I just bought a new (to me) car, which is a 1998 civic. The thing is the car has 162K on it, so that is about 18K a year, mostly freeway miles. The previos owner said that it needed a timing belt changed, so I thought that she might have changed it at around 80K, and it was due for a new one at 162K. I asked her when it was replaced last, and she said that it was NEVER replaced! I am afraid to drive the car until I put a new one on...

So my question is how long has someone gone without their timing belt changed... Can I drive it and not worry... too much...? Im afraid to think that it has gone this far, a little longer wont hurt, but I dont want to take that risk.

 

You need to get it changed, along with the water pump. If that belt snaps, youre motor is toast. Theyre supposed to be changed around 70K, so youre lucky it hasnt snapped, but a new one is due here.

 

yeah I was thinking the same thing, i have changed my own serpentine belts, water pump, tensioner, and timing belt before, but that was on my old Volkswagen. Are Honda timing belts difficult? I know that you have to lift the engine off the mounts and take the valve over off just from looking at it...

 

Yes I'd be very worried. You do have to take that one mount off the end of the engine. It's best to support the engine when you do that. The valve cover has to be lifted up some to get the timing cover off, but not completely removed. I've never needed to replace the valve cover gasket after such an operation, just lift it up and put it back down.

 

do it now, it isn't that hard.
Easier than an engine swap [8D]