Andrew Briscoe4d ago
My 17-yo son and I played mechanics for the day. We completed the main goal, which was replacing the worn drive belt. We attempted an inspection of the timing belt. Got the top timing belt cover off, put the front end on jack stands, removed a wheel, peeled back some paneling, but I ended up not have the correct tools to crank the engine by hand. Struggled to get everything back together, made two trips to Harbor Freight. I consider it a success as we wanted to start small and learn. We had fun.
Show thread__hetz3d ago

@andrewbriscoe
If I had to bet, 19mm socket and a pulley holder? I figure large sockets and specialty tools are rare outside of shops or the toolkits of tradesfolk and hobby wrenchers.

I bought an impact set from HF because I needed a 22mm. Got a cheap clone of the Oni Toyota/Lexus holder from Amazon. It's decent; cast, so no sketchy welds. But in hindsight I maybe should've checked if the usual suspects had a loaner for that. It's gonna be a $20 paperweight for the next decade or 90k miles.

Show threadAndrew Briscoe2d ago
@__hetz My plan was to try to manually crank the engine with the pulley still on to visually inspect the belt. I didn’t have enough leverage to turn it and ran out of time to buy more tools. I am going to get the Honda pulley holder to get the bolt out when I do the timing job for real. It’s famously difficult. I already have the large 1/2 Icon G2 ratchet and impact 19mm socket. If that doesn’t work I will have to buy an electric impact.
Show thread__hetz2d ago

@andrewbriscoe
They're expensive for a single socket but I've seen high mass sockets specifically for those nuts. I zipped mine off with an impact and a Pittsburgh socket, but it was from a deep set so maybe that extra mass helped.

For the holder I recommend a breaker bar long enough that it pins itself against the frame or ground while torquing. Might also make turning the nut easier for your inspection.

Good luck with it. It's a fun project I'm happy not to do again for a while 

Show threadAndrew Briscoe
@__hetz Thank you for the advice! It’s fun to learn new things. I’ll try again on my next weekday off in a few weeks.
Mar 28 at 10:06pmIvory for iOS