changing timing belt xxx

[sierraCivic]

I know this has been discussed before but in my mind it is not a settled matter.
I'm talking about using your starter to break loose your crankshaft bolt .
My car is a 88 civic with a D15B2 engine. I have read people ask which way the bolt loosens and they go into the lefty loosy / righty tighty thing.
So... one of my first questions is, is it a left hand thread, meaning does it loosen counter clockwise?
Also I have read people say that my engine turns counter clock wise and others say that it turns clockwise. Well...that would depend on whether you are viewing at the front of the engine or at the back of the engine. ( like you would if you were standing in front of your car and saying that the passenger side was the right hand side.)
So, to make that clear if you pull off your left front tire to get at your crankshaft and are looking at your crankshaft, which way does the crankshaft turn , when running, clockwise or counter clockwise.
Now, still looking at the crankshaft which way does the crankshaft bolt loosen, clockwise or counter clockwise?
I have also seen where people say that you can use this method of breaking your crankshaft bolt loose with your starter and you can also use the same method to tighten it. This sounds impossible to me unless you can somehow tell your motor to turn backwards for your immediate pleasure.

And finally what do you think of using your starter to break loose the crank bolt. Can it damage your starter.

I dont think I can use the Honda special tool on my car to hold the crank from turning.

( ps Yes I realize that you have to disable the car from starting.)

 

[RonJ]

I'm talking about using your starter to break loose your crankshaft bolt .

Post a picture of your crank pulley.

So, to make that clear if you pull off your left front tire to get at your crankshaft and are looking at your crankshaft, which way does the crankshaft turn , when running, clockwise or counter clockwise.
Now, still looking at the crankshaft which way does the crankshaft bolt loosen, clockwise or counter clockwise?

Counterclockwise is the answer for both.

 

[sierraCivic]

Sorry I havn't gotten to doing the job yet. I am just in the process of gathering information. But it is a standard crank on a D15B2 single overhead civic engine.

 

[sierraCivic]

Changing timing belt D15B2 engine

OK so anyone that wants to know, and is going to do the same engine listed above.

Facing the crank bolt with the wheel off. The crank bolt turns counter clockwise to loosen.

The engine also rotates when running in the same counter clockwise direction.

The crank bolt came loose fairly easy with a 3/4 drive ratchet and a 17mm socket. It groaned a couple of times but gave in to this old guy. (hint - use your foot to push the wrench) I kept the crank from turning by shoving a 3/8 bolt thru one of the holes in the crank and wedged up against the edge of the oil pan where it bolts to the engine. REMEMBER you don't have to have the crank at TDC when you break it loose. You can put the timing where it belongs after by lining up the cam crank lines to the top of the engine with the word up to the top. But, remember that you can be 180 degrees out of time. So . . take off the distributor cover and see if it is now aligned/pointed at the #1 ignition wire. (that is the one closest to the crank end of the engine.) If it is pointing at the #4 ignition wire then your 180 degees out of time, so rotate the crank counter clockwise around until it brings the UP mark back around again and realign the marks again with the top of the engine.

After changing the Timing Belt:

And before you start the engine make sure that the distributor rotor is pointing at #1 ignition wire position.
And the word UP is at the top of the cam crank
And that the crankshaft is lined up with the mark on the crank. These marks are very small and hard to see, but the mark about an inch away from the other three marks on the crank edge is the TDC mark. when looking thru the little line up sight thingys on the side of the timing belt cover.

I'm not going to go into all of the how to part of the job, but only to say that it went pretty easy, and is back running good. I also checked the timing to see if it was on the red mark on the crank (which is the mark in the center of the the three marks that are close together and it is right on the button. If yours is the same engine you have to pull off a yellow rubber cover on a wire connector that is about halfway up the passenger side fender in the engine bay to disable the vacuum advance, put a wire (paperclip) into each of the two holes.

Just take your time and save going to a mechanic to do a fairly simple job.