Ok so i bought my car last week and still struggling over what i should do. The previous owner told me she changed the timing belt at 100k after i bought the car, it's now at almost 111k. I know everyone will just say get it done and have peace of mind but it's an expensive job and i would like to know for sure if i or a mechanic can check. What needs to be taken off to get to the timing belt? How do you tell if the belt is new or not?

I took the car to Honda they told me i need a new belt but they didn't take anything out the honda mechanic told me the belt has never been changed without lifting the car up and he was pointing at the belt that's next to the power steering pump up on top where you can easily see it but that has to be the A/C belt. He grabbed a hose and wet the belt and told me i needed to change the belt because of whatever the belt responded with after he poured water on it and it looks like that was the A/C Belt and no the timing belt. I don't recall him mentioning anything about the Water Pump IIRC then again maybe he did and i just wasn't paying attention after seeing what he did with the water. Firestone said i needed the Timing Belt aswell and the water pump which is expected but did not mention the tensioner which i thought was a little su****ious.

How reliable are Honda and Honda mechanics with their diagnostics of problems and maintenance? When i was selling my 95 Civic EX Coupe last year, a buyer took my car to the same exact Braman Honda and they gave him a list of problems that came out to over $2300+ in repairs and when i saw that list i said "there crazy". What can you guys tell me? I need answers cuz i'm going bonkers and i don't really want to do the job if god only knows it really was done 11k miles ago.




HELP!!!!!!!

 

I just replaced the belt on my 94, not exactly the same car as yours but the inspection should be more or less the same.

Remove the timing belt cover and look at the inside of the belt. A belt with over 100k will be starting to show cracks on the inside radius of the teeth.

 

When I changed my timing belt at 104k miles, it looked pristine, so you can't necessarily know whether or not the belt has been replaced. The mechanics are probably assuming that if the drive belts were not replaced, then the timing belt wasn't either. Usually, you replace the drive belts along with the timing belt.

When the job is done, replace:

timing belt
tensioner
water pump
drive belts

Consider also replacing the spark plug seals and bolt seals in the valve cover and adjusting the valve clearance.

 

Timing belts aren't the same on Saturn as Honda, but here's my experience with a saturn. My timing chain tensioner failed the day before Christmas eve, causing the timing belt to slip and destroy the engine on my Saturn. That's why I just brought a Honda. If your having someone inspect the belt, have someone also examine the tensioner. It might cost a couple of hundred for the piece of mind. or, can the previous owner supply paperwork or tell you where the work was done and maybe the shop can verifiy if the paperwork is there?

 

You wont know your timing belt is going until you see all 16 valves pinging down the road in your rear view mirror!

You dont get a seccond chance with a timing belt, if in doubt, get it done!

I was in a similar situation to you after buying my car (1997 civic SiR 1.6 dohc). I was told by the garage that the belt was done at 95000 km, I put another 30k km on it until I started to get worried! I was taking the garage dealers word that it was done at 95k, this was almost a year later and warrenty expired! (also no way of proving that it was done at this exact time). So I decided to change it.

There really is no way of telling if the belt is ok! to get the timing belt cover off to have a proper look, you are 95% of the way to taking off the timing belt!!!!! and believe me once you get to that stage you WILL replace the belt with a new one! (and you will have nightmares about crank bolts for a long time)

It took me roughly 9 hours to get the belt off (but im no mechanic).

In the end it looked as if the belt was replaced not too long ago, however the tensioner and water pump were not changed, neither were the 3 aux drive belts. (tensioner and waterpump bearings have been known to sieze) so ordered the whole lot and am still waiting on the parts its been over a week now but there is no way im putting it back together without all the proper parts!

Anyway hope this shines a little light on it for you!

 

Hmm calling the shop, that's a good idea tgrudzin, i don't know why i didn't think of it before. I just called Goodyear which is where the girl got almost all her service done and they told me to call tommorrow since he shut down the computer. So tommorrow i should know if the Timing Belt was changed and hopefully the changed the Tensionor and Water Pump aswell. BTW the guy at Advance Auto Parts also recommended the i get the Crankshaft and i think Crankseals aswell. I'm not not but he recommended a bunch of other stuff when a timing belt change. Things i've heard heard that are recommended in a Timing Belt Change other than Tensioners, Water Pump, and the Timing Belt. What do you guys have to say about this? Is he right, i mean i'm trying to save but i can afford repairs if my car needs really needs them right now.

 

This is the big service you shouldn't skimp on with any Honda. Do it all- get the w/p, seals, tensioner, and the timing belt done while the cover is off and you or the mechanic can get to it. Anything else that is external- drive belts, valve adjustment, etc can be done at your next service interval, but don't blow it off. A valve adjustment will improve the fuel economy, especially on a Honda motor with over a 100k on it.

The bill can add up but but it's nothing compared to replacing a destroyed motor when the valves hit the pistons when the belt broke, or having to reopen the motor for a leaky water pump 5k later.

Most people drive Civics because they're very inexpensive to operate and reliable, but any engine will fail if not properly maintained. Expecting a Honda to go 150k on the same timing belt, seals, tensioner, drive belts and water pump is pure neglect- a blown motor here is the owners' fault plain and simple. But if you follow the factory recommended maintenamce schedule your Honda can run to 300k.

Geno

 

There is no real way to tell. Either it snaps, or it doesn't. It's best to just follow the Honda maintenance schedule.