I'm approaching 75K miles. I need my stock engine mounts reinstalled($275), & a oil change. I was thinking about letting the shop just go ahead with the timing belt change. I have to drop it off anyway & then pick it up. Get it all done at once. It would save me about $200 in the long run, but I have to shell out the additional $ now to get it done.
Given the fact they tend to just go out, & I run my car hard, & I have a ton of mods, it may make sense.
I really don't see me keeping the car past 100k miles though.
Opinions???

 

even if you don't keep it past 100k, it could be a selling point for the new owner. plus, you never know when it may or may not go, and if you might end up keeping the car. you could possibly do just the timing belt as well, and not the other stuff related to it (water pump, tensioner) though?

 

i wish i was just approaching 75k miles. but yeah, it wouldn't hurt if you did. especially, as you said, that you run it hard.

 

yeah, get everything done. it will be a very strong selling point like rp_guy mentioned.
I'm pretty sure u'll make that money back when u sell the car (sell for higher) may be even more.

get everything that goes along w/ the timing belt done. (all seals, waterpump, tentioners, etc)

 

If you're not going to keep the car past 100K, I wouldn't do the timing belt. I don't think you'll get your money back $ for $. Service interval is 105K. Bank the money now and discount the selling price a bit if you wish.

When it comes time to sell, the buyer is purely going to look at blue book value. There's no add value for having a timing belt changed early. If you sell it prior to 105K, you've maintained it according to factory specs and it's not a negative. It's also very conservative at 105K so I also believe in not fixing something like this unless it's broken. The only time I would recommend an early swap out is if you have a 100K extended warranty. If you do, I would recommend doing it at 95-98K in case they find a leaking water pump or leaking seals, you can sometimes get the service writer to pick up a majority of the timing belt swap under the warranty repair portion and you pay the difference of the additional parts.

 

While I usually play it safe, I will say that fasttymes1 (kris) made it to 180K miles and I waited until 150K miles and Kris said his belt still looked good and so did mine. Your call though!

 

I made it to 150k on my original timing belt and I could barely tell a difference between the new one and the old one.

Like Allout said, better to keep the money in your pocket instead of assuming you will recoup the cost of a new timing belt.

Its like spending $700 on new tires then selling the car 2 months later.

 

I would wait. If I was buying the car from you at 100k and you said you changed the belts at 75k, then that would only give you a slight advantage.
but then again i didnt replace my shocks when i put in my lowering springs at 85k

 

I don't want to hijack your thread, but I was curious what year your car was. I'm thinking about buying a 2001 and thought it had a chain instead of belt.

 

My car had 123k miles before I changed it last week.

 

Our motors are timing belt driven - no chain.

 

Well my dad is a 30+ year mechanic and has been working on Hondas and Acuras most of that time. He said he has never seen one break on a CL and at that mileage it would not be worth it.

 

Opinions vary on this.....but if that belt breaks, better to spend the $$$ now on the service -vs- needing to rebuild your engine! But thats just my 2 cents!

 

I would do it. The manual says to change the belt earlier if it the car has had three or more owners and/or drivin in harsh weather conditions.

Fuzzy makes a good point that he has mods and drives his car hard. I am aproaching 98k and am the third owner and I am by no means a conservative driver. I plan to have my belt changed within the next month. Changing it now gives you the security of knowing you can continue to drive your car hard till the day you sell it.

 

I'd have it done now.

 

No need for that service with present mileage. Wait until 100K

 

Mine looked fine at 100K but it was a little stiff. Not as rubbery as the new gates that went in. I dont think you need to change it. The belt is good for 7 years or 100K by honda standards. You will not get the money back whe you sell it. If anything it will be harder to sell for more money.

 

interesting.. I drive my car hard too...

My belt would not have lasted another 3 months said the Honda mechanic. It started to chip on the outside. I'll take pics of it later on tonight and post them. Either way, the belt was not in good condition.

What I would do is pull the timing belt cover off and slowly turn over the motor with a ratchet. You can probably do so by the power steering pump bolt. Watch the belt and see what condition its in.. if you see chips anywhere change it if not, let it go until later.

Your choice in the end...

 

Hmm...good info here and also good arguments for both sides.

Something to consider when I get into the mid 90's.

My

If you can spare the $$$ and will keep the CL > 100k miles....GO FOR IT.

Otherwise...maybe not worth it but you run the risk of re-sale if something happens...and more $$$

I like artbran's idea to visually inspect the belt.

 

Yeah I was going to inspect it at some point this week. Then go from there. I didn't know we could do that until I looked it up from the service manual.

 

Question...when do you know your timing belt is going?

Right now this is what I'm experiencing...

1) I turn my car on.

2) Let it warm up for 30 seconds.

3) Hear a high pitch "whine or vibration" def. a belt of some sort but seems to drive fine.

Took it into the shop and the guy said he couldn't tell from looking into the engine bay and said that the only way to know what it is...

Is for me to get an inspection and have him take shit apart.

Does this sound right....?

Any help is appreciated.

Also...he told me $650 to change the timing belt...is that the going rate?

 

650 isn't bad if thats with all the bearings and water pump and seals.

As for the sound, no that shouldn't be from your timing belt.

Thats your serpentine belt/V belt but it surprises me that the mechanic didn't tell you this. Sounds like he wanted to let you believe it was the timing belt to get a big pay day vs the V belt which is only like $18 bucks.

 

That's funny...I really trust this guy and his work but...

I told him I didn't want to pay for his inspection service and I was going to take it to Acura and see what they say.

Then he said...I didn't say it was timing belt and he said that like 3 times...kind of weird like he was afraid I would say his name.

 

Is this serpentine / V belt running a major risk to me.

It's been going on for like a month now and haven't had an issue yet with it.

It started after I had this local shop install my Comptech Icebox...are they close in proximity?

 

Nope, not close to the icebox. Could just be a coincidence that it started around this point. No, it's not going to break just because it is making that noise, it just means its stretched and is slightly slipping when there is a draw on the alternator.

Not sure if you do much work on yoru car but its very very simple. The CL has a spring loaded pulley system, all you need is a 14mm ( i think this size) wrench and a new gatorback belt. Push away from you on the nut on the pulley and this will release the tension on the belt. Slide on the new belt and release the wrench that is holding the pulley away from you.

Shouldnt take more than 10 minutes to do

 

Well...honestly I am not very good at mechanical shit but I have done shit under supervision.

I replaced a clutch in my Golf and that required dropping the transmission...so I have worked before on cars.

I bought a Helms manual for my CL so I think I could find it in there.

So as soon as I said what I experiencing you were dead sure that was what it was?

I appreciate your info. and help out because that could save me a couple of hundred bucks.

 

Im pretty sure, just open the hood and try to listen what part of the engine bay its coming from. If its the V belt, it should be coming from the alternator area which is the front middle left of the engine bay.

 

If I'm staring into the engine bar it seems to be coming from the left side but hard to tell exactly.

 

Decided against it. Just got the engine mounts put back on.