Honda Motor Cars recommends replacement of the timing belt on the 1995 through 1997 2.7 Honda Accord in areas not subject to large temperature fluctuations or harsh weather conditions at 90,000 miles. In areas subject to freezing conditions on a regular basis it is recommended at 60,000 miles. This engine is also considered an interference engine in which major engine damage is most likely to occur if the belt were to fail or come off.
Raise and support the car on jack stands. Remove the right side wheel and splash shield. Turn the crankshaft and line the marks on the crankshaft pulley to the O mark on the timing cover. Use the floor jack and support the motor. Remove the three motor mount arm bolts and rotate the arm upright out of the way.
Remove the accessory belts and the dipstick tube. Remove the crankshaft bolt and pulley. Remove the timing upper and lower covers. Loosen the tensioner bolt and push it away from belt and loosely tighten the bolt to hold the tensioner out of the way.
Check the timing marks. The crank sprocket should have the keyway straight up and a mark on the back of the sprocket will line up with the mark on the block. Both the camshaft sprockets have grooves on the teeth and they both line up to marks at 2 o'clock on the head.
Install the new timing belt starting on the right side away from the tensioner and go from the crank to the right cam to the water pump to the left cam and around the tensioner. Make sure all the tension is on the right side away from the tensioner. Loosen the tensioner and allow it to apply tension to the belt and then tighten the bolt.
Check the timing marks to be sure they are still dead on and then rotate the engine two turns and align the timing marks one more time. If they are still lined up then loosen the tensioner to let the tensioner take up the last bit of slack and then tighten the tensioner bolt to 31 foot pounds of torque.
Install all components in reverse order of removal and tighten the crankshaft bolt to 181 foot pounds of torque.
