Recommended Mileage for Timing Belt Replacement?

Hi,

I have a Honda Accord 2001 with a little over 80,000 miles. Is time
due for timing belt replacement?

I asked several Honda service centers in the area and each one of them
gave me a different answer (and a vague one!).

Some say it should be replaced at 70K miles. Some say replace it at
100K miles. Others say 90K miles.

Whom to believe? And why?

Thanks!

 

what does it say in your owners manual?

 

Doesn't your owners manual say 105,000 miles or 7 years, whichever comes
first? I found this out with a google search, but you could have looked
in your owner's manual. That's what I would believe, and why. Looks
like you're past due.

dan

 

Believe what your owners manual says. The manual for my '01 V6 says 105k or
7yrs, whichever comes first.

 

Dan is right.

And if the OP does not have an Owner's Manual anymore, a copy can be
obtained from https://techinfo.honda.com

 

I assume that means *every* 105,000 miles or *every* 7 years, right?

I still own a 1995 Honda Civic. I replaced the timing belt in 2002. I
assume I need to replace it again this year, eh?

 

You got it. The interval is based on the belt itself; each new belt resets
the clock.

Yep. You're overdue.

 

jgarbenzel says...

For what it's worth, I'll pass on what my local independent
Honda/Acura shop told me. They say since about 1990 the
belts have been very reliable, and the trigger is
overwhlemingly a matter of mileage, not time. The manual
for my 94 Accord says 90k miles or 6 years. Even though the
car is now 15 years old, it only has 65k miles on it, and
they told me to come back at 90k miles.

That advice has paid off for me so far, but it's a bit
easier now in my case because of a rust problem that would
probably cost more to fix than the car is worth. So if my
luck runs out on the timing belt, it's no great loss.

I suspect they are right about it being primarily a mileage
thing. But you know, you're the one at risk, so it's your
decision.

 

It would be a shame to waste an engine with only 65K miles on it.

dan

 

I've never actually seen an engine irretrievably damaged by a
broken/slipped belt, just a bent valve or two. Or three...

I've seen a surprising number of people get away with belt
breakage/slippage with no more damage than being stranded at the side of
the road. In my experience, there seems to be about a 50/50 chance of valve
damage when the belt breaks.

But the cost to fix bent valves can double the cost of the belt job, so
there's not a lot of economic sense in trying to extend the belt-change
interval.

 

unless the car is a rust bucket, not worth the cost of a timing belt
replacement.

not all of us are emotionally attached to our cars

 

I realized--after I replied--that I should have included that factor.

If you don't care if the car dies, there's no point in spending anything on
it outside of the bare minimum. My old '76 Dodge Coronet was in the "don't
care" category, so I'm quite familiar with that concept.

You mean me personally? I'm nuts, I know. But even nuts has its limits;
I'll eventually let the 'Teg go, one of these days.

 

Does Honda make any cars with non-interference engines?

 

why would you want one? they have lower power density.

besides, idiots get up here and bleat about "interference engines" here
all the time, apparently unable to grasp that fact that any 4-stroke
diesel is interference, but diesels are mysteriously missing from their
list of engines to complain about.

 

An automotive DNR?

 

Ford used to ... in the 1930's (and maybe later), their flat <L> head design

 

I don't know. Maybe the much older ones (~1980)...

I always understood that a Honda engine was interference as a matter of
course.

 

This turns out to be kind of a trivia question. The only non-
interference engine produced with Honda's name on it is the Honda
Passport with V6 (3.2L) engine, produced c. 1997-2002. But Honda
produced this car in a joint venture with Isuzu, which sold the same
vehicle under the name "Isuzu Rodeo."

Tegger reported around a 50% chance of bent valves when a Honda timing
belt breaks. I would say that is fair or that the chances of damage
are even a little less than 50%. The approximation comes from reading
many reports on Honda groups of valves not bending.

I suppose the pistons nudge the valves closed in many cases during the
remaining revolutions, sparing the valves damage. The valve pockets
(a.k.a. "valve reliefs") in the piston heads may help, too.

 

I've seen a lot of questions in various forums that could be answered
with a simple Google search. But I guess an answer with a person's
signature at the bottom of it means that it's better than Google! ;-)

Timing belts are one of the things I don't mess around with, even when
they cost upwards of $900 to replace, like on my Audi.

Dan D
'07 Ody EX
Central N USA

 

For me and many others on this forum that do our own maintenance, the
$100 bucks or so to replace the timing belt, tensioners and water pump
is cheap insurance. I have gatherering all these parts in
"anticipation" of the 7 year replacment interval. I'm actually more
worried about the water pump failing than the timing belt.

dan (not necessarily better than google)