your's didn't bend any valves. Long live the $200 TL!
Its impossible to bend valves if the timing belt is fine with proper tension and not skipping a tooth, it mechanically puts the crank and cams in sync. Valve float at high rpms is a diff story.
@@traktion9 I was commenting at how astonished I was that HIS valves didn't bend because the belt snapped. My belt didn't snap, it wasn't getting proper crank signal. Most Honda engines destroy themselves once the belt snaps. It probably depends on how fast the engine is turning. Thanks tho homie 👍
I just had almost the exact same failure on my 98 Accord 2.3. The crank/tdc sensor housing broke, causing the bolt to back out and shred the belts/timing components, which were less than 10k miles on them. But being an interference engine, it bent a couple of valves. So I just rebuilt the entire engine. I ended up spending almost 1500 dollars on the rebuild, but now I have about the newest 98 Accord in the area.
Heck of a nice job Eric. Like you said, a lot of folks would have just thrown in the towel with the timing belt breakage. Masterful decision buddy, she sounds like new! Big Al.
Love the analysis and details. So glad you got it running. LOVE the MacGyver work, it's your car so you should be able to do what you want with it. Shoulda known about the parts when the OEM cam and crank seal part numbers were the same
Glad you sorted it, I had a similar experience with my FIAT Ulysses here in the UK. Coming up the motorway it stopped but I had the presence of mind to dip the clutch (manual gearbox) and coast to the hard shoulder. To cut a long story short, I stripped the belt area to find about a quarter of the timing belt had stripped its thread? After replacing just about everything I could think of and checking the timing lots I could never found out what caused it and never got it to start. Having had it for 14 years, I keep my cars forever, I sold it as a none runner. I miss that MPV it was so practical.
Thanks for the info Eric , I have a J30a1 in my 2000 Accord . so glad that your engine is still working . gives me hope if anything happens to mine it might still work also . Keep the videos coming it really makes my day . be safe and ""stay dirty "" .
I'm not surprised the JB weld failed, it is not all that strong. Thumbs up to you, for sticking with it and getting it running again, despite the setbacks.
Had an 03 TL with the same engine and used your video that I bought for 11$ in 2011 to do a water pump timing belt job myself, best 11$ I ever spent. Glad to see if a timing belt brakes, there’s still a chance the engine isn’t damaged.
How many gearboxes have you been through? My '03 TL died with its 3rd transmission in it. They certainly got their act together on the 3rd gens though. Great cars
I would have tried the same thing as well. If you do need a replacement engine, you'd likely redo the timing belt and water pump anyway so all you're losing is some work time. Nice, Eric.
if you have time you can pull the valve covers and rocker arms and check the valve spring heights (should be the same). I did this to on budget co-worker
That’s a miracle! That’s for sure. As I always say, with critical components that can result in potential mechanical failure, always get the best components you can afford. Keep up the great work and thank you for the video Eric.
Hey Eric. I’m glad it worked out. You’ll be fine with that Gates kit, ironically I noticed that the belt you initially replaced was a Gates belt. Seen an older TL once that the pulleys seized up and the timing belt melted to the pulleys. New kit and the car ran fine.
Absolutely love the real world feel of this video. You and your real life situations are so very relatable Eric, to many of us, and that’s why your channel is so popular. So many folks out there clamor about how they only buy oem parts blah blah. Well, that’s good advice, but on a $200 car, where reliability isn’t a huge deal. Why spend the extra $? I mean it’s not a customers car, it’s yours. I was going to interject also, as I had to do this once on a jdm b20 engine which didn’t have a crank position sensor mounting, you can jump the cam and crank sensor signal wires…it’ll cool the engine and it’ll run just fine. Again, in this situation where it just needs to run would work. My situation was a $500 crv and it’s still running jumped out to this day, and that’s been 6 yrs ago,
Unfortunately this video shows the complete opposite. Potentially counterfeit parts left him broken down on the side of the freeway requiring a tow. Could have also crashed the engine. I am all for economical repairs. The Gates kit he used for the new parts is a reasonable risk. I am done buying parts off Ebay/Amazon for the risk of getting counterfeit parts, and still paying hefty for the parts.
@m ph THAT was the point of the video. I had a suspicion the parts were counterfeit when I installed them, video linked in the description. Since this was a $200 car, I felt I could experiment. If I break an engine no big deal in my mind, it's a content opportunity. The point is, I make these videos for a living. The more stuff breaks, the more views I get and my kids get to go to college. I hope that puts a finer point on it for you. Thanks for the comment.
Hey Eric... nice to see you got your Munsters' fast-motion going at 1:59. I just did the timing belt work on my son's 2000 Camry V6 (118,000) using an Aisin kit & Continental PS/Alt belts from Rock Auto. I used FelPro crank/cam seals and a Toyota tensioner. With so much junk from who-knows-where out there for parts, being careful is an understatement. It's one thing when you screw (17:04) the motor, & another if it screws you. Good, patient work. Thanks for the closing advice.
There is a good post on the odyclub forums about a fake ebay timing belt failure. The pic of your belt (at 35:50 on your video of the timing belt replacement for the Acura) shows the writing on the belt you used and it clearly matches what the fake belt looked like in the odyclub forum post. But you were very lucky by not having interference damage. Thanks and keep up the great videos.
You should refer them to this video also. The entire reason I installed the counterfeit kit was to see if it would fail. Now that we know, we know. Thanks for the comment.
I got a 05 acura mdx with transmission issues for 250.00. Instead of replacing it I diagnose the problem and took out transmission, took it apart and replace a broke sprag. Now I got a nice shifting vehicle. Lesson is take a chance on something that not quite broke. Good job on timing fix.
Yeah, this is what I was talking about with Belts vs. Chains in your other video. I'm a big VW guy, and there was a whole series of belts that were not manufactured properly for their belt driven 2.0 "BEV" engines that were notorious for failing prematurely, and a bunch of aftermarket belts that were bad too. Basically you had to do your timing belts early, and make sure you buy OEM, and even then it wasn't a guarantee. At least with a chain, the lifespan is so much greater that you'll have a lot longer before you'll need to touch it, which on both a chain and belt is a risky proposition (especially with flaky parts). If you have to do it less often, you'll be better off in my mind.
In my view, even with a belt failure, this engine was still good. And yes, it is an interference engine. Replacing the timing belt and water pump took about 40min. Chains wear out over time no matter what and cause a loss of engine performance. They are also more difficult, expensive, and time consuming to replace in my view. Especially when you have to drop the oil pan. Either way, you need to maintain your engine, no matter how its internals are driven. Thanks for the comment.
Nah, I had to replace by chain on my f150 at 175k because it worn to the point the cam phasers were making a lot of noise. The job was extensive and cost me 1.5k in parts alone. On the other hand, I replaced the timing belt on my Pilot with $175 in parts and took me about 3.5 hours.
palillo2006 did you keep up with oil changes? I’ve read chains stretch if you dont do regular oil changes, and let’s face it, alot of people dont do regular oil changes
@@ericthecarguy Do the chains typically wear out, or do the guides/tensioners wear out and cause them to jump time? Seems that was a common problem for some Ford engines a while back where the guides/tensioners would prematurely wear out causing the timing chains to jump teeth and eventually would wear and possibly break the chain, or get the engine out of time to where it no longer ran. I think that was a common issue with the 4L V6 engines in the Rangers and Explorers. I remember my 84 Ford Ranger 2.8L V6 engine had timing gears.
Great job. You should be very proud and happy with yourself, sticking to it, nothing to loose, great job. I’ve been waiting to see what happened to this car ever since it was towed. Thank you have a great weekend. As a side note, it’s a good takeaway lesson about counterfeit parts.
Good advice about the timing belt. Years ago, I had a 1988 Honda Accord that ran great......until the timing belt broke. It had a interference engine, and my mechanic said it (the engine) was probably done. He went ahead and put a belt on it and it fired right up. Drove it without any problems four more years until I traded it in. You never know.
You are right, I hated what you did with the CPS to make it work, but I can't deny that on my own car I might have done the same thing if I had thought to do it.
AWESOME video I had a honda civic hatchback years and years ago my timing belt broke while driving antifreeze everywhere and so on I took it all apart put it all back together but no luck at all it was like running on 2 cylinders 😥😥😥😥 I miss that car
Eric, what a nice job you achieved. You mentioned don't forget to do compression test on engine, that is critical to ensure your engine had not damaged due to timing belt failure. High performance engine would have broken because of timing belt failure.
Eric please report the eBay seller you bought the timing kit from, obviously all the parts were fake. The price itself is the biggest red flag 🚩 Help out the next guy by letting eBay know.
The tensioner is the most important part of this timing kit. I had to do the job over again as I found the tensioner I bought on ebay was counterfeit and failed immediately after install. You should not be able to depress that tensioner by hand at all and that grenade pin should be extremely difficult to remove. I found the best thing to do is to install the kit and run the engine with the covers and everything else off so you can see how everything moves. That belt should not have any noticeable flex at all as it makes its rotation and the tensioner should not have any noticeable movement. You can then try and depress the tensioner by hand via the pulley. If you can move it by hand at all then you've bought a faulty or counterfeit tensioner and need to replace that part before completing the job.
Good practice there do you get sensors too? I do get aftermarket sensors since well I can't afford oem sensors sadly but I haven't had so much issue. I say that because well... I bought a o2 sensor that was like half dead on arrival. Now I bought it off of ebay... and well that was my first mistake, but however it was supposed oem it was a mopar sensor too possibly my second mistake. Now the funny part was that it _DID_ fix the problem BUT the heating element was somehow broken I know that because the computer changed the code I just now have a code for the heating element now on my car hmm...
@@photondebuger45 get OEM ones right from the stealership. Same with fuel pumps. I've had napa pumps fail. But when I went to ford and bought an OEM one it lasted until the car died on me. Which was at least 200k miles later.
I bought my wife a near mint low mile, anthracite grey 05 TL 6 years ago,before I gave it to her as a surprise,I got a Honda dealership put it a new timing belt,water pump, tensioner and new drive belts,been purring along ever since. I get my 2001 Prelude belts done at Honda too,can’t really beat OEM quality 😎
Excellent video. Thanks Eric. You make timing belt issues seem almost manageable - something I've always been afraid to tackle. Maybe next time I'll dive in.
My issue would be where the heck do you begin trying to even get to stuff to replace a timing belt with these stupid sideways mounted engines...would almost be easier with some of them to remove the engine it seems LOL. I tried replacing a head gasket in one of my cars a while back, nope, have no clue what I screwed up but the car ran before I tore it apart, didn't run afterwards...that's the end of my mechanical attempts, got very expensive very quickly, and ruined a car I enjoyed driving although it was an old car, and very dull and boring, I enjoyed it because it was just a plain old simple car without all the electronic garbage on today's vehicles to deal with.
Nice Job Eric. Years ago I replaced 2nd timing belt on my old 04 Ody at 200K. Bought a kit that had a continental belt and Aisin Pump. Idlers were painted black. 32K miles later I got a call from my wife that it was dead on the road. Towed it home and found belt broken. I surmised the idler bearing was seizing intermittently as there was pieces of the smooth side of the timing belt burned onto the smooth surface of the bearing and wear marks on the back of the belt. Tried the same thing as you with a new belt and the original koyo idler. I wasn't as lucky as you, bent valves. Beware of cheap off brand kits!
If you look at the back part of the engine mount bracket you should see a mark where the idler pulley was rubbing against the bracket. You're supposed to use a die grinder and grind down the engine mount bracket where the idler pulley sits. That solves the "warble" sound coming from the timing belt area. Its just bad having a bearing rub against metal as well. For those of you who dont know this stuff. Its crucial info.
Hi Eric how r'u well I saw the 📹 again from the t. belt and all I need to say is that ur good as a mechanic cause I see u' don't give up that easy: enyways God bless and like you say stay dirty ..
Eric, I suspected you used counterfeit Honda parts from Amazon in the last video when you replaced timing belt on this car as the water pump was different from OEM and the link you provided in that video had horrible reviews like your case. Unfortunately my suspect is confirmed! The root cause is that the poor quality of any of these dirty cheap honda fake parts you replaced, in this case the bad timing belt. For those who have replaced timing belt with those cheap parts recently, please redo the job with parts from trustable vender or Honda dealer to avoid the near future catastrophic event happening on your Honda engine!
I had a very strange timing belt failure on my J32A2 about four years ago. The car was driving perfectly fine, me and my buddy drove pretty far out into the country to check out an abandoned Soviet radar missile tracking station outside of Moscow. When we got back to the car - it started acting up. When it did fire up it was running horribly, and we had no idea what to do. What made the whole thing even more nerve-wracking was that my buddy had a flight to catch and we were in the middle of nowhere. In the end he took a cab (which was really expensive, and he was barely able to catch his flight - he checked in two minutes before registration was closed), meanwhile I had to call in a flatbed to transport my car back to Moscow, which also cost a small fortune. When my shop examined the car - it turned out that the timing belt had lateral cracks all around it, parallel to each one of the teeth, resulting in it skipping one or two. It was no more than a year old, and it was supposedly an OEM belt (though it was suspiciously cheap).
@@ericthecarguy hey man! Thanks for helping people like me with advice ;) I remember I kind of got on your nerves a few years ago in an e-mail exchange on the topic of Honda CV-joints...))
Hey maestro Eric I hope everything is going well for you and your family blessed and safe and thanks again for keep us teaching to your views I’m pretty proud to have you and blessed for us and for my self because I learned a lot of things and auto mechanic from you and your lovely videos thanks maestro Eric stay safe and blessed
Great video content! Hope that Honda V6 is a non-interference type engine, otherwise you will have a bunch of bent valves. Update: You got lucky! Glad it worked out well for you despite the carnage under the timing covers.
I have to say.. Once a car leaves me on the side of the road.. I can’t ever hardly trust that car again! And if that’s the Honda you did the in depth timing belt video on… then you for SURE got a counterfeit kit. eBay is not worth the hassle, folks. Just go directly to the dealer, or even aftermarket from like autozone would be better than the crap they allow on eBay like sites.
If the timing belt/chain breaks, all you need is to be lucky enough for the valve springs to rotate the cam shaft(s) into a neutral (no lift) position before the next pistons come up. Much higher chances of saving the engine than if a belt slips or a chain skips.
I work at parts department in Finland. We have lot's of Gates brand timing belt kits, it is insanely rare that they have issues. Other good aftermarket manufacturer, is Ina. I have installed their timing belt kit, with water pump on my old eg civic. Really high quality parts, it was a joy to install them.
I've gotten lucky three times with belt snaps on Hondas I've owned or worked on. I've been working mainly on Hondas for little over ten years now. More like a hobby really. But glad it worked out Eric.
The broken aluminum mounting boss for the cam sensor: A good quality aluminum brazing rod is one incredible problem-solver to have in your kit as well as skillset. I say skillset because it does take a bit of practice and seat-time to use the stuff at its full potential. It can be tricky to get it to wet properly. And, it flows like water if too warm. Just and FYI, the line between perfect temperature and too warm is human hair thin. When attempting to join two small pieces back together, tin both separately, then heat the two again for joining. Or, put the car in a frame/body rotisserie, turn the car on its side, and use a small piece of electrical conduit as a form to fabricate the boss from molten brazing rod. ;-) I'm totally serious when I say aluminum brazing rod is magic for quick permanent repairs on all kinds of aluminum and aluminum alloy parts.
@@ericthecarguy No worries, it's fixed as the owner wants it -- the very definition of a proper repair. I just added the comment as a reference to keep in the back of the mind for future play or problem-solving.
There is a major problem of counterfeit Honda oem parts going around online, especially parts sites like Ebay. Because of this I have resorted to just buying directly from an online dealer. Prices can actually be lower as well. I think this topic would make a great video for your other channel. Thanks again for another great video.
I like the thought process at 5:15. I would have likely jumped straight to "get a new engine" but you make a few really good points about "what if" the engine is still ok. Looks like it paid off as well based on the victory celebration later on in the video too!! Great video!!
Eric, your videos have helped a lot on a couple other vehicles. Hope I can get some insight, as I have 2008 TL as well. It has sort of a ticking at startup recently, and then at idle it would cycle in and out every 30 seconds or so...hear for around 10s, go away for 30s, repeat..185k on engine. At stop light last week and oil pressure light flickered on and off a few times...the exact day I was going to go to thicker oil (10w30) and buy some time and see how that went, figuring the bearings needed some help. I added some Motor Honey and all sounds are pretty much gone at startup and idle for now, except if I go to 2k RPM or so, I get a constant ticking. Oil pump and main bearings (from DNJ) are here, but after seeing the timing belt and water pump come off to do the pump, I think I'll keep the existing oil pump intact. I thought it was with the oil pan. Plan on pulling pan to look at bearings, but if you got any insight beforehand based on this, it's greatly appreciated. Thanks.
PAM, the cooking spray, makes a good, cheap epoxy release. Just give the bolt/screw a spray and it will come out after the epoxy has dried. I've used it many times while building small boats.
I reuse coolant quite a bit using the paint strainer. Coolant is fairly expensive, BUT I do it mainly because its not always easy getting rid of old coolant.
I recently got rid of my waste oil and coolant. Both were in separate 55 gallon drums. Cost me $600. They used to come and take the stuff for free not so long ago.
The best part about working on old cheap cars is that you can try out fun stuff like this. Awesome
It is the way I learned to fix cars. I had the what do I have to lose mentality.
I had experience in my youth where a mechanic diagnosed my mom's car as bent valves from a broken timing belt. But it was on a non interference engine..... He ended up with the car for free and he secretly threw a timing belt on it and drove it..... He was one of those not honest mechanics. Glad it's fixed
I remember commenting on the earlier video that all those counterfeit parts should have been replaced just to be safe. Glad it ended up mostly working out for the TL.
My son in laws pilot did the same thing. Probably 275,000 miles. Same thing. Did a timing kit and it started right up and ran fine.
As well balanced as J series seem to be you’d hear and feel low compression right away.
Damn Honda!! Impressive!
I floored the odyssey and jumped timing and bent a valve.. had to rebuild that engine.. and you cranked the shit out of this TL without any timing belt and you didn’t bent anything.. you sir are LUCKY!!
Sometimes you get lucky. Thanks for the comment.
The TL lives on! I see so many of these mistreated. And while you've done a little hackery to keep it running for now, you definitely keep it in great shape. Love to see it.
As he said, it is his car and if it works... it is a $200 car lol
most people ignore than these Acura's are far better quality and more reliable than German money pits.
Love 'em and they'll take you home everyday.
I am at 165kMi and keeping it up!
When I was doing research into changing the timing belt on my 02 WRX, I read a handful of horror stories of failing belts within 10,000 miles and the consensus was the cheap knock off kits were very failure prone. I have to admit I was a bit skeptical about this. I went with the OEM kit as I wasn't trying to save money on the job (well aside from doing it all myself) but I still suspected that those early failures were more likely user error than parts failure. Watching this video and reading the other comments, I'll only ever choose OEM parts for a job like this for sure. Crazy how catastrophically that failed so soon.
Yeah I'd never put cheap aftermarket parts, especially timing components, on my engine. Not worth the risk, just buy OEM
The key takeaways are to avoid CHEAP aftermarket parts. Quality aftermarket parts from reputable brands are still worth using especially with how outrageous dealership markups can be on some OEM items.
Can’t go wrong with gates timing belt kits
@Desantos King Maonesium is better! Let 100 parts bloom!
2004 to 2006 need tapered shim under idler roller, or the belt will wear against the cover!
I enjoyed listening to Eric's excitement and pleasure when the Acura TL ran; made it worth the time to watch the entire video !😄
Really glad this one worked out for you.
I'm thinking the original cause of the failure was that boss for the crank sensor bolt. If that sheared and the crank sensor bracket moved, that could have shredded the belt - the build up of fibre in that area does give more credence to this also (slowly shredding on the bracket in that area, before ultimate failure)
You Eric, are amazing! I watch your channel many years now and you never fail to amaze me! I fricking love this channel!!!
Thank you!
@@ericthecarguyzero compression in cylinders 1 and 5 on my j32 should I just junk the motor and go salvage?
Samething happened to my accord timing belt broke after replacement less than a couple months, luckily there was no damage, from my research and experience the 3 liter v6 is a non interference engine, was so happy when she purred back up. Great video
Those were definitely counterfeit parts. The shrink-wrapped water pump is a dead giveaway. I bought a counterfeit timing kit for my 07 TL on ebay but thankfully I realized what they were and got a refund before I installed them. Then I bought the Aisin TKH-002 instead. Amazing that your engine survived! Time to buy a Lotto ticket.
And he went ahead and bought a gates brand replacement lol
@@preciadoalex123 lol I know I cringed when he showed the gates replacement
Hey man I bought a timing belt kit on eBay last year for my 2005 mdx with 250k on the odometer. I’ve been postponing the job just because of time and I’d prefer to do it myself. The belt that’s on the engine is still in good shape so I figured I’d wait until the summer. But now I’m 🫤 skeptical about the part that I bought. Can you please tell me how to tell if the parts are counterfeit or not?
I lost it at the self tapping screws 🤣 well done, Eric. Your ingenuity knows no bounds.
This is a Duck Tape free zone.....
@@nk863 who would use duct tape on their car for anything other than a bumper? 🤣
Too funny, something def got damaged with regards to the sensor alignment.
Might want to use locktite on those self tapping screws!
Duct tape? You guys are fancy. Ghetto zip ties here.
I also purchased likely counterfit parts off amazon for the timing belt on our '07 MDX. Crazy thing is that ours also failed in late November 2021, but that was after almost 30,000km of driving on it. Weird thing is that the serpentine belt that came with the kit failed in the exact manner that yours did (chunks missing), and that really should have been a warning to go in an replace the timing belt again. The mechanic we had the car towed to also suggested we put a timing belt on it and see what would hapopen, but with our needs for that vehicle having changed (only one person driving it at a time, the space and fuel waste was unneccesary) and the vehicle having done almost 400,000km at the time (was also starting to succumb to rust), we decided it was time to part ways. Easily the best vehicle we've ever owned. We owned it since new, and it definetly didn't owe us a even a single dime.
Sorry you had to say goodbye to it. Thanks for sharing that.
What did you guys replace the MDX with?
Wow that's incredible! My TL had crank sensor issues causing multiple misfires at high rpm. I'm astonished that your's didn't bend any valves. Long live the $200 TL!
Its impossible to bend valves if the timing belt is fine with proper tension and not skipping a tooth, it mechanically puts the crank and cams in sync. Valve float at high rpms is a diff story.
@@traktion9 I was commenting at how astonished I was that HIS valves didn't bend because the belt snapped. My belt didn't snap, it wasn't getting proper crank signal. Most Honda engines destroy themselves once the belt snaps. It probably depends on how fast the engine is turning. Thanks tho homie 👍
I just had almost the exact same failure on my 98 Accord 2.3. The crank/tdc sensor housing broke, causing the bolt to back out and shred the belts/timing components, which were less than 10k miles on them. But being an interference engine, it bent a couple of valves. So I just rebuilt the entire engine. I ended up spending almost 1500 dollars on the rebuild, but now I have about the newest 98 Accord in the area.
Did it burn oil before and does it now?
Heck of a nice job Eric. Like you said, a lot of folks would have just thrown in the towel with the timing belt breakage. Masterful decision buddy, she sounds like new! Big Al.
the timing belt gods were shining on you again Eric
Love the analysis and details. So glad you got it running.
LOVE the MacGyver work, it's your car so you should be able to do what you want with it.
Shoulda known about the parts when the OEM cam and crank seal part numbers were the same
Glad you sorted it, I had a similar experience with my FIAT Ulysses here in the UK. Coming up the motorway it stopped but I had the presence of mind to dip the clutch (manual gearbox) and coast to the hard shoulder. To cut a long story short, I stripped the belt area to find about a quarter of the timing belt had stripped its thread? After replacing just about everything I could think of and checking the timing lots I could never found out what caused it and never got it to start. Having had it for 14 years, I keep my cars forever, I sold it as a none runner. I miss that MPV it was so practical.
Thanks for the info Eric , I have a J30a1 in my 2000 Accord . so glad that your engine is still working . gives me hope if anything happens to mine
it might still work also . Keep the videos coming it really makes my day . be safe and ""stay dirty "" .
I'm not surprised the JB weld failed, it is not all that strong. Thumbs up to you, for sticking with it and getting it running again, despite the setbacks.
Thanks Mr. Eric you have a way of explaining your work in a learning manner. You are providing content and teaching to help all of us.
Happy to hear you found a new shop near by.
Had an 03 TL with the same engine and used your video that I bought for 11$ in 2011 to do a water pump timing belt job myself, best 11$ I ever spent. Glad to see if a timing belt brakes, there’s still a chance the engine isn’t damaged.
How many gearboxes have you been through? My '03 TL died with its 3rd transmission in it. They certainly got their act together on the 3rd gens though. Great cars
@@RothBeyondTheGrave Should have ditched the Acura transmission and replaced with one from a V6 Honda Accord or Oddessy instead
Your a Genius and a little bit of Shade tree mechanic thrown in for the mix. been a Fan for a long time.
I would have tried the same thing as well. If you do need a replacement engine, you'd likely redo the timing belt and water pump anyway so all you're losing is some work time. Nice, Eric.
if you have time you can pull the valve covers and rocker arms and check the valve spring heights (should be the same).
I did this to on budget co-worker
The engine runs smooth. Hope the car last a long time. Whatever you need to fix besides the timing belt, water pump and things.
That’s a miracle! That’s for sure. As I always say, with critical components that can result in potential mechanical failure, always get the best components you can afford. Keep up the great work and thank you for the video Eric.
I love how informative your videos are without freaking people out 😂
Hey Eric. I’m glad it worked out. You’ll be fine with that Gates kit, ironically I noticed that the belt you initially replaced was a Gates belt.
Seen an older TL once that the pulleys seized up and the timing belt melted to the pulleys. New kit and the car ran fine.
Absolutely love the real world feel of this video. You and your real life situations are so very relatable Eric, to many of us, and that’s why your channel is so popular.
So many folks out there clamor about how they only buy oem parts blah blah. Well, that’s good advice, but on a $200 car, where reliability isn’t a huge deal. Why spend the extra $? I mean it’s not a customers car, it’s yours.
I was going to interject also, as I had to do this once on a jdm b20 engine which didn’t have a crank position sensor mounting, you can jump the cam and crank sensor signal wires…it’ll cool the engine and it’ll run just fine. Again, in this situation where it just needs to run would work. My situation was a $500 crv and it’s still running jumped out to this day, and that’s been 6 yrs ago,
It's always great when people 'get it'. Thank you for that.
Unfortunately this video shows the complete opposite. Potentially counterfeit parts left him broken down on the side of the freeway requiring a tow. Could have also crashed the engine. I am all for economical repairs. The Gates kit he used for the new parts is a reasonable risk. I am done buying parts off Ebay/Amazon for the risk of getting counterfeit parts, and still paying hefty for the parts.
@m ph THAT was the point of the video. I had a suspicion the parts were counterfeit when I installed them, video linked in the description. Since this was a $200 car, I felt I could experiment. If I break an engine no big deal in my mind, it's a content opportunity. The point is, I make these videos for a living. The more stuff breaks, the more views I get and my kids get to go to college. I hope that puts a finer point on it for you. Thanks for the comment.
Hey Eric... nice to see you got your Munsters' fast-motion going at 1:59. I just did the timing belt work on my son's 2000 Camry V6 (118,000) using an Aisin kit & Continental PS/Alt belts from Rock Auto. I used FelPro crank/cam seals and a Toyota tensioner. With so much junk from who-knows-where out there for parts, being careful is an understatement. It's one thing when you screw (17:04) the motor, & another if it screws you. Good, patient work. Thanks for the closing advice.
There is a good post on the odyclub forums about a fake ebay timing belt failure. The pic of your belt (at 35:50 on your video of the timing belt replacement for the Acura) shows the writing on the belt you used and it clearly matches what the fake belt looked like in the odyclub forum post. But you were very lucky by not having interference damage. Thanks and keep up the great videos.
You should refer them to this video also. The entire reason I installed the counterfeit kit was to see if it would fail. Now that we know, we know. Thanks for the comment.
Wow, I am surprised that the engine still runs! Nice job Eric!
I got a 05 acura mdx with transmission issues for 250.00. Instead of replacing it I diagnose the problem and took out transmission, took it apart and replace a broke sprag. Now I got a nice shifting vehicle. Lesson is take a chance on something that not quite broke. Good job on timing fix.
Yeah, this is what I was talking about with Belts vs. Chains in your other video.
I'm a big VW guy, and there was a whole series of belts that were not manufactured properly for their belt driven 2.0 "BEV" engines that were notorious for failing prematurely, and a bunch of aftermarket belts that were bad too.
Basically you had to do your timing belts early, and make sure you buy OEM, and even then it wasn't a guarantee.
At least with a chain, the lifespan is so much greater that you'll have a lot longer before you'll need to touch it, which on both a chain and belt is a risky proposition (especially with flaky parts). If you have to do it less often, you'll be better off in my mind.
In my view, even with a belt failure, this engine was still good. And yes, it is an interference engine. Replacing the timing belt and water pump took about 40min. Chains wear out over time no matter what and cause a loss of engine performance. They are also more difficult, expensive, and time consuming to replace in my view. Especially when you have to drop the oil pan. Either way, you need to maintain your engine, no matter how its internals are driven. Thanks for the comment.
Nah, I had to replace by chain on my f150 at 175k because it worn to the point the cam phasers were making a lot of noise. The job was extensive and cost me 1.5k in parts alone. On the other hand, I replaced the timing belt on my Pilot with $175 in parts and took me about 3.5 hours.
palillo2006 did you keep up with oil changes? I’ve read chains stretch if you dont do regular oil changes, and let’s face it, alot of people dont do regular oil changes
@@dawicked2k8 Yup, and before the oil light showed up at 7500 miles. I would change it at 5k ish.
@@ericthecarguy Do the chains typically wear out, or do the guides/tensioners wear out and cause them to jump time? Seems that was a common problem for some Ford engines a while back where the guides/tensioners would prematurely wear out causing the timing chains to jump teeth and eventually would wear and possibly break the chain, or get the engine out of time to where it no longer ran. I think that was a common issue with the 4L V6 engines in the Rangers and Explorers.
I remember my 84 Ford Ranger 2.8L V6 engine had timing gears.
ERIC PREVAILS AGAIN! YES!!
Outstanding! Never a doubt…
Excellent 👍🏼👍🏼
Love it when an unorthodox fix works 🙂
Great job. You should be very proud and happy with yourself, sticking to it, nothing to loose, great job. I’ve been waiting to see what happened to this car ever since it was towed. Thank you have a great weekend. As a side note, it’s a good takeaway lesson about counterfeit parts.
My stepfather still has his '91 Integra like yours. What a machine of the day that was!
Great video! Brilliant trick with the screws holding up the crank sensor.
Great job Eric, like to see you never give up!
Good advice about the timing belt. Years ago, I had a 1988 Honda Accord that ran great......until the timing belt broke. It had a interference engine, and my mechanic said it (the engine) was probably done. He went ahead and put a belt on it and it fired right up. Drove it without any problems four more years until I traded it in. You never know.
I love your TL videos!
Scannerdanner would be proud of the crank sensor fix!
You are right, I hated what you did with the CPS to make it work, but I can't deny that on my own car I might have done the same thing if I had thought to do it.
I learned my lesson with sensors. Stupid expensive but work. Aftermarket sensors did a doozy on two of my cars
AWESOME video I had a honda civic hatchback years and years ago my timing belt broke while driving antifreeze everywhere and so on I took it all apart put it all back together but no luck at all it was like running on 2 cylinders 😥😥😥😥 I miss that car
Eric, what a nice job you achieved. You mentioned don't forget to do compression test on engine, that is critical to ensure your engine had not damaged due to timing belt failure. High performance engine would have broken because of timing belt failure.
Good vid. I use those craft sticks for many applications as well. They're also excellent for applying Shoe Goo.
Eric please report the eBay seller you bought the timing kit from, obviously all the parts were fake. The price itself is the biggest red flag 🚩 Help out the next guy by letting eBay know.
You buy cheap parts, you get cheap quality. They were cheap for a reason.
So rewarding when you improvise and win the battle!
Thank you for not milking it!
The tensioner is the most important part of this timing kit. I had to do the job over again as I found the tensioner I bought on ebay was counterfeit and failed immediately after install. You should not be able to depress that tensioner by hand at all and that grenade pin should be extremely difficult to remove. I found the best thing to do is to install the kit and run the engine with the covers and everything else off so you can see how everything moves. That belt should not have any noticeable flex at all as it makes its rotation and the tensioner should not have any noticeable movement. You can then try and depress the tensioner by hand via the pulley. If you can move it by hand at all then you've bought a faulty or counterfeit tensioner and need to replace that part before completing the job.
For timing belts I will only factory belts. I've used non factory and they've broken much much sooner than the factory ones.
Good practice there do you get sensors too? I do get aftermarket sensors since well I can't afford oem sensors sadly but I haven't had so much issue. I say that because well... I bought a o2 sensor that was like half dead on arrival. Now I bought it off of ebay... and well that was my first mistake, but however it was supposed oem it was a mopar sensor too possibly my second mistake. Now the funny part was that it _DID_ fix the problem BUT the heating element was somehow broken I know that because the computer changed the code I just now have a code for the heating element now on my car hmm...
@@photondebuger45 get OEM ones right from the stealership. Same with fuel pumps. I've had napa pumps fail. But when I went to ford and bought an OEM one it lasted until the car died on me. Which was at least 200k miles later.
Cranking compression sounded good. As soon as i heard that I knew it was gonna be good!
It’s worth the exploration. Great video
Kick Arse! Congrats and super glad it's running again!
I bought my wife a near mint low mile, anthracite grey 05 TL 6 years ago,before I gave it to her as a surprise,I got a Honda dealership put it a new timing belt,water pump, tensioner and new drive belts,been purring along ever since. I get my 2001 Prelude belts done at Honda too,can’t really beat OEM quality 😎
Excellent video. Thanks Eric. You make timing belt issues seem almost manageable - something I've always been afraid to tackle. Maybe next time I'll dive in.
My issue would be where the heck do you begin trying to even get to stuff to replace a timing belt with these stupid sideways mounted engines...would almost be easier with some of them to remove the engine it seems LOL.
I tried replacing a head gasket in one of my cars a while back, nope, have no clue what I screwed up but the car ran before I tore it apart, didn't run afterwards...that's the end of my mechanical attempts, got very expensive very quickly, and ruined a car I enjoyed driving although it was an old car, and very dull and boring, I enjoyed it because it was just a plain old simple car without all the electronic garbage on today's vehicles to deal with.
I GOT SUPER EXCITED WHEN IT TURNED ON!!!!!!!!!!!!! yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah
Nice Job Eric. Years ago I replaced 2nd timing belt on my old 04 Ody at 200K. Bought a kit that had a continental belt and Aisin Pump. Idlers were painted black. 32K miles later I got a call from my wife that it was dead on the road. Towed it home and found belt broken. I surmised the idler bearing was seizing intermittently as there was pieces of the smooth side of the timing belt burned onto the smooth surface of the bearing and wear marks on the back of the belt. Tried the same thing as you with a new belt and the original koyo idler. I wasn't as lucky as you, bent valves. Beware of cheap off brand kits!
Sorry to hear that happened. Glad you got it sorted though. Thanks for the comment.
Dude I was thinking counterfeit parts from the very beginning. You got so lucky!
Glad that she is still running.
If you look at the back part of the engine mount bracket you should see a mark where the idler pulley was rubbing against the bracket. You're supposed to use a die grinder and grind down the engine mount bracket where the idler pulley sits. That solves the "warble" sound coming from the timing belt area. Its just bad having a bearing rub against metal as well. For those of you who dont know this stuff. Its crucial info.
Hi Eric how r'u well I saw the 📹 again from the t. belt and all I need to say is that ur good as a mechanic cause I see u' don't give up that easy: enyways God bless and like you say stay dirty ..
Eric, I suspected you used counterfeit Honda parts from Amazon in the last video when you replaced timing belt on this car as the water pump was different from OEM and the link you provided in that video had horrible reviews like your case. Unfortunately my suspect is confirmed! The root cause is that the poor quality of any of these dirty cheap honda fake parts you replaced, in this case the bad timing belt. For those who have replaced timing belt with those cheap parts recently, please redo the job with parts from trustable vender or Honda dealer to avoid the near future catastrophic event happening on your Honda engine!
That feeling when your work pays off!😎
I had a very strange timing belt failure on my J32A2 about four years ago. The car was driving perfectly fine, me and my buddy drove pretty far out into the country to check out an abandoned Soviet radar missile tracking station outside of Moscow. When we got back to the car - it started acting up. When it did fire up it was running horribly, and we had no idea what to do. What made the whole thing even more nerve-wracking was that my buddy had a flight to catch and we were in the middle of nowhere. In the end he took a cab (which was really expensive, and he was barely able to catch his flight - he checked in two minutes before registration was closed), meanwhile I had to call in a flatbed to transport my car back to Moscow, which also cost a small fortune. When my shop examined the car - it turned out that the timing belt had lateral cracks all around it, parallel to each one of the teeth, resulting in it skipping one or two. It was no more than a year old, and it was supposedly an OEM belt (though it was suspiciously cheap).
Glad you got it sorted. That sounds really stressful. Thanks for the comment.
@@ericthecarguy hey man! Thanks for helping people like me with advice ;) I remember I kind of got on your nerves a few years ago in an e-mail exchange on the topic of Honda CV-joints...))
Great video. Couldn't stop watching.
Awesome! Engine sounds smooth.
Hey maestro Eric I hope everything is going well for you and your family blessed and safe and thanks again for keep us teaching to your views I’m pretty proud to have you and blessed for us and for my self because I learned a lot of things and auto mechanic from you and your lovely videos thanks maestro Eric stay safe and blessed
Great video content! Hope that Honda V6 is a non-interference type engine, otherwise you will have a bunch of bent valves.
Update: You got lucky! Glad it worked out well for you despite the carnage under the timing covers.
It IS an interference engine, and you should watch the entire video. Thanks for the comment.
I have to say.. Once a car leaves me on the side of the road.. I can’t ever hardly trust that car again!
And if that’s the Honda you did the in depth timing belt video on… then you for SURE got a counterfeit kit. eBay is not worth the hassle, folks. Just go directly to the dealer, or even aftermarket from like autozone would be better than the crap they allow on eBay like sites.
I used to have corolla with non-interference engine. I had a timing belt broke once for no apparent reason as well, the belt was also relatively new.
If the timing belt/chain breaks, all you need is to be lucky enough for the valve springs to rotate the cam shaft(s) into a neutral (no lift) position before the next pistons come up. Much higher chances of saving the engine than if a belt slips or a chain skips.
Nice job Eric. Truthfully, Hondas are not my thing, but I appreciate the knowledge and experience you’re sharing.
I've had good luck with Gates products. Been using them for years.
I work at parts department in Finland. We have lot's of Gates brand timing belt kits, it is insanely rare that they have issues. Other good aftermarket manufacturer, is Ina. I have installed their timing belt kit, with water pump on my old eg civic. Really high quality parts, it was a joy to install them.
I've gotten lucky three times with belt snaps on Hondas I've owned or worked on. I've been working mainly on Hondas for little over ten years now. More like a hobby really. But glad it worked out Eric.
This is the only place i come to for j series content. You do not disappoint!
A Man who loves what he. Master Mechanic
The broken aluminum mounting boss for the cam sensor:
A good quality aluminum brazing rod is one incredible problem-solver to have in your kit as well as skillset.
I say skillset because it does take a bit of practice and seat-time to use the stuff at its full potential. It can be tricky to get it to wet properly. And, it flows like water if too warm. Just and FYI, the line between perfect temperature and too warm is human hair thin.
When attempting to join two small pieces back together, tin both separately, then heat the two again for joining. Or, put the car in a frame/body rotisserie, turn the car on its side, and use a small piece of electrical conduit as a form to fabricate the boss from molten brazing rod. ;-)
I'm totally serious when I say aluminum brazing rod is magic for quick permanent repairs on all kinds of aluminum and aluminum alloy parts.
That would be a better repair I admit, but I don't possess the tools or the skillset for that. Thanks for the comment.
@@ericthecarguy No worries, it's fixed as the owner wants it -- the very definition of a proper repair.
I just added the comment as a reference to keep in the back of the mind for future play or problem-solving.
There is a major problem of counterfeit Honda oem parts going around online, especially parts sites like Ebay. Because of this I have resorted to just buying directly from an online dealer. Prices can actually be lower as well. I think this topic would make a great video for your other channel. Thanks again for another great video.
I like the thought process at 5:15. I would have likely jumped straight to "get a new engine" but you make a few really good points about "what if" the engine is still ok. Looks like it paid off as well based on the victory celebration later on in the video too!! Great video!!
It's not the first time either. ruclips.net/video/enPNb8dxCZk/видео.html
@@ericthecarguy Nice!! Yeah it's a great way to approach that situation and I'll be keeping it in mind for sure!
Resourceful you are! Nice job.
Success ! Great video, Eric.
I just love watching Eric's videos, specially story telling long ones) Thanks!
The timing belt of my 1992 honda civic broke.We put a timing belt on it and it was perfectly running fine. Honda engines are the best.
Unless it's a non-interference engine, you were just lucky some valves weren't bent or worse. Glad it worked out for you.
We love you Eric!
Great video. Glad you got the car starting again. I like the warning about the counterfeit parts too!
Eric, your videos have helped a lot on a couple other vehicles. Hope I can get some insight, as I have 2008 TL as well. It has sort of a ticking at startup recently, and then at idle it would cycle in and out every 30 seconds or so...hear for around 10s, go away for 30s, repeat..185k on engine. At stop light last week and oil pressure light flickered on and off a few times...the exact day I was going to go to thicker oil (10w30) and buy some time and see how that went, figuring the bearings needed some help. I added some Motor Honey and all sounds are pretty much gone at startup and idle for now, except if I go to 2k RPM or so, I get a constant ticking. Oil pump and main bearings (from DNJ) are here, but after seeing the timing belt and water pump come off to do the pump, I think I'll keep the existing oil pump intact. I thought it was with the oil pan. Plan on pulling pan to look at bearings, but if you got any insight beforehand based on this, it's greatly appreciated. Thanks.
PAM, the cooking spray, makes a good, cheap epoxy release. Just give the bolt/screw a spray and it will come out after the epoxy has dried.
I've used it many times while building small boats.
Great job. Gates are good stuff and i had good luck with Intermotor parts. Happy new year from Norway 😊
Electrical connectors are always a pain to fix and find components for. Great fix!
I reuse coolant quite a bit using the paint strainer. Coolant is fairly expensive, BUT I do it mainly because its not always easy getting rid of old coolant.
I recently got rid of my waste oil and coolant. Both were in separate 55 gallon drums. Cost me $600. They used to come and take the stuff for free not so long ago.
@@ericthecarguy Our county has free oil and coolant disposal. But, I bet if I showed up with 2 55 gallon drums, they'd say "NO!".
Congrats! Feels great when you luck out & win one.
Thanks for finally doing the update. Bravo on that repair!
I see now to never use cheap fake belt kits.
EricTheOtherCarGuy reporting in….