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It seems like everyone will tell you how to replace your timing belt and water pump, but as common as timing belt and gasket kits are, I cannot find any instructions for replacing all of them. It seems like some are vastly easier to remove before you take off the timing belt. I tapped in one seal with my biggest socket, but the shaft was too deep for the last one, and it did not tap in like some of the others, but it seemed like the only thing holding it in was friction.
It sure was challenging to remove the old one.
Then I ripped the replacement.
O'Reilly's showed one at their store, but when I went in the guy said they did not stock them. I printed off the page and came back. They got it for me, but did not stock the gasket for the upper and lower timing belt covers. They just look like weatherstripping.
I looked on-line and could not find anything. I brought in the upper cover and said "I cannot find this on-line anywhere except the dealer, but the nearest Honda showroom is hours away. Do you have anything that can work?"
"What kind of car do you have?"
[.....]
"We do not carry that."
I was glad we could establish what I told them in the first place. The guy had no idea how to help. I suggested different things. We looked at their weatherstripping, but everything was too wide, and probably not suited for contact with the engine. I asked about Permatex.
"No, that will not work."
I went across the street to Autozone and said the same thing."
"What kind of car do you have?"
[.....]
"Permatex will work."
Unfortunately, that was the wrong seal, and nobody around here carried the right one. Either they did not say when it would arrive, or it would take until Wednesday, if not sometime next month.
I ordered a Mahle seal from O'Reilly's. The picture shows the exact Nok seal that I ruined as I removed it from the engine (and the exact Nok seal that I ruined attempting to install). I tried every option I could think of before calling O'Reilly's.
It was painful, but as long as I get the right seal...
When I bought the wrong one I bought a 1½" deep socket, which I will exchange for something appropriate for the smaller seal.
It will be here Tuesday morning.
I am not happy about putting Permatex on the cover, it just seems better suited for the joint between two pieces of metal, not metal and plastic, but it should not matter.
I guess that I will tend to other projects on Monday and hopefully finish on Tuesday. I only have one client that day, although I am currently seeing eleven, with two more pending, and they are three more on the way. That does not sound like much, but if I see thirteen kids a week (with fifty-minute sessions), I will bring home as much as I did working full-time at a school--before taxes, etc.
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