I found that the timing belt can be checked quite easily by removing the front upper cover. There are 5 small bolts you need to undo.

To properly inspect the t-belt you need to look at the underside of it
Can you do that thru this port?

or- when in doubt -change the belt out!!

what upper front cover do you mean? do you have pics?

It's the black plastic cover on the left side of the engine right near the oil dipstick. You would also have to be able to turn the crank to get a good inspection, but I am not sure that you would be able to see the belt well enough.

You can see the underside of the belt, but only a small portion. A strong flash light would help you to see more. I you check it 3-4 times on different days, it'd give you a good idea about the condition of the belt.

It's important to me to be able to check the belt because my 2000 TL (just bought 3 weeks ago) is more than 7 years old but only has 60K miles. I don't want to spend $600 replacing the belt unless I have to.

Yeah, more than likely your belt is fine. I just changed mine on my 02 TL-S at 101k and it didn't have any cracks in it at all.

What exactly are you looking for?????? Did you rotate the belt 360 deg to inspect the whole thing? Did you inspect the tensioner?? Id be WAY more concerned with the age of the belt than the miles on the belt. With that age i would consider doing so

I have couple of pictures I want to post but I don't know how. I clicked on "Insert Image" icon and it asked me to enter "the text to be formatted"???

- I want to check the condition of the belt
- I can't rotate the belt just by opening up the upper cover. However, by inspecting the belt 3-4 times on different days would give me a good picture of the different parts of the belt.
- No. I can't see the tensioner.
- I agree that materials deteriorate with time, but for the timing belt I think mileage is more important factor because driving puts more stress to the belt including much higher temperature than the ambient temperature.

Actually, NO
Time is the enemy of all rubber products, not miles
Perhaps you've heard- we lost the ozone layer in the great election of 2000
Tires that sit in the sun rot away- thats why RVs park with covers on the wheels
You cant see the bad parts of the belt until you take it off and turn inside out.

My 2001 has 77k now, I've had it a year- and the former owner thought the maitenance was being done to specs by dealer/speedie/private shop over its life,
but... not so much really
It immediatly needed the warranty trans and a front brake caliper and rear brakes

A few weeks ago I decided the coolant should be changed based on age.
The additives wear out after 5-6 years and turn the mix acidic in an aluminum home
Now the AC belt tensioner is making bad noise
Digging thru the receipts I see at 45k Acura said it needed a new AC belt tensioner but work declined
I guess an extra 30k out of it wasnt bad- they are about $70 for the assembly-
anyone with a good source/price???

In general- if something worries you about the car- get it fixed
The result of broken timing belt is somewhere between $2000 and 4500 in damages
compare that to new water pump, timing belt and tensioner, coolant and ready to go anywhere anytime with confidence for 600-800
Seafoam treatment and new spark plugs make a new car of it too!
You have to figure a grand in repairs on any used car


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