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If you broke a timing belt, how many miles were on it and what age?

Joined
19 December 2004
Messages
916
Location
Glastonbury, CT
I'm trying to get a feel how badly I should get my timing belt change. I generally go strictly by mileage and not age. That may be poor which is why I asking this question (I wish I could poll it somehow but maybe I will summarize the thread later). I have 2000 with 52k miles. I'm trying to figure out if I should call Larry now or wait until later next winter as I put about 5k a year on the car. I'm a stickler for full maintenance but the timing of the maintenance is always miles based (of course that's on regular vehicles which don't get that old). I also know countless people that put over 100k on a timing belts (granted civics, accords etc) which has me wondering how concerned I should be to push the car into the shop this winter rather than next. I'm sure there will be a few strong opinions.


So for those that have broke a timing belt I have a few questions:

1. How many miles were on it.
2. How old was it.
3. Note if you had Forced Induction (although I'm not really thinking that's relevant).
 
well your gonna get both sides of the fence on this people that really put things off and thats the story of their life and the people that prepare for the future.

I say it should be at the top of your list. if it breaks you will need a ton of work on the engine

so a 900-1200 dollar new belt etc. vs a 6-9K of engine work.

now since you dont drive it much, the belt sleeps most of the time. and the one day your gonna want to push it hard ( maybe a bad day a work etc.) it could fail.

though not many have reported it breaking either they knew they should have done it and didnt wanna tell anyone as it could bring down the value of their NSX
since people would look at that as being " not taking care of the car "

so skate at your own risk.

- - - Updated - - -

a belt that is alive and awake daily will out live a sleepy belt.

same thing with humans

60+ year old man perfect health gets fired at work, nothing to do anymore gets sick dies.
or a 60+ year old man perfect health keeps same job till he retires at 80 maintains perfect health cuz he made it to retirment its a life goal and he made it on his own power.
 
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Good points. I drive quite often but clearly it was driven very sparingly before me. I bought the 2000 in 2012 with 43k miles. I love driving so I try to do so often. Last NSX was sold at about 120k.

I would still like to collect this data though.
 
to my knowledge there are very few failures so your question may need to be answered by looking back at older threads to see how long folks went before changing.
 
If you restrict your question to those that have actually broken timing belts, you'll probably not get much data, because there probably haven't been that many actually break. Nobody wants to be the guinea pig to test how far or long the belt can last before it lets go.

I have not broken one, so my opinion is worth what you're paying for it. I suspect 98% of the people who change their belts probably did so prematurely. But I wouldn't fault them for the reasons Shawn says. While the risk of it breaking is probably slim, the outcome of it breaking is very bad. On your car, the 52k miles isn't scary at all, the 13 years would be more worrisome if it's the original belt (which it probably isn't). If it was my car, I'd change a 13 year old belt in a heartbeat. An 8 year old belt, I would not be panicking. It's just a matter of comfort level.
 
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I have no records to suggest it's been changed. That is sort of why I was trying to get a data point on ones that did fail. Agreed it probably very few as most would have changed it. Also agreed, I am not the least concerned about the mileage just the age.

You did spark a thought for me. Perhaps the dealership has a record of a change. I will check with them (if a dealer did it in theory I would be updated to a database as I understand it).
 
not all dealers update that data if it has been done. they only 100% update the data is any recalls that were done so another dealership dosent have to do the same job twice.
but its worth a shot.

as I said before drive at your own risk. but if you really dont want to have to worry about it ever again LOL get it done. they run between 900-1200 not a bad price for peace of mind.
 
You did spark a thought for me. Perhaps the dealership has a record of a change. I will check with them (if a dealer did it in theory I would be updated to a database as I understand it).
Any dealership can pull records of their service to any car. However, there is no central database with information of work done by all dealerships, except for work done on official recalls. So if you know which dealership serviced it previously, or where the previous owner was located, you can call nearby dealership(s) to ask. You have nothing to lose by doing so, of course.

I'm trying to figure out if I should call Larry now or wait until later next winter as I put about 5k a year on the car.
Why not contact Larry and ask what he recommends?
 
I do have records so I can check. I didn't not realize the database is not cross dealership.

I will contact Larry. I may need to get in queue anyway.
 
Honda dealerships in Canada are able to enter the serial # of any Honda and see the service history of the work done at any Honda shop. I would assume it would be the same at the Acura dealers where you are.
 
Honda dealerships in Canada are able to enter the serial # of any Honda and see the service history of the work done at any Honda shop. I would assume it would be the same at the Acura dealers where you are.
Your assumption is wrong, as that is definitely NOT true of Honda or Acura dealerships in the United States.
 
1+ agree with nsxtasy it may be true in your country but def not in the USA. you would think honda/acura would keep a universal database but Honda Corp of america are morons
 
True timing belt breakage is very rare, I bet there are low milage 91's that still have original belts on them. Most belt belt issues (engine damage) are a external issue that causes the belt to jump, early water pumps that could leak on the belt, the harmonic balancer coming apart and wearing through the cover, improper replacement installation. The replacement spec on the newer cars is 100k or 8 years so 10 years would not be a big stretch but 13 is 63% more time than recommended.
 
FWIW, I changed the belt and water pump immediately upon purchase of my /94 back in November 2009. The car had a bit under 19,000 miles. I now stand at just under 45,000 miles. I think that the /94s were under the old standard for belt replacement (6 yrs/90,000 miles if memory serves correctly). I know how my car is driven and maintained and since I also replaced the damper/harmonic balancer and installed titanium dave's shield as a precaution, I am inclined to go a bit beyond the 6 years -- will probably do this job either at 7 or 8 years since I'll never hit the mileage limit by then and the car is not tracked (well, ok, once at NSXPO this year). Also FWIW, when the old belt came out there was no visual evidence of wear. I do agree with Shawn though, best not to stretch (bad pun, sorry) the intervals too far beyond manufacturer intervals -- why run the risk?
 
The real question is 'what is the risk?' That's what I was trying to evaluate. To me it's all about the probability. If there is a 95% chance of no issue, I would just wait. I was hoping to get some stats but haven't had anyone state a failure. If the car had to go in for anything I would just do it. It's a bit of a project to bring the car in because it's nearly 2 hrs away and I need to be followed to bring me back. When it is service time I do absolutely everything that has any sign of an issue to ensure all is good. I do hold off until things are needed though.

In any case, it appears it's probably going in. 12 years is quite a bit of time...
 
If there is a 95% chance of no issue, I would just wait.
Huh? So you're saying, you're willing to extend the timing belt interval and accepting a 5 percent chance of having to spend over $10,000 if the belt fails, along with a 95 percent chance of saving $75 per year on your services? Wow. Just... wow.
 
I guessed on the 95%. If I had any data I would do the math. It mute at this point as it appears I am brining it in. I got the car with 43k miles and 11 years on the timing belt.
 
beating a dead horse here he is going to do what he wants its his car.


mods lock this thread.
 
IMHO majority of us NSX owner are very Anal and OCD regarding maintenance and especially on this topic of timing belt/water pump issues. To be honest if I were you, since your car is a 2000 and only 52k miles and Larry being 2hrs away, and winter is here assuming it's not your daily driver, and you won't be driving it that much due to weather in CT. I would just enjoy it for now and bring the car to Larry when it's convient for you and weather warms up, don't stress over it man just enjoy her and know that you need to do the job when you get chance. Don't let those OCD guy scare you, just enjoy her. Happy motoring
 
I believe nsxtasy subcontiously worded his response a bit strong because in the back of his mind he believed I was likely a Patriots or Giants fan as I am in CT and it appears he is from Chicago.

I however am a Bears fan so that should help helps us get through this..... :)

I value nsxtasy's input. I have seen a lot of good advice come out of your posts over the years and and some definitely have helped me directly.

All is good in the NSX community...

Have a gear holiday everyone.
 
I believe nsxtasy subcontiously worded his response a bit strong because in the back of his mind he believed I was likely a Patriots or Giants fan as I am in CT and it appears he is from Chicago.

I however am a Bears fan so that should help helps us get through this..... :)
I'm not sure where that came from. FWIW, this is a tough fall for any Bears fan to get through. After 11 games, the Bears have failed to give up fewer than 20 points in a game, which is very un-Bearslike.

P.S. Thanks for the kind words!
 
I didn't want to start a new thread on the topic as it really isn't NSX related. Just more of a fun fact. This was the newest timing belt argument thread that search came up with.

I have nothing to add to the NSX argument but I just did the timing belt, water pump, rollers, and tensioners on my 2007 Outback. The timing belt itself looked absolutely perfect however, two of the pulleys were about to fail. I mistakenly diagnosed "the noise" as the AC tensioner pulley (common) and continued to drive it for 2 months. As Brian K mentioned, it wouldn't have been the belt that failed but the pulley instead in this case. In the video below I spin the pulley gently. Just imagine the noise this thing made when it was spinning at a few thousand RPM.

Long story short, if you decide to do your belt, change all tensioners and water pump as well.

Video










 
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