sloojoe

2001 CL-S 60,000 miles

Do I replace the timing belt now or wait until 100,000. According to the manual, if I go by months it says to change. Some mechanics say yea, some say nay. I need some help.

joe

jproy

Your 2001 CLS has a timing belt that is probably 9 years old. If your car was manufactured as a 2001 model then it was most likely built in 2000 but could have been built in the first few months of 2001. The manual calls for changing the belt after 105K miles or 7 years, which ever comes first. You are clearly past the 7 year mark and are due for a belt change. The rubber that the t-belt is made of will degrade and rot over time, losing its elasticity and cracking. When it begins to crack it will fail and destroy your engine. When I took mine out with 100K miles on it after 5 years of use it was very stiff and I can imagine it would have began to show cracks soon. You can buy a Honda service manual for the CL and the $30 belt and change it yourself. If you own the tools it is not hard at all.

01RedCLS

I was just wondering the same thing for myself today! I have an '01 with 76k miles and I'm going to do it this summer with my dad, prob. I'll use the great DIY (with pics) from Acurazine !!

I think we can get the job done .. he's pretty familiar with all things cars whereas I know the basics .

fsttyms1

Age is worse than mileage. Get it done.

jaysizzlecity

Yes.......

97BlackAckCL

iTrader: (6)

i did mine at 60, probably could have went longer, but if you have the desire and the funds, do it now

SG81

iTrader: (1)

Replace it!

TheWeez

Wow nice to see people supporting general maintenance for once. Usually people go on about how they were able to make it longer then the recommended window and didn't have any problems. Screw risking well over $4k in engine repairs to be a cheap ass and save a couple bucks.

AnthraciteBeast

iTrader: (3)

Do it

2Fast4you

iTrader: (1)

how much is it to have a shop do it because I think if I was able to install headers and suspension and have a service manual I can do it but I was just curious how much it will run ya?

VIPCLS

Shops usually quote 1k or a little less, that is with labor.

TheWeez

That should include the water pump and gasket along with the tensioner pulley at that price. I'd think it should be closer to $600-$800 with everything.

VIPCLS

Better to overquote than under, cause either way the job is gonna cost over 500 bucks, so be prepared to spend. I have to get mine done here shortly

TheWeez

I don't agree. Better to underquote. Guess higher then is normal and he may get ripped off by paying someone $1000 for a job that most shops should be charging much less for. We tell him $600-$800 and chances are someone won't say OK to paying at least $200 more then they should for the parts and work.

clinoak

Don't mean to sound antagonistic about this but my independent mechanic who never recc extra work (even though he could make extra $) told me to wait until at least 90K on my '01 CL which has 68K. He says he has never heard of the timing belt breaking on one of these TL's or CL's. Anyone ever heard of one breaking? (I do realize the cost goes way up if it does so it is a gamble).

2Fast4you

iTrader: (1)

the thing will get weaker over time no matter how many miles you have I wouldn't take a risk just to save a little money at the time I know a guy that was in the similar situation you were with not having many miles but it was old like yours and it dryrotted and one morning when he tried to start it the timing belt snapped and bent all of the valves as a result

TheWeez

I get all my work done at my dad's cousin's shop (been in the family 3 generations). They had a CL/TL in a while ago that had the timing belt go with a bit over 100k miles. $4200 to repair. I'll take sub-$800 general maintenance over a $4200 repair any day.

Mike

how long will it take to R&R the timing belt?

GreenMonster

How long did you have your 1st timing belt on for ???

GreenMonster

My guy (honda tech who does work on the side) said the same thing... 90k miles for cars in the northeast... I've got 85K now, and it'll be 7 years old this August... so I'll be looking at doing it soon...

rlpierce04

Here is a quote I got from an ASE certified service shop on my CL-S 6SPD...$832 Parts and Labor

blackasscls

I have a 01 with 128xxx miles..according to the dealership it hasn't gotten it changed..... Im going to run to the honda dealership and see what I get quoted there since it should be the same as an accord.

immauser

iTrader: (1)

if u dont want to replace ur entire engine..then i suggest to do it at about 90k if you have an 01.... my previous 01 cl-s was at 115k.....all my valves were GONE..... needed to drop in a new engine... u might as well do it now or else u end up spending a couple grand. i just changed my timing belt at 100k for my current cl-s...also another 01.

YVRCLR

My cars 7 and 1/2 now but only 60,000 km's on the clock. Lots of good advise here and I'll heed that time is worse than milage and I'm going to have the dealer do the belt.

What bugs me though is all the variables I see in the Normal vs Severe maintenance schedules. The owners manual says it's good for 7 years if I lived in Seattle but because I live two hours north in Vancouver, it's really only good for 4.

Talking to the service guy today, he hands me a TL&CL Factory Recommended Canadian Maintenance Schedule pamphlet and it says to change out the belt at 100,000 km's, (no calender limit) but only if I regularly drive in temperatures less than -29 C. (-20 F.) But because I live in a beautiful balmy city by the sea with palm trees, the belts good for 168,000 km's...no calender limit!

Scratching my head over that one.

StreetKA

iTrader: (8)

i have 60k 2003 6 spd... do you think its enough to replace only a belt so i can drive safe to 105k ?

YVRCLR

If you go with the manual, it's good for 7 years.

If I went with the manual, it should have been done 3 and a 1/2 years ago but those Canadian "Severe Condition" rules blow so I'm doing it now...regardless of the brochure I was handed today.

Pseudomaniac

iTrader: (1)

T-Belt, water pump, at least inspect front and rear main seals, cam seals, and clean out the upper intake manifold egr runners and egr port. If they're going to do all that, I'd buy the p2r thermal intake manifold gasket, and TB gasket, and have them put that in as well.

phee

iTrader: (5)

i did a 6 speed swap and i think replacing the timing belt in the car is one of the most difficult and frustrating things to fucking do.

i would pay someone to do it :p

civicdrivr

iTrader: (9)

Yea, theres not much room there to do the work.

paulierand

i've got 96k and it's a 2001. i know i need to get this done but... if i do this myself, what if the timing is off by 1 tooth? will something huge happen and i have to tow car to mechanic to fix?
guess i will need a service manual...

Pseudomaniac

iTrader: (1)

mark your top 3 or 5 teeth and then dot where the teeth are on the head. There is no margin for error if you want your car to run properly. High revving engines and timing are a big deal, unless you like bending valves.

paulierand

thanks. i was going to do this with a buddy who's done it before on hondas, but he wants more info before we dive into it. such as... the service manual. helms is the only one right? will anything else work?

Pseudomaniac

iTrader: (1)

factory service or helms. I would advise you to have a honda mechanic do this if you've not done it before. It's not incredibly difficult per se' - but plan on bloody knuckles and a sore back from bending over the car. Most private mechanics will do a tbelt / sbelt / water pump on the J motor cars for under $400 plus parts from what I've seen

paulierand

is this a 5 hour job?

Pseudomaniac

iTrader: (1)

The stealership will bill you for 5-8 hours labor. A good mechanic with the correct tools might be able to do this in 4 or 5 hours as a routine procedure. It's tight quarters in there, and there are bolts that are near impossible to get your eye on, nevertheless a wrench. If you're patient, it's not a bad job - but I'd plan on a sun-up to sun-down operation if you aren't familiar with the innerworkings and the procedure.

silvervtec96

I did mine a few months back. It was my first time doing something of this magnitude. The hardest part was breaking the crank pulley bolt. Buy/borrow the crank holder and get some long 1/2" extensions to you can use a 3' pipe on a breaker bar to break it.

Next hardest thing was getting to the smaller bolts that hold the timing belt covers off/on (small working quarters). Some I had to lay across the engine and reach around with both hands.

At TDC the front cam is on a flat spot, but watch the rear cam that is harder to see because it easy slips and you will need to slowly line up the arrows. (real slowly cause is a small point to find).

I over tightened my power steering pump and had to replace that too, but other than that, the manual and pictures/DIY on this forum were great. Next time I do it, it should take half the time. Take your time and make sure all the bolt are torqued down.

corsair

Gotta be done some time. What is the engine worth to you?

CL-S24

I've got an 01 CL-S and I'm at 109k+ I ordered all my parts online and will DEFINITELY get it done when I get back from vacation.

civicdrivr

iTrader: (9)

Get the manual, read through the procedure 2 or 3 times. If you think you can handle everything that is covered, then go for it.

Onese1f

Does anyone have any advice as to where to get the parts from? I'm going to get this done ASAP, I'm getting close to the mark.