Change or Not change timing belt

[charlee]

I Have owned hondas all of my life and always followed the recommended 60, 90.. k service. However, everytime I get the timing belt changed, the belt is literally as new as the oem that I will be using to replace it. My personal mechanic and I both thoroughly inspect the belt every time and it looks, feel, great, no cracks when bending it, and not dried out. It nearly is perfect. I doubt under normal driving conditions if the belt will ever snap when less than..say 200k miles. I have observed the same condition in a 85, 89, 93 civic; 92 prelude, 94 accord; 91 legend; 95 x; 04 tsx. Has anyone experienced a snapped belt? How were you driving at the time? What were you driving? What was your driving habits? Is Honda trying create fear for business? Thoughts?

 

[EAC]

91 accord. I had one break when the waterpump seized up. Had over 400,000 miles on the original.

Granted, it's alot cheaper to replace a valve or two on that :tongue:

 

[tbromley]

!

This topic has been soooo warn out on Prime it's not funny. I mean have you searched this topic at all?

I would surely not test an NSX timing belt for 200k miles whether I thought it would go that far or not. You may be right and we've never had someone test that out for us so I for one would like to know for sure so why don't you test it for 200k miles and we'll just see. How many miles do you put on your car a year - with the answer we'll know about how long your test will take ...mmm that and the current mileage on your belt.

Interesting, very interesting.

Seriously, while I do believe that the TB will last longer than the time limit of 6 yrs or 90k (NA1) as in I think for example if you have over 6 years on your belt but only 22k miles on it - I personally would not worry about it and believe me there are plenty of those examples by folks here and they just don't pipe up. I have been this route in other TB discussions before.
While I wouldn't necessarily recommend that even though I personally would take that chance - is it good advice well many here do not believe it is. But no one wants to recommend someone else take a "risk" and Honda surely can't afford to but that doesn't mean that it won't last way past the years with low mileage and maybe even up to 50k miles. That's conjecture but like I say if you want to perform a self TB longevity test for Prime we'll be glad to listen out for your mileage and operational update posts!

 

[swbatte]

Re: !

This topic has been soooo warn out on Prime it's not funny. I mean have you searched this topic at all?

+1

However, visual inspection cannot detect flaws in your timing belts. Ask any of the techs & experts on Prime (most of them are in Japan right now though).

Change your belt. Why are you gambling on something that could lead to catastrophic failure if you're wrong?

Anytime someone asks for advice on Prime about buying an NSX, the one thing everyone tells them is to make sure the service & particularly the timing belt service is up to date. Surely you knew that when you bought yours if you did your homework.

If not, sell your car and buy one with a timing chain or non-interference engine.

 

[shawn110975]

Like Tim said, do a search LOL

when I did mine compared the old with the new. the old belt looked just like the new one except for the color, the old one had a yellow tint to it

now rubber has a safe shelf/use life of 5-7 years, so if you have a 1991 with 50 miles on it. if you started the car it might run for 50K miles before breaking or it could snap the first time you push your gas pedal real hard. your call.

had a 1995 Legend timing belt break. do to the water pump seized up.

I would be safe to say so that the water pump is the cause of most timing belt failures

 

[davidf]

In reality, the TB would likely go much much much further than the required change intervals. But the on the other hand if say it did break, the cost of removing one or both heads to repair it would far exceed the cost of TB service. I believe that alone puts the fear in smart NSX owners to get it done on time.

 

[Dtrigg]

Re: !

+1

However, visual inspection cannot detect flaws in your timing belts.

Agree.

 

[robbiedawg]

i had a timing belt break after 75k miles and about 8 years on a prelude,got lucky and it didn't damage the motor,but i've been careful about changing them since then

 

[ChopsJazz]

Re: !

Here we go again...

Agree.

I agree with Doug. Visual inspections don't detect flaws in the cords. If you want to risk it then go ahead. Just let us know how it turns out.

 

[jaybird]

No sense in chancing it -- as Clint Eastwood used to say... "Do you feel lucky?....." I had the work done - no worries :smile: Jay

 

[ralph cerbone]

ok heres my take on this , my 97 had 85k on it (11 yrs) , to an inexpierenced eye it looked good , but a closer insp showed the drive side of each tooth was slightly worn ,no big deal , heres the problem , before changing it the car water temp was at mid point on the gauge , after it was changed ,one line below, when i opened it up with out removing the belt i was able to turn the water pump by hand == no drive resistance from the belt, heres a dirty little secret about our water temp and fuel gauges , THEY are dampened,meaning water temp can have a big swing in temp with out a needle movement ,(if you doubt me drive your car with a scanner hooked up a 15 degrees change doesnt even move the needle fuel is slowed down to prevent sloshing inaccuracy , our belts are static tensioned (you release the bolt and let a spring tension it ==then tighten the bolt ) most newer hondas (and everbody else ) use a hyd or spring loaded tensioner that maintains constant tension on the belt ,so whats this b.s. all about , just change the t/b and related parts and get on with it

 

[Hagasan]

......from what I have been told, in Japan the TB change is not done on mileage but age. It's a 10 year interval however the waterpump is changed at the same time.

In the UK some people do the belts after 6, 7 or 8 years depending on their year of car but not the pump. My belt was changed last in 04 but only 10k ago. The car is a 96 and there is no history of the pump being changed. I am having both replaced in a few weeks. After this I may leave the belt longer than 6 years if the mileage remains low. What I am saying regarding the time intervals has come from an extremely knowledgeble Japanese source......

 

[ralph cerbone]

......from what I have been told, in Japan the TB change is not done on mileage but age. It's a 10 year interval however the waterpump is changed at the same time.

In the UK some people do the belts after 6, 7 or years depending on their year of car but not the pump. My belt was changed last in 04 but only 10k ago. The car is a 96 and there is no history of the pump being changed. I am having both replaced in a few weeks. After this I may leave the belt longer than 6 years if the mileage remains low. What I am saying regarding the time intervals has come from an extremely knowledgeble Japanese source......

sounds good,

 

[Hagasan]

....having said what I said above, the Japanes routine of a 10 year change would be modified if galactic mileages were being covered but this is an unlikely scenario...

 

[rollie]

Definitely change the timing belt, also check out the valve cover gasket to see if its leaking and do that to.

I am about to do my major service on a 94 C30A Coupe which includes parts and part #


1 - TIMING BELT - 14400-PR7-A01
1 - WATER PUMP - 19200-PR7-A03
2 - VALVE COVER GASKET - 12341-PR7-A01
1 - GASKET C, FR HEADOVER - 12351-PR7-A00
1 - GASKET C, RR HEADOVER - 12352-PR7-A00
6 - TUBE SEAL - 12343-PR7-A00
12 - WASHER, HEAD COVER - 90442-PR7-A00
1 - ALTERNATOR BELT - 31110-PR7-A01
1 - A/C BELT - 38920-PR7-A01
4 - CAM PLUG - 12513-PR7-A00
4 - CAM SEAL - 91213-PR7-A01


I hope this helps, get it all done in one go and save on labour.
Please feel free to add if anyone suggests other parts to change at the major 90k service/ 7 year package service.

 

[davidf]

Has anyone changed the cam sensor that pukes it's black tar on the garage floor. I'm curious if this would be a good idea while the TB is off? Has one ever went out?

 

[charlee]

Okay, I will always change my belt. After these responses, I think I am going to change them every 30k and not wait until 60k. You all have now convinced me.

 

[Ds92NSX]

Honda timing belts should be changed 6 years or 90k whichever comes first or what the owners manual recommends. My experience has been the t belt will not usually break unless the water pump locks up.When the t belt is the problem it will usually tear teeth off the t belt and the crank will be spinning but the cam wont. The end result is bent valves and a very costly repair. As others have previously said change the t-belt and water pump together and you should in good shape for another 6years or 90k good luck

 

[EAC]

Has anyone changed the cam sensor that pukes it's black tar on the garage floor. I'm curious if this would be a good idea while the TB is off? Has one ever went out?

I have that nasty shit dripping down the side of my motor.......

 

[charlee]

Why risk it, we should change it at 30K or 3 years!

 

[tbromley]

Why risk it, we should change it at 30K or 3 years!

Not sure I understand you here but if that's what YOU"d like to do then do it. I believe the recomended interval to be plenty soon enough. As far as that goes if I still have mine 6 years from now and I haven't put many miles on my car - I will most likely wait a while. That's just me. Believe me - a water pump is definitely mileage oriented.

I like your enthusiasm though.

 

[Hagasan]

Not sure I understand you here but if that's what YOU"d like to do then do it. I believe the recomended interval to be plenty soon enough. As far as that goes if I still have mine 6 years from now and I haven't put many miles on my car - I will most likely wait a while. That's just me. Believe me - a water pump is definitely mileage oriented.

I like your enthusiasm though.

Have to say I concur with the above....

 

[BATMANs]

Anyone know if this timing belt change intervals can be increased?

http://www.scienceofspeed.com/products/engine_performance_products/NSX/Power_Enterprise/Timing_Belt/

The Power Enterprise "Super Kevlar II" Timing Belt is a direct replacement for the factory timing belt featuring Power Enterprise's patented Kevlar fiber design. Manufactured in Japan, Power Enterprise Timing Belts are used extensively in top end racing engines such as those in Japan's Super GT series.

Designed for high performance applications, the structure of the belt results in eliminating belt stretch - retaining the camshaft alignment and reducing belt deflection under high RPM and dynamic engine speed seen under racing conditions. The Kevlar fiber tooth fabric offers a high strength abrasion resistant material that is built with special short strand Kevlar on the surface for maximum cog precision.

 

[02SilverNSX]

There are risk both ways. I have a 2002 NSX that just turned over 20,000 miles. I took my NSX to the dealer to have routine maintenance and an oil change. The maintenance manager recommended I replace the timing belt at a cost of $2,800. From what little I know about the timing belt repair is it quite invasive. And quite frankly I don't trust the poor quality of most repair shops not to do more damage than good. For example, this dealership has failed twice just to do the oil change correctly. The time before last they forgot to either toque the oil drain plug or oil filter correctly and I had a big pool of oil in my garage the next morning. This last time they forgot to put the oil cap back on and I had some splatter inside my engine compartment! I shutter to think of what might happen if I allowed them to break the integrity of the Acura's factory seals and go into the engine to replace the timing belt!! So, I'll take the risk and wait another 2 years or 10,000 miles and then replace it.

Do anyone know if the engine needs to be pulled in order to replace the timing belt?

Also, does $2,800 seem like the going price at an Acura dealership to replace the timing belt?

Thanks

 

[SuperSonic]

That price seems right from a dealership. I think a guy out here told me if I did the timming belt and w/p with a clutch he would pull the motor. I also want to say an independent shop said that I think the tb/wp was about 2400 ish. Here is my question, I have 54k miles on my 02. I want to do the tb/wp but at the same time wait for a clutch as everyone tells me do both at the same time since it is literally just a few bolts if the engine and tranny are out to do a clutch job. I hate reading everyone say do it to be safe cause I really want to, then I feel good knowing the prelude I have blew at 180000 and its a 97 so the nsx is far from that and other people with 93's and 94's just did there service a few years back. decisions decisions lol.