I have a 99 TL bought in 11/98 with 57k miles. Dealer tells me timing belt overdue (they rec. 7 years). Independent mechanic tells me that he would wait for 105k miles on timing belt -- that this is a repair where time doesn't matter, just mileage. Thoughts? (And, yes, the dealer recommends I change out the water pump at the same time.)

 

Which ever comes first. Since it's a '99 and has never had a full tune-up done, you should definitely do it. Age plays a big factor too.

 

Age does play a factor as your belts do dry out. I would change it. Its preventative maintenance.

 

I wouldnt use that mechanic. At this point in its life AGE is FAR more important than mileage. Rubber gets brittle.

 

He said that if I were driving to CA (cross county) he'd do it, but for in-city driving, he wouldn't bother.

 

If it failed in town, he'd get the repair work.

If it failed en route to California, he'd want your money before you left.

I'm getting mine done right now. 110K, 10 years. Yes, a bit overdrawn.

 

Wouldnt matter much, odds are if it were to fail in town you would still need a new engine. And my bet would place the city driving harder on it than the constant speed hwy driving

 

get a real honda mechanic~~~
...as well said many times- age before brittle or something like that
I know the results of failure- 10 years 175kmiles on a teg and shredded the belt-
goodbye engine! (wifes car before my time)
and it went in town, not on its daily 90 mile commute in the 100 degree weather..
while her idiot friend kept revving it and said- its ok,, you can make it back home!

It would be foolish to not replace the water pump with the timing belt- its next part behind the belt and will fail in another 20-50 if you dont replace now

Same with all tensioners and pullies for the belt- dont replace now and good chance they are not long for this world

 

110,000 mile parts report:

T-Belt - Looks perfect. Yes, the time to change it is way, way before you need it.
Water pump - A little clicky play, evidently within bearings, if one wiggles the pulley.
Tensioner - has a little oil and black crud around piston. Could be original grease and flecks of rubber from t-belt wear.
Pulleys - Seems to have no issues. Amazing one can build sealed bearing to withstand the heat and 100K miles.
P.S & AC belts - Cracked, worn.

Conclusion - I'm glad everything was changed out. An extra $210 well spent.
When I have a garage, and a non-daily-driver, I'll do the service myself.

 

you have to flip the tbelt inside out, bend it backwards at the teeth and look for any cracks.
Chances are if the outer belts were dry and done- so was the tbelt- just not as obvious

a little oil from the tensioner, a little play in water pump...gee you could have gone another 50 miles before serious engine damage occured~

front rotors of OE quality or better can be found for cheap at autozone or kragen/oreillys

Next time tbelt DIY? how long will it take you to put on another 100,000 miles!?!
trying to compete with fsttyms1? lol

 

And if you take the time to take it off to do that you might as well spend the 30 bucks or so on a new belt.

 

I meant as an inspection procedure after replacement--since the poster said it appeared good I wanted others to know how to inspect the timing belt..and why a techs best guess that its ok from an outside peek--are worthless

once you have it off dont even consider putting it back on!!!

 

Yes, when you flip the t-belt upside out, and squeeze the belt, the little alligator scale cracks are visible.

I'll do 100K in three years, mostly highway. And hopefully, so will the transmission.

Honda resurfaced the rotors, as they had over 2mm left on them. With new pads, it added $160 to my t-belt bill.
They have a machine that resurfaces the rotors without removal, and claim this is the right way.
Never heard of, or saw such a machine, however.
I'll try this out, and if they go shaky within 35,000 miles, then I'll install EBC UPR7087 rotors.
OEM pads were recommended with these rotors. Yes?

 

Resurfacing the rotors will only fix it for a short time.

If you get the EBC rotors, get the EBC pads. They are far better than the OEM pad.

 

I figured as much. I went for the quick fix, and I'll track, given my driving style, how long resurfacing lasts.

As posted, I plan on buying EBC UPR7087 rotors.
I would match these with the EBC Brakes UD787 - EBC Ultimax Brake Pads ?

 

I prefer teh Green Stuff pads, but those arent bad

 

I was JUST about to ask/post the same question...
(i dont mean to high-jack the thread either...) but why post twice..

My TL is a '02 with 40,000 miles on it (9 years on the road -june '01)
This car doesnt see winter and on average 5000 miles a season.

I initial feeling is that the T-belt should be good for a while longer.. but how long..?? or maybe not.
Thoughts...
Thanks
J

 

Odds are it will last longer but its not something i would risk. Our engines are "Interference" motors. Meaning when the belt breaks the valves impact the pistons often resulting in needing a new motor.

Age is far more destructive than mileage to rubber.

 

Age in a car is a major factor and anyway a new timing belt will last you another 75-100k miles so why not do it

 

I agree that age is a factor, as you mention above 'replace and get another 75-100k'.. there lies my dilemma.. it ONLY has 40k on it, after 9 years...
Unless I get a divorce and my car becomes my main transportation, I will only put another 40k for the next 9 years again...

There are a few TL owners that have mentioned than after 100k the belt was in decent shape.
The jury is still out....
J

 

Its either 7yrs. or 105k.. whichever you hit first. I'm only @ 75k on my 2003 and I'm doing the service now. Better safe than sorry..

 

What you are failing to understand is that its which ever comes FIRST. You are at the age limit. Change it. Those of us who have put many more miles on it did it well before the age limit. Its your gamble, Even i would change it due to its age and not its mileage. (i went 200k on mine but that was in less than 7 years)

 

Point taken..
Thanks for all your input..
Cheers
J

 

I was wondering the same thing. I just bought a 2000 3.2TL with only 60K on it. Low miles but its 10 years old. Not sure what I want to do.

 

I would get it done ASAP. Rubber deteriorates with age so you are taking a risk driving it like this. It may last you another 40-50K miles or it might go in another 400-500 miles, you never know. Why find out the hard way (new engine) that you should've had it replaced?

I recently had mine replaced (2000 TL, 103K miles) and the belt was visibly worn, more so on the back side than the tooth side. I had everything changed, belt, pump, idler & tensioner pulleys, hydraulic tensioner assembly, and drive belts. My water pump had signs of a slow leak, not enough to leave puddles but enough to make me wonder why I had to refill my coolant bottle every so often. The hydraulic tensioner also had a small leak so I sure as hell wasn't putting that back in. I had to wait until Monday to get it at the dealer because we did the work Sunday and nobody else carries it. The idler & tensioner pulleys actually felt pretty good. The bearings were still spinning smooth and didn't feel worn at all. They felt very comparable to the new ones but since I had bought the kit (Gates timing kit BTW), I went ahead and replaced them anyway. The drive belts were also Gates and the water pump was a Beck/Arnley (re-boxed OEM supplier parts).