Text and picture guide for replacing a Honda V6 timing belt and water pump


The timing belt replacement kit is available here

How to replace Honda V6 timing belt and water pump.

Honda V6 Timing Belt

First jack up entire vehicle, remove front right tire and all surrounding covers to access the pulley and belt area.


Slightly lift and support the engine independent of the vehicle. Use wood block or other material to avoid metal-to-metal contact between jack and engine support point (use edge of oil pan or location with thick metal on bottom of engine).
Loosen and remove engine mount on right side of engine (right and left in this explanation always refers to directions as viewed from the driver’s seat). You may need to remove or loosen surrounding hoses and parts to access the engine mount.
You may need to remove or loosen surrounding hoses and parts to access the this area
Pro tip: If you are concerned about remembering how to re-assemble the parts after replacement use painters tape to label all wires and hoses that are disconnected.

Us 19mm socket to remove bolt on crank pulley.

Remove pulley. May need to borrow puller from local autoparts store if the pulley is difficult to remove.

Next remove the upper timing belt covers, 10mm bolts, 5 on each cover

Upper cam covers

Remove lower cover

Honda V6 lower crank cover

Re-install crank pulley bolt and turn engine clockwise using the bolt in order to align the timing marks on the engine.

Aligned timing marks
Front cam alignment

Align marks for cylinder 1 (top dead center) as shown above.

Marks must perfectly align. Rear cam is shown below.

Sprocket timing alignment marking

Crank alignment is shown below.

Crank alignment Honda V6

Once everything is aligned remove the crank pulley bolt with an impact driver. Remove the washer and keep orientation of the key slot facing up when re-installing. Also, remember the bulging side of this washer faces outward.

Washer on crank

Next, remove the key pin. Be careful not to lose it. It is small and you may need pliers to remove it.

Crank sprocket key pin

Notice the taper and re-install later with the same orientation.

Remove the 2 10mm tensioner bolts.

Honda V6 Tensioner

Carefully remove the old belt that should now be loose.

Pro tip: Use white correction fluid or white marker to mark a single tooth on the belt over each sprocket. Mark the corresponding valley on the sprocket. Transfer the markings to the new belt. This acts as a double check to make sure the new belt is placed exactly as the old belt.

Remove the 14mm bolt holding the idler pulley.

Idler pulley for Honda V6

Remove the 14mm bolt holding the tensioner pulley.
Keep track of the metal sleeve inside the tensioner pulley.

Remove the 5 10mm water pump bolts and remove the water pump.

Honda V6 water pump location after removal

Congratulations, the disassembly is complete.

Clean the mating surfaces of the water pump and lubricate the new water pump gasket with coolant. Note the orientation of the part and be careful to properly insert the positioning pins when re-installing.

Hand tighten all bolts first (this is standard practice for any assembly on any machine, car or not). Next evenly torque all bolts to 8.7lbf.ft
Do not tighten in a circle. Tighten one bolt then a bolt opposite or nearly opposite of that bolt. Continue the process until all are tightened (Again, this is standard practice for any assembly on any machine, car or not).

Install new idler pulley. Torque to 33lbf.

Install new tensioner pulley. Be sure to use the metal sleeve. Torque to 19lbf

Install new tensioner. Torque to 8.7lbf

Use a clamp to compress old tensioner if you intend to reuse it and install a pin to hold compression in place until installed.

Install the new belt. If you made markings just re-align with the old markings. Pull the belt tight from the bottom to the right over the idler pulley. Leave looseness on the side the will eventually go over the tensioner.

Once you are satisfied the belt is correctly installed pull the pin on the tensioner to tension the belt. Re-install the washer (bulging side out) and key pin on the crank and install the crank pulley bolt. Use a socket wrench to turn the engine clockwise at least 6 revolutions. Re-confirm that all timing marks align with at top dead center.

Re-install the engine mount (33lbf.ft of torque) then the covers (8.7lbf.ft) (be sure the timing belt cover gaskets are clean, intact, and in their proper grooves).

Remove the crank pulley bolt, install the pulley, lubricate the bolt threads with oil, and re-tighten. Torque to 47lbf.ft of torque then turn another 60 degrees or rotation to properly stretch the bolt.