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Hi folks… I finished my neighbor 2007 MDX T-Belt job aka "105K service"? thing is... He had pushed it to 230K / 12 years!!!!!!!!!!!
Resume:
-T-Belt showed no signs of cracks at all (This is in Dry So-Cal weather mind you). It was pretty pliable and the teeth were healthy, The Honda logo was no more but the belt number was still readable.
-Idler and Tensioner bearings had play on them nothing serious but they were a little bit loose.
-Hydro tensioner had oil on the shaft and seal but it was still holding pressure like new I could not push the shaft in even with all my weight over it.
-Water pump bearing had no play on it but it didnt turn over smoothly, Like it was binding? dunno but it wasnt leaking at least.
All in all it took me 5 hours, Installed an AISIN Kit TKH-002 with a Brand new Honda OEM T-Belt instead of the Mitsuboshi in the kit, (Highly recommended to go OEM instead of the belt in the Kit).
Hi folks… I finished my neighbor 2007 MDX T-Belt job aka "105K service"? thing is... He had pushed it to 230K / 12 years!!!!!!!!!!!
Resume:
-T-Belt showed no signs of cracks at all (This is in Dry So-Cal weather mind you). It was pretty pliable and the teeth were healthy, The Honda logo was no more but the belt number was still readable.
-Idler and Tensioner bearings had play on them nothing serious but they were a little bit loose.
-Hydro tensioner had oil on the shaft and seal but it was still holding pressure like new I could not push the shaft in even with all my weight over it.
-Water pump bearing had no play on it but it didnt turn over smoothly, Like it was binding? dunno but it wasnt leaking at least.
All in all it took me 5 hours, Installed an AISIN Kit TKH-002 with a Brand new Honda OEM T-Belt instead of the Mitsuboshi in the kit, (Highly recommended to go OEM instead of the belt in the Kit).
Great to read this! At least we know we should have no issues going 10-25K over the recommended service interval. I may go to 250K before my next timing belt service.
So this(and some other similar posts on the forum) proves that the 105k service is more stealership driven entry into the Owners manual than a real necessity. Makes perfect sense as they get to charge the customers right after the 7 year 100k extended warranty which people pay for is over.
I hope folks are aware that dealerships can drive some of these engineering decisions.
Last edited by technocrat; 07-01-2019 at 07:38 PM.
We bought ours with 172k on it and the belt had never been done. Everything seemed to be in great shape. I buy the kits at Napa and most of the parts are exact brand as what I've pulled off.
So this(and some other similar posts on the forum) proves that the 105k service is more stealership driven entry into the Owners manual than a real necessity. Makes perfect sense as they get to charge the customers right after the 7 year 100k extended warranty which people pay for is over.
I hope folks are aware that dealerships can drive some of these engineering decisions.
I would say the OP got lucky or maybe the climate has a lot to do with it. Who knows. But in my personal experience, we've seen many timing belt tensioner failures around 130-160k so we always recommend doing them by 120k at the latest. Last thing you wanna do is jump timing and have to put a motor in your vehicle because you didn't replace a maintenance item...
I would say the OP got lucky or maybe the climate has a lot to do with it. Who knows. But in my personal experience, we've seen many timing belt tensioner failures around 130-160k so we always recommend doing them by 120k at the latest. Last thing you wanna do is jump timing and have to put a motor in your vehicle because you didn't replace a maintenance item...
You saw these failures on this motor or generally speaking?? Based on various threads on 2nd Gen MDX across forums, haven't read any case where the belt snapped or deteriorated.
Personally I will probably do it when the MID tells me to, provided I keep it that long (just crossed 60k on my 2011 LOL)
You saw these failures on this motor or generally speaking?? Based on various threads on 2nd Gen MDX across forums, haven't read any case where the belt snapped or deteriorated.
Personally I will probably do it when the MID tells me to, provided I keep it that long (just crossed 60k on my 2011 LOL)
It's all V6's, not vehicle specific. It's not that the belt deteriorates or snaps (unless something went wrong in there), the hydraulic tensionor fails/leaks, and looses it's ability to keep tension on the timing belt. Not to say that I haven't seen them fail under 105k but that's pretty rare. I've seen it maybe once or twice but the customer had it done before it jumped timing. Then you get the people who push their luck and end up need an engine lol. Seen that plenty of times as well. You'll typically hear an obnoxious rattling/grinding noise from a failed tensionor (belt slapping the inside of the lower timing cover.)
While the maintenance minder system is good, it's flawed. It goes by mileage and number of times the vehicle is started. I've done t-belts at 60k or so because the maintenance minder said it was time and the customer wanted it done. Me personally, I'd wait at least the 105k, but no more than 120k. It's just not worth the risk, especially if you're capable of doing the job yourself!
It's all V6's, not vehicle specific. It's not that the belt deteriorates or snaps (unless something went wrong in there), the hydraulic tensionor fails/leaks, and looses it's ability to keep tension on the timing belt. Not to say that I haven't seen them fail under 105k but that's pretty rare. I've seen it maybe once or twice but the customer had it done before it jumped timing. Then you get the people who push their luck and end up need an engine lol. Seen that plenty of times as well. You'll typically hear an obnoxious rattling/grinding noise from a failed tensionor (belt slapping the inside of the lower timing cover.)
While the maintenance minder system is good, it's flawed. It goes by mileage and number of times the vehicle is started. I've done t-belts at 60k or so because the maintenance minder said it was time and the customer wanted it done. Me personally, I'd wait at least the 105k, but no more than 120k. It's just not worth the risk, especially if you're capable of doing the job yourself!
Thanks for the details, so you would still go by mileage and not age, right?
Just to add to this thread. Unrelated vehicle, related part. Got a '15 RDX in today with 59k miles. Timing belt tensioner failed! This is the lowest mileage failure I've seen...
06-24-2019, 10:26 PM
