Jackhs20

Hey guys I have a 2001 acura cl type s and i was recently at the acura service department here in Chantilly, Va and they told me that i needed my timing belt replaced along with other things. I got most of the repairs but declined the timing belt because they want to charge $1200 to get it replaced. They of course tried to tell me that this will cause catastrophic failure if i don't get it replaced and i do agree it will if it DOES fails but the scare sale tactic does not work for me so i wanted to ask you guys if you have ever had any problems with your timing belts? I'm pretty good repairing pretty much anything that can be done with regular tools but i really don't want get to extensive with repairs because i no longer have a shop with a lift and now i live in an apartment with minimal tools. So please let me know what you guys would recommend as a service interval for the timing belt my car has 140000 miles. Have any of you guys changed yours or had issues with it. Thanks in advance.

StreetKA

iTrader: (8)

timining belt should b done after 105k miles or 7 years which ever come first
i should have done this already in a while back and if it was done then i have no idea why they want you to do it again. next timing belt should be done at 210k miles

Rajca

iTrader: (8)

7 year or 105k miles, which ever one comes first. $1200 is high. ppl have been getting them done for around $800.

u can hold off on doing it but ur playing with fire. eventually it will bite u in the ass. and cost a whole lot more then just doing the 105k service

brian6speed

iTrader: (5)

If you have 140k with it never being replaced then i would do it as soon as possible. it should cost around 800-1000 to replace at a dealer. If the timing belt breaks your engine will be screwed and would cost 2-3 grand to repair or youd have to buy a used engine for around 1k. Timing belt is the most important service to do for your car besides regular oil changes, dont skip it.

CH46ESeaKnight

how long have you had it? How many miles? Any mods?

civicdrivr

iTrader: (9)

Definately get it replaced. Take it to a regular shop, or better yet, contact NVA-AV6. You're not too far from him. He did my engine build. I, as well as countless others, trust him.

wakipaki

Yeah my dealership said the same thing, 105k/7r years. They wanted only $750 though (compared to $1200).

Not trying to threadjack, but it's kind of the same topic. My 03 CL has 75k miles on it, original timing belt, but it's been 7 years.
Is there any way to judge whether or not the timing belt is still good for a few more months? Would it be safe if I were to get it done sometime in either March or May?

Rajca

iTrader: (8)

nope, cant judge it by looks.

Rapture

I'd have to say the timing belt has to be a bit durable. That guy pits kept his original timing belt awhile past the 105k mile mark.

pits200

Ya, I had mine on till 155k miles, original everything. Wish I still had the parts because the belt was in great condition and could have probably gone a few more years as with the water pump.

Biggest mistake I ever made was getting the timing belt replaced. I probably wouldn't be out $3,200 one year after getting my timing belt replaced if I just kept the original on.

Timeline

July 2008 155k miles ---- Replaced original timing belt at shop.
November 2009 199k miles --- Timing belt tensioner bolt failed, timing belt catastrophe.
December 2009 199k miles---- Head and Valves repaired/replaced.

Overall, just get the job done but $1,200 is wayyyy steep even for a dealership. When my belt went in november 2009. It costed $944 dollars.

Rajca

iTrader: (8)

it looked good. but take a microscope to it and look at it.the belt stretches over time. its all up to the owner of the car. im telling u right now, my engine that im building has 82k on it and "looks" good. im still doing the 105k service before i drop it in my cl.


i bet their are ppl with 200k with original belts and then their are ppl with 70k and timing belt broke.

Rapture

Yeah I'm now at the 7 year mark, but my car is only at like 77k miles. I wanna be safe, but I'm just really on the fence.

friesm2000

iTrader: (4)

x2 (on rajca's post) everybody's mileage varies, kinda depends on how you use your car and such
and honda recoomends as early as 60k when extreme ambient tempetures are seen on a regular basis,
and itis not so much the belt just snapping, it is usually the other components that fail first, along with the belt stretching out, and the cam timing getting out-of-sync with the crankshaft

and for rajca, much easier to do now with it out of the car, and also being on the safe side too, especially with a built engine (more power= means more stress on the belt from the valves be harder to open and such from the higher cylinder pressures, let alone the higher stress from the higher valve spring rates that you are more then likely running)

StreetKA

iTrader: (8)

have 75k and ill wait till summer

friesm2000

iTrader: (4)

so true; with the pay me now or pay me alot more later


bent valves can easily run into the $2-3k range to be fixed
(had a volvo this last week with bent valves, he walked out with something like a $4k bill, cause he did not trust us when we said it needed a timing belt 4,000 miles ago, which would have proably only costed him like $8-900 if he had done it before)(and that belt went like 9,000 miles before volvo even recommended it, but had been 4 years overdue by volvo's time-based recommendation)

StreetKA

iTrader: (8)

what do you need to do 105k service ? or i shold just change belt bc im at 75k miles ? ill buy parts and will give it to my buddy to do this service... do the whole service or just the belt ?

friesm2000

iTrader: (4)

water pump
idler bearing
tensioner bearing
tensioner (especially since they had that recall on the earlier ones)
crank seal (main one that will leak if it develops a leak, plus also only like $10-15, and easy enough to replace with the t/belt being off, but a pity to replace if you have to pull everything back off
drivebelts- optional, there off already
cam seals- optional too, they don't leak as often as a crank seal, and when they do, it's normally not that bad, and can normally wait till the next t/belt job

and for most of the stuff, much easier to do them while you are in there, then having to pay labour again to replace them





plugs proably can wait a little longer, if they do go absolutly bad, they are not going to screw up the motor itself
valve adjust, kinda depends on if they need it or not , but proably not, so that can proably wait too


also there is the air filter too, plus the cabin air filter, but those are quite easy to do though

Rajca

iTrader: (8)

^the belt itself. also a valve adjustment is a good idea.

o1s

meh my car has 206k miles and i've never had to have the valves adjusted.

friesm2000

iTrader: (4)

on these engines they do seem to wear pretty well, but they still need it to be on the safe side

and i am going to LMFAO when you burn a exhaust valve, let alone if it was done, you proably would gain back some of your lost power from incorrectly adjusted valves

StreetKA

iTrader: (8)

my mechanic told me that valves are hydraulic self adjustable... dont need adjustment

pits200

That is kind of a dick thing to laugh about.

But when my engine was put back together after my experience of replacing/regrinding and reseating all the valves. My car obviously had all the exhaust and intake valves adjusted back to spec and the car runs absolutely no better than it did when the car had 199k miles on it and no valve adjustment ever before that.

For $600 I can see why someone is hesitant about getting a valve adjustment.

Rajca

iTrader: (8)

i adjusted my valves in my cl and it was a whole diff car. no more ticking, and more power off the line.

friesm2000

iTrader: (4)

on other car's maybe, but almost all hondas are manual adjustment

pits200

Of course I wasn't assuming it was in great shape, but examine a belt with 20k miles on it and you could have seen wear under a microscope, I don't think those microscopic cracks would cause a belt to break, the test is to visually inspect it for cracks or visible wear.

I just waited because I put 40-45k miles a year on my car and didn't want to have to do another timing change in 2 years. Now I probably won't have to change the belt again for as long as I own the car. That was my only reason for extending the change interval.

Also, has anyone on here ever heard of any of the components failing on a timing belt for our cars????? (Tensioner, belt or water pump)

friesm2000

iTrader: (4)

not explained the best, but on ours the seats of the valves seem to recess/wear at about the exact same rate as the camshaft wears,so they stay in adjustment pretty well,

cause i know on mine at 103k when i did them they all seemed to be right on spec, or a bare minanum out of spec
but some people's engine may get way out of spec by 100k due to how they drive and every thing wears, shorts trips/cold engine vs long trips/hot engine can easily affect wear rates; also oil change intervals affect the wear too, quality of the oil, type/grade/quality of gas can too (gas does lubricate parts a little, ever so slightly, but it does mak a huge difference over 1,000s of miles)

Dredd

I am at 122K with no belt replacement yet, but it's starting to wrry me, so I am going to do it soon. Tischer Acura in Laurel, MD quoted me $600 to do that and the water pump last summer when they were replacing a leaky headlight under warranty. I should have dont it, I'll see if I get the same deal now, dunno.

The car still runs great right now and has not a scratch on it, but I wanna keep it that way......

civicdrivr

iTrader: (9)

Talk to NVA-AV6. Hes in NoVa and does damn good work.

o1s

if it happens, then it happens.

n0rm

iTrader: (6)

My car has 47K miles and at the 7 year mark. I'm having mine done soon.

aznboi2424

iTrader: (10)

My CL ( born May 2001) just had the complete 105k service done at 105k miles. I asked my mech how much longer the belt would have lasted and he guessed 20-30k (2-3 years for me).

The valve adjustment along with replacing my worn platnium plugs with new iridium ones yielded noticible power gains and improved throttle response.

Dredd

I just PM'd him. We'll see what he says. Also called the dealer, they will still do it for $600, but anything like a crank seal and stuff would be extra. All they include is the water pump, timing belt, and drive (serp) belt it sounds like.

If I don't hear from NVA-AV6, I'll take it to the dealer Monday.

StonedCL

iTrader: (1)

Would not having the valves adjusted cause the engine to misfire once in awile? The reason I ask is cuz my old car I sold is misfiring once in awile and all the coil packs where changed and cat was replaced and the spark plugs only have 50K miles on them?
When I had my TB done with WP I thought the guy adjusted my valves but I found the invoice ana it was $799 w/parts and labor and nuttin on there about adjusting valves?

stlswagger

Wow some of you guys are paying a lot. Maybe it's because Seattle is Japanese car city but a chain called Greg's Japanese Auto up here has like 6 locations and I have used them in the past even though it's been a long time since I've owned a Honda before this car charges $250-300 plus tax to do this service granted you have to buy all the parts yourself. That's a pretty good price all around.
Although I'm below the 105K miles guess I'll be having this done in the summer since my car will be 7 years old then.

CL-S progression 01

iTrader: (2)

OP 1200 for a timing belt is insane... my dlr did mine for 750 with labor and new water pump.

i'm just saying... get it done somewhere else if u can find a place u trust.

1200 usd vs 750 cad that's like 2xs.

I'm sure u could do much better

YeuEmMaiMai

my dealer told me that you can go 10 years on the belt. I will be at 105K by the middle of next year but I am already saving money to get it done this year.

pits200

A lot of the timing belts are kevlar reinforced so the likelihood of them breaking or even stretching is very very small.

That doesn't mean I'm saying it shouldn't be replaced but these aren't just straight hard rubber belts. You are more likely to have the water pump or tensioner go first before the actual belt breaks.

civicdrivr

iTrader: (9)

Which is just as bad.

aznboi2424

iTrader: (10)

I paid about 1k for my full service. I had everything changed including valve adjustment for that price. All belts, water pump, tensioners, idler, adjuster, cam seals, valve cover seals, plugs, upper and lower radiator hoses, etc.

CL-S progression 01

iTrader: (2)

very good deal^