I just purchased a 2015 RDX 2WD base model at a new car dealership - non Acura.. It has just under 80K miles and although it's in excellent condition and has a stellar dealership service record, it appears to never have had the timing belt replaced. A phone call to My Acura garage yielded no results for a timing belt replacement but did confirm an excellent service history.

I've looked at the Acura recommendations for timing belt replacement but all I can find is to check the Maintenance Minder, hot the typical advice to change at X miles or X years. I was told the Service Minder is easily reset without the work being done.

I'm in SoCal and the price quote from an Acura dealer to change the belt was very, very expensive.

Do I have reason for concern? Any suggestions are welcome.

 

You are going to get varying answers on this 7 years or 100k miles.. My opinion change just change towards the end of the year. If you are worried about it then change it now. Just be sure to change your waterpump/tensioner and sparkplugs while you are at it. Search the forums and you will see soo many opinions.

 

Thank you for your response, I'll definitely do some reading/searching.

I do know this - the car was first sold in May 2015 so it's been on the road exactly 8 years.

 

A well-maintained RDX is likely to give many years of reliable service. Congratulations on your purchase!

I think there will be a variety of answers / perspectives on this. I'm not sure the service minder on this car is able to track by years and by miles, and if it's only tracking miles would not indicate service is due. If it were my car, I would change it relatively soon for peace of mind, and I would also change water pump / tensioner. I would not consider this "urgent" and would be comfortable driving the car a few months if that made more sense from a financial standpoint.

There's no reason to have this service performed at an Acura dealer, and it's likely that the Acura dealer is the most expensive option. Any Honda dealer can perform the service, as can independent shops. Many people DIY this job, although my understanding is that it's pretty involved. If you get a few quotes you may find a shop that is less expensive.

 

I agree will all responses thus far and will add that because it’s an interference if the timing belt or pulley were to fail it could cause catastrophic damage to the engine. I mentioned pulley because more times than not it’s a pulley seizes that causes the timing belt to break, rarely do they break on their own. My wife drives an RDX and is about a year or so away from needing this same work done, so I too, recently obtained quotes from both a Honda and Acura dealership and was surprised at the cost. There was only a $100 difference between the two dealerships. In summary, it was $1,300 for the timing belt and water pump and an extra $250 if the tensioner and idler pullies were changed which kind of shocked me thinking that this would have a typical timing belt kit and should have been included. Now add spark plugs and valve adjustment and that essentially added another $1,300, making a grand total of about $2,850 for everything.

Also, if searching for genuine OEM timing belt kit for an 2nd Gen RDX, it includes the following: GENUINE Timing Belt Honda; Idler Roller Pulley Koyo OEM; Tensioner Roller Pulley Koyo OEM; GENUINE Water Pump & Gasket Honda; Hydraulic Tensioner Aisin OEM: GENUINE Front Camshaft Seals x 2 Honda; GENUINE Front Crankshaft Seal Honda; BANDO OEM Serpentine Drive Belt. It should be noted that the kit contains a serpentine belt and am not sure if the dealership quotes included it or not, but that’s something I would have changed at the same time this work is being done.

 

Base on my experience on a 1999 Honda CR-V that I owned for 14 years from new. Temperatures ranged between -13F and 86F during the year with lower temperatures the odd winter day.

Part mileage: 118,617 miles.
Part life: 10 years 10 months.

I replace the belt, belt tensioner and waterpump myself using factory Honda parts.
Original belt condition: looked like new and when bent backwards fully upon itself (an upside down U), no cracks were found between the teeth. I threw it into the car as a spare, not that I was going to need it.

Of course, yours may be different. I have not needed to work all that much on my RDX. If the timing belt covers come off easily, inspect the belt and keep an eye on the tensioner. If the tensioner bearing seizes, there goes your belt. The tensioner should run smoothly and it should be quiet.

 

Thanks to all of you for your advise. ^^^^^^^

The work required to is beyond my ability and comprehension. I pick up the car Tuesday and have found a local shop that will do the work with OEM parts at a much more reasonable cost than any of the Acura dealers I've contacted.

 

I have done the 105k service on 4 or 5 different J series engines, 2016 RDX included. The RDX is my wifes, and it was done around 110k if i recall correctly. The belt was pristine, and the belt tensioner had a small dab of oil where it had begun to leak. Nothing crazy. As others have said, the bearings in your water pump are likely what will fail first, or the other pulleys for the timing belt. Ultimately, the RDX we have was taken care of very well before we bought it, and it probably would have gone to 150k miles on the original timing components and water pump.

If I were you, I would get the Aisin kit from Rockauto. The parts are tried and true across various models on this forum, you will save some money because OEM components are expensive. This kit is more than acceptable as an aftermarket option. That being said, stick with NGK lazer iridiums for the spark plugs, and stick with Honda type 2 coolant. Buying these parts on your own and bringing them in will help lower costs, as you will only be paying for labor at that point.

 

Thanks! I checked the Rockauto website and the Aisin kit is $193. Pretty reasonable even when compared to lesser quality similar parts from other manufacturers. I'm going to do exactly as you suggest.

 

Interesting. I got gifted a 2013 RDX with 84k miles and when I got it smogged they said it's good to at least 100k miles even though it's obv. 10 years old. Car has been babied and I'm really grateful I have it.

 

Unless things have changed, Aisin is the original equipment manufacturer, so that's a good thing.


RFT!!!
Dave Kelsen
--
Since the invention of the calendar, our days have been numbered.