Question on vehicles timing belt

[Sigarms]

Exactly how imperative is it to get the timing belt replaced in a vehicle?

We always buy used, and I generally always do the timing belt when the vehicle hit's 100K.

Long story, but we loaned a car to a family member kind of indefinately.

2001 Honda Accord, bought with 91K on it, one owner vehicle we bought a couple of years ago.

Car actually had the timing belt changed at 66K done in 2013 along with the wather pump which seems early, but it really was a older lady who only drove it for work and it was proably an age issue (car was 13 years old when it was done) before an actual mileage issue (hitting 100K).

Vehicle now has 126K on it and it's 23 years old.

Thing is, right now the car is about 2 hours away from us.

Is worrying about the timing belt a myth? Reality is even though it's only had 60k on it since the timing belt has been changed, it's also 11 years since the belt has been changed.

I'd like to be proactive instead of reactive if that makes sense. That said, I could be worrying over nothing.

 

[BigGG]

Exactly how imperative is it to get the timing belt replaced in a vehicle?

We always buy used, and I generally always do the timing belt when the vehicle hit's 100K.

Long story, but we loaned a car to a family member kind of indefinately.

2001 Honda Accord, bought with 91K on it, one owner vehicle we bought a couple of years ago.

Car actually had the timing belt changed at 66K done in 2013 along with the wather pump which seems early, but it really was a older lady who only drove it for work and it was proably an age issue (car was 13 years old when it was done) before an actual mileage issue (hitting 100K).

Vehicle now has 126K on it and it's 23 years old.

Thing is, right now the car is about 2 hours away from us.

Is worrying about the timing belt a myth? Reality is even though it's only had 60k on it since the timing belt has been changed, it's also 11 years since the belt has been changed.

I'd like to be proactive instead of reactive if that makes sense. That said, I could be worrying over nothing.

I thought 60 or 70 was the recommended interval. My understanding is the water pump is recommended at the same time, as it is driven by the timing belt and if it goes the belt and engine go. I'm pretty sure that's an interference engine, so if the belt goes you're out an engine.

 

[CliffordK]

It depends on the vehicle. And, I think what they call an "Interference Engine".

If you have an Interference Engine, then when the timing belt breaks, then you get massive damage throughout the engine.

If you don't have an Interference Engine, then you may not get any engine damage from a broken belt, and you could simply install a new belt and be on your way.

Ok, looking up the older Honda Accord, and it appears to be an interference engine. So, if you do break the timing belt, that may well be the end of the car.

On the other hand, I had an older Ford Ranger 4 cylinder, and apparently it wasn't an interference engine. So a broken timing belt, and the engine could be repaired for just about the same cost as doing preventative maintenance, other than it happening at the most inconvenient time.

I can't say about Honda's belt quality. I have an acquaintance that loves Hondas with 200,000+ miles, and I don't know how proactive they are with maintenance. Some may get the maintenance, some might not.

 

[newbury]

link for more info
Interference Engines - The Complete List

/edit -not very complete- They don't list my 7.3 or 6.0 Fords but they may have chains.

 

[ponytug]

@CliffordK hit the nail on the head. It is a catastrophic failure if the timing belt fails in an interference engine.

If it were me, 60k miles is early, but a decade isn't too early. So, to be proactive, I would change it.

All the best,

Peter

 

[drizler]

Generally speaking, if it’s a Honda, it’s interference engine and if it breaks, you’ll almost surely trash an engine. Back in the early 80s those Hondas wanted changed around 80,000 miles. Sometime later they went to a lightweight belt and lowered the requirement to 60K I think. I wouldn’t sweat too much going and picking one up and driving it home so I would get it changed soon.
The reason I say that is that I had one snap on me and an 88 Honda CRX right about at their 80,000 at the time limit. I was just tooling down the road 80 miles an hour with no load on it whatsoever and when it popped, I hit the clutch would saved the engine. Much of that was pure luck, but I sure noticed that that was an OEM belt and it was in perfect shape and not been abused / raced when it snapped.

About 12 years ago I knew a guy who just picked a Chevy up with one of those type engines. It had 200,000 on it but the belt had been changed at 100. He drove it for about three days going to work the belt snapped and trashed the engine. So if you don’t wanna go around, thinking about this worrying just bring it home get it taken care of and make sure to write down the mileage that It was changed on the sticker and put it on the air cleaner.

 

[dodge man]

I’ve seen pictures of failure of timing chains and belts, it’s not pretty. The engine can be fixed but from a cost standpoint it’s not usually worth it. You just need to research that engine and get a feel for how often it’s really needed.

 

[34Willys]

I've repaired many vehicles, including my wife's Outback, after breaking a timing belt while driving. Usually, the only damage is a couple of bent valves and some marks that get blended into the top of the pistons.
Basically a head gasket job with some cylinder head repair cost added.
Patrick

 

[dstig1]

Yeah there is age in addition to the mileage. Sounds like a similar situation my my Mom's old 2003 Accord she gave me. I changed the timing belt (and water pump proactively) because it was old and not because of mileage. Honda engines are generally interference and so you do NOT want that to snap. OEM or Gates for a replacement for me. I actually waited longer than I should have but got lucky I guess.

 

[CliffordK]

When I was young we had a Fiat 128 that broke the timing belt. Banged up valves and warped head. My dad tried to get it repaired, but ultimately the car would overheat and wasn't reliable so it was sold to a demolition derby, at least they said.

I had an 88 or 89 Ford Ranger 4 cylinder that broke the belt in the middle of Kansas while on a road trip. I ended up selling the ranger, but the person that bought it just put on a new belt and it continued driving. I am a bit annoyed that I didn't realize that it could be a relatively simple repair.

I bought a Toro Groundsmaster with a Peugeot 1.9 liter diesel. I've been dreading opening it up. However, like many diesel engines, a broken timing belt can't be a good thing. Some reports indicate to expect a broken cam shaft.

I wish the timing belts were made to be easily swapped rather than pulling off the water pump.

 

[Sigarms]

Thanks for the response guys, basically confirmed my opinion that I should be proactive just due to the age of the last belt change.

Long story, but had to get the car inspected before we had to "rush" it to the person and at this point, I have no clue how many miles are being put on it and it would be a sin to scrap the car if it were due to the belt. Since we bought it with around 91K on it, I thought it was done at the end of the previous owners ownership, then looked at the records...

 

[Rockbadchild]

In your case I personally wouldn't worry about it too much being a Honda and since it was already changed ... My Ex wife had a kia car and the timing belt let go not too long after the recommended mileages ... the engine was scrap. Then we got a civic, it got changes upon purchases and we drove it way past the next recommended mileages replacement and sold it, I am pretty sure that car is still kicking... It is a bit of Russian roulette yes.

 

[Sigarms]

It is a bit of Russian roulette yes.

Bingo.

Honestly, we don't need the car, as it sits most of the time and we don't drive it.

Think my wife would personally like to sell it because it provided what we bought it for. Myself, I don't care because it's been pretty good, and sometimes it's always nice to have a vehicle you don't need just in case of emergencies.

VERY long story, the person who is using it is waiting for another car to be fixed and would prefer that other vehicle anyways.

Thing is, if that belt goes, highly doubt we could sell the car for anything, but the belt is changed, an Accord in decent condition and we could recoup a lot of money off the car as we only paid like 5k for it and it only has like 40k on it since we bought it.

I wouldn't be opposed to giving the car to the person, but any service work really can't be afforded on their end, and sooner or later due to service the car most likely won't last that long anyways. Like I said before, long story...

 

[dougtrr2]

On my Subaru's I have the belt and water pump changed at 100k. The reason for the water pump is the difficulty in getting to the water pump. While you are dismantled for the timing belt, it is much easier to change the water pump.

Doug in SW IA

 

[2manyrocks]

Bingo.

Honestly, we don't need the car, as it sits most of the time and we don't drive it.

Think my wife would personally like to sell it because it provided what we bought it for. Myself, I don't care because it's been pretty good, and sometimes it's always nice to have a vehicle you don't need just in case of emergencies.

VERY long story, the person who is using it is waiting for another car to be fixed and would prefer that other vehicle anyways.

Thing is, if that belt goes, highly doubt we could sell the car for anything, but the belt is changed, an Accord in decent condition and we could recoup a lot of money off the car as we only paid like 5k for it and it only has like 40k on it since we bought it.

I wouldn't be opposed to giving the car to the person, but any service work really can't be afforded on their end, and sooner or later due to service the car most likely won't last that long anyways. Like I said before, long story...

Maybe your used car market is different than ours, but a low mileage Honda like that here would still sell for several thousand here. The cost of the service to replace the belt and water pump is much less than buying the equivalent replacement car.

 

[Sigarms]

Maybe your used car market is different than ours, but a low mileage Honda like that here would still sell for several thousand here. The cost of the service to replace the belt and water pump is much less than buying the equivalent replacement car.

I think if we ever decide to sell, we could recoup a decent amount of money we spent on the car.

You have to know my personality though with vehicles. Pay cash for used, If it runs and it's been somewhat reliable, I generally do not sell a car, but run it into the ground (my wife made me get rid of our avalon with 396K on the odometer because it had too many "tricks" for her LOL). I donated that one.

For myself and my wife, a vehicle is to get to point A to point B, and knowing what you need it for.

Between my wife and I, we have 4 vehicles now not including my company truck and our son's car (we're keeping it for him since he's away in Texas in the Air Force).

My boss says it must be nice to be rich to have so many cars. I ask him how many he has and he tells me 2, truck for him and SUV for wife. His total cost on 2 vehicles is 100k

$15K for our truck with 68K when bought, now 215K on the odometer
$15K for our SUV with 73K when bought, now has 235K on the odometer
$5k for the accord withh 91K when bought, now about 126K on the odometer
My dad left me his car when he passed away. Kind of a sporty V6 coupe my dad wanted to have fun with, so it's basically a "freebie", but one I will never part with.

So, as I explained to my boss, that's 3 vehicles we paid a total of 35K, with about 379K driven on them, and he has two vehicles that were 100K paid, with less than 40K driven, so who is the rich man? LOL

I'd much rather pay cash for a used vehicle, have no loan and just be careful how much I put into the car for total miles driven.

Since my wife wanted to downsize, I was putting off the belt off on the honda because we don't drive it much and that would be the first vehicle she wants gone. Now that it's being driven by someone the last couple of months, I'm wondering about it, and starting to think I should bite the bullet and get it done, because if it does break, the vehicle would be scrap for the most part. Added reality is at this point, honestly don't know when we're getting the vehicle back anyways so it could just be money thrown away as well.

Sorry for the long winded explination, but hopefully gives you some insite into my line of thinking.

 

[dstig1]

Honda has slightly different specs on different models, but my recollection was 90-100k for the belt but they also had the lesser known caveat of 7-8 yrs on it too, if I remember the range correctly. I don't recall the exact figure, but pretty sure it was under 10. Just to put a number to it. Could look it up I'm sure...

 

[2manyrocks]

$5k for the accord withh 91K when bought, now about 126K on the odometer

That is still low mileage for an Accord if it is otherwise in decent condition (not a rusted out, dented up beater)

Since my wife wanted to downsize, I was putting off the belt off on the honda because we don't drive it much and that would be the first vehicle she wants gone. Now that it's being driven by someone the last couple of months, I'm wondering about it, and starting to think I should bite the bullet and get it done, because if it does break, the vehicle would be scrap for the most part. Added reality is at this point, honestly don't know when we're getting the vehicle back anyways so it could just be money thrown away as well.

Depends----if they actually need a reliable car, how else could you provide them with a reliable car with 126k miles on it as inexpensively as paying for a new belt/pump?

If you have the time and skills to do the replacement yourself, the parts for the timing belt/pump kit aren't that expensive.

But part of me wonders if you actually think the someone needs the car? If they actually don't, my thought is to get it back, replace the belt/pump at your leisure.

It would aggravate me a lot if I let someone use a car that was functional, but the engine got ruined because of lack of maintaining the timing belt.

 

[Sigarms]

If you have the time and skills to do the replacement yourself, the parts for the timing belt/pump kit aren't that expensive.

But part of me wonders if you actually think the someone needs the car? If they actually don't, my thought is to get it back, replace the belt/pump at your leisure.

It would aggravate me a lot if I let someone use a car that was functional, but the engine got ruined because of lack of maintaining the timing belt.

Lately, both my wife and I are blessed. Most likely 100-150 hours or more a week between us for work.

I make money to find someone I trust to make my life easier so I don't have to do the work myself at times. I know a mechanic I can trust and we already talked about doing this, and his rate is reasonable IMO.

The family member who has the car REALLY needs the car.

That said, you ever have family that makes unwise decisions? Particularly if that family member is through marriage?

Sidenote, luckily it's not the in laws. Both my MIL and FIL are great people whom I love dearly (FIL passed away a couple of years ago). In part, I'm doing this for my FIL.

Since the person NEEDS the car, I've already told my wife to get the car back to us so I can take care of the timing belt and water pump (those two always go hand in hand if you're doing the work).

What's funny is my wife was wondering how we could get the car back being it's two hours away (how do we drive down there, pick up the car and then drive back home). I told my wife we're not driving down there, they are driving the car to us and they can spend the night. Since we're paying for the car to be more reliable, the least they can do IMO.

 

[ray66v]

Changing a timing belt is not usually high degree of expertise repair. It just not usually a lot of fun.

If you don't have enough experience, and enough tools, it can be challenging.

Some fasteners are difficult to get to, especially if you don't have a lift.

You may benefit greatly from swivel sockets, and middle depth sockets, for getting to some fasteners.

Also, adjusting the tensioner can be critical on some vehicles. My Villager tensioner stud broke TWICE, because the guy I had change the belt, just winged it, instead of learning and following the recommended procedure. I did the job myself, like I usually do, after the second time, and funny, there was no longer an issue.

Do your homework. I'm sure there are lots of video's on that belt change. Learn as much as you can before hand.