2001 Accord LX 4 cyl stndard

My car has about 104k on it and after the last oil change (every 3k) my
mechanic told me that I needed to have the timing belt/water pump
changed. I was also told that failure to do this could destroy the
engine if the timing belt failed.
Is he right?

Also, how many miles for this maintence? Some sites seem to say after
60k -- in which case I'm driving on borrowed time here, and others say 100k.

Thanks,

Dylan

 

Its due just about now - Honda specifies 105k miles.

It is an interference engine, so if the belt should break, there would
likely be engine damage, but you're probably not on "borrowed time" for a
while yet.

 

Your mechanic is probably correct, time-wise. Hondas typically have
105K mile timing belt intervals. The 2001-04 1.7L Civics, however,
have 110K mile intervals. (According to the Gates Timing Guide. I must
add there are occasional errors with their new data source).

That said, you may be over by ~ 1 year, depending on when the car was
first put into service. I think it's 7-years/110K miles? So check your
manual.

While at it, change out the water pump, crank/cam oil seals, and all
belts too. Good time for a new thermostat, radiator cap, and at least
two radiator hoses (if not all cooling system hoses) since the
cooling system has to be drained. Get a "package price" in advance so
they don't nickel and dime you after its apart.

Also, according to the Gates guide, the engine is *interference*. So
engine damage can occur when the piston smashes into the valves.

See "interference engine":
http://www.gates.com/brochure.cfm?brochure=2256&location_id=3487

 

Thanks to both of you for the replies. Good information to have when I
bring the car in -- probably this week. I've had the same mechanic for
about 8 years and he's pretty good when it comes to repairs (not a fix
one thing break another type).

Dylan

 

Not sure about 2001. More recent models use timing chains and replacing the
chain is not even in the maintenance schedule. I would imagine they last for
a long long time.

 

Well I finally did an RTFM and it has 105k miles for the replacement.
Should have done this in the first place. Hate spending the $ but this
is a must. It's a great car and I want to keep it that way.

 

You sound like a good customer that does not take advantage of your mechanic with
a case of the "sence-U"s.....



--
Tp,

-------- __o
----- -\<. -------- __o
--- ( )/ ( ) ---- -\<.
-------------------- ( )/ ( )