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What about the gates at rockauto?
Acura / Honda 3.5 v6 timing belt frustration!
- Thread starter jimbanville
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Is the one at the Honda dealership usually cheaper than Acura?
That isn't an OE tensioner. Gates has OE and aftermarket divisions; the parts are completely different. The only legitimate Genuine Honda part is the one from a dealer.
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Honda Odyssey Timing Belt Tensioner
Shop wholesale-priced OEM Honda Odyssey Timing Belt Tensioners at HondaPartsNow.com. All fit 1995-2022 Honda Odyssey and more.
www.hondapartsnow.com
Individual dealers seem to pick and choose their prices. I'll bet if you call and ask for a price the same person will give you a different price if you walked in holding out your credit card (price could go either way though !
). Look up the part online and see what Honda vs Acura says for "MSRP". I had an Infiniti dealer give me a price 20% higher than a Nissan dealer did. It was a shared part so I just told the Nissan guy the p/n. Got the price then he asked "what car is it for?" and when I told him, he had to add "I can't promise it will fit".
I personally would replace the belt and tensioner with oem new parts.
Changed them myself years ago on my wife's old V6 accord, not a difficult job, and yes I used oem parts from my honda dealer.
All too often those slightly more expensive dealer parts, save a llot of headaches later on.
I just replaced the clutch in a kenworth T800 today.
Paid a bit more for an oem clutch, to save myself the frustration of the aftermarket parts nightmare I've dealt with too often.
Changed them myself years ago on my wife's old V6 accord, not a difficult job, and yes I used oem parts from my honda dealer.
All too often those slightly more expensive dealer parts, save a llot of headaches later on.
I just replaced the clutch in a kenworth T800 today.
Paid a bit more for an oem clutch, to save myself the frustration of the aftermarket parts nightmare I've dealt with too often.
Compressing the tensioner is stupid easy if you have a vise. Put it in the vise and tighten until you can insert a drill bit through it to keep it locked. YMMV
Yep, I like to also spend a little more and get OEM.
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I saved $3/plug on my 335i figuring I can live with the Bosch plugs being green and not BMW blue
, and am totally ok with Aisin. It’s not junk or off etcSure, let me know when you are rebuilding Steris or Skytron surgical tables.
It may not be junk, but it also isn't always built to the same standards as the OE part.I saved $3/plug on my 335i figuring I can live with the Bosch plugs being green and not BMW blue
I read somewhere an article by toyota engineers OE replacement parts are not equal to the OE parts installed at the factory to allow for wear on the mating parts. So yeah, even OE replacement parts are not equal to original OE parts.
Trying to find that article. Wish now I had saved it
JHZR2
Staff member
It’s apparently a 2hr job with like $500 in parts. Seems about right.
JHZR2
Staff member
That’s interesting because if true, then the replacement parts may offer the superior fit and function.
One time I called a Honda dealer for a timing belt replacement quote.
Service writer gave me an out the door price and I told him it was kind of high.
He immediately said he could knock 10% off.
I got the timing belt / water pump / tensioner and all seals, coolant, etc…. done at the Honda dealer and got a free loaner Accord for the day. It just wasn’t worth the stress and aggravation doing the job myself.
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Right. Certain DIY isn't for all DIY'ers. It all boils down to "worth". I've spent $200 and a few hours. That was DEFINITELY worth it for me to save $1000. All was good til I got the code. Once I get finished with my classes to the point I can order decide how to proceed. Recompressing the "new" Aisin tensioner is still on the table and a likely course. Apparently my issue isn't common. The job really isn't "hard" if you have the patience and skill. Would be a thousand times easier if they'd just mark the timing marks on the **** belt. Lol.
Luckily you solved the problem and saved a bunch of cash.
Next time you won’t forget to mark the belt.
Off Topic:
When I was repairing medical equipment, I got into the habit of marking different things with a Sharpie marker so it helped with reassembly and doing it correctly the first time.
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Paint pens are my friend - timing belts as mentioned, and various other mechanical applications.
I bought the TKH--002 kit from Rock Auto multiple years back for my Acura in signature. No issues, knocked on wood. Got a good 25k on the kit already.
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I got it all back together. I went ahead and just used the parts I already had installed originally. All my marks lined up just as they did originally. I was actually able to use a dewalt barclamp used for things like woodworking to compress the tensioner. You put pressure on the tensioner and it compresses slowly over time. I'd come back to it every 5-10 min. and put more pressure on it and it slowly went in. I used a cheap HF Allen key as a pin. Pulled it after getting the tensioner in and it immediately came out and put tension on the tensioner pulley.
Anyway, it's running fine just as it did before. Can I do the reset procedure without going to the dealer? I didn't pull the battery lead this time around. I still show the emissions code. Thanks!
