Gates Racing Timing Belt for 01-05 Civic D17

Gates Racing Timing Belt for 01-05 Civic D17

Your 2001-2005 Civic's D17 is an interference engine. If the timing belt lets go on an ES sedan or EM2 coupe, the valves meet the pistons and you're looking at a head job, not a tow home. That's the failure you're buying against. The Gates Racing timing belt, part T312RB, is the blue RPM belt for this 1.7L SOHC. It keeps the factory tooth count and pitch, then steps the compound up to HNBR so it can take heat and RPM a stock belt wasn't built for. DX, EX, GX, HX, LX, and Value Package cars all use this one. The Civic Si (K20A3 / EP3) does not.

What It Is and Why It Works

Gates already builds the OEM-style timing belts that show up in Honda boxes. The Racing line (the blue one) uses the same tooth profile and length, then upgrades the materials. Per the manufacturer, T312RB is an HNBR / HSN belt with a fiberglass tensile cord and a nylon-reinforced tooth jacket. Gates rates the RPM compound as much as 300% stronger than a stock belt, with up to three times the heat resistance. You're getting 104 teeth, a 0.375 in pitch, a 39 in (991 mm) pitch length, and a 0.866 in (22 mm) top width, all per manufacturer. Color is blue through the compound, not a painted cover.

That's the honest trade-off. If your D17 is a stock daily, a regular Honda belt does the job and you'll spend less. The Racing belt earns its keep when you're running cams, heavier springs, a turbo, or a lot of high-RPM heat in a tight 7th-gen bay. It's stiffer in your hand than OEM, so don't be surprised if the tensioner needs a little extra help during install. We'd replace the water pump and tensioner while the covers are off. Doing the belt now and the pump later is the same teardown twice.

This is one belt. It is not a kit. It is not a K-series belt, and it is not a B-series Racing number. Match it to the D17, not to a swap you haven't done yet.

Specs

Fitment

This belt does not fit the 2002-2005 Civic Si (EP3 / K20A3). It does not fit 2006+ 8th-gen Civics, K-swaps, or B-series motors. Those need a different Gates number. If you've swapped engines, match the belt to the engine that's in the car, not the chassis badge.

What to Know Before You Buy

Set the crank to TDC and line up the cam marks before the old belt comes off. Don't rotate the engine backward with the new belt on. The D17 is SOHC, so you're lining up one cam and the crank, not a pair of DOHC gears. Still, if you skip the marks you'll be pulling the covers again. The blue belt makes those marks easier to see under a hood light.

Honda's interval on these is long, but if you're working the motor hard we'd cut that shorter and do the water pump and tensioner in the same job. A snapped belt on this interference D17 isn't a no-start. It's bent valves. One belt per order.