I bought my car about 6 months ago with 115,000 miles on it and don't have the maintenance history. It now has 120,000 so I decided to do a timing belt and water pump replacement on it. After tearing into it the first thing I noticed is that the alternator/AC and water pump belts were both aftermarket so they aren't the original ones. After taking off the timing belt covers I noticed the timing belt looks pretty new for 120,000 miles. What do you guys think? I am thinking it was replaced already by previous owner probably at 105,000 miles or so. I would hate to have to replace it again if it wasn't necessary. Not sure if you guys can tell by the pictures. Thanks in advance.

 

It's kind of hard to tell. a dead give away for the water pump at least is the color difference between the side mount and the top of the pump. or witness marks on brackets, mounts, etc from unbolting and bolting things back in. the only real wear I see on a belt is on the flat side of the belt unless other damage is present.

So in this case since you have no maint history, i would replace it for a piece of mind.

Hope that helps.

 

can you see any printed markings on the outer side of belt?
maker name- part number etc
something to show if it looked new or had aftermarket brand on it?

only way to really inspect the belt condition is turn it inside out and use a magnifying glass to ck for cracks,,by then you may as well have the new one in hand -
no point to re-installing a used one when they are what,,like 30 bucks new?

if you can get a super closeup shot, you may be able to see if heavy wear is present on the teeth or not

Water pump is really really important about the 105,,and thermostat plus hoses never hurt

Many a TL is sold with new accessory belts- its something the buyer can see --
that and engine oil change
those `indicate` the car has been maintained

 

I will check for part number or something on the belt when I get home. I had a question though. Are the timing belts at Autozone that much worse than the OEM ones or are they OK to use?

 

I would happily use Gates brand belt aftermarket
and a few choices on the roller bearings
not sure what zone has--

the issue is IF it breaks, thats 2500$ damage to the engine --basically= replace the engine time!!
so the 20 bucks diff between known good and `probably fine`,,,not worth it in my world

the timing belt has to be one of the cheapest parts in the whole car!
getting to it is another story

looking at the pics again I dont see any disturbance to the alt. bolt,,
look at other cover bolts to ck for edge wear from socket or wrench made during remove and install
none found = needs the 105 service
not sure what that looks like?--remove a strut tower nut and reinstall

 

most of the time it is very hard to tell how many miles a timing belt has just by looking at it. I have replaced many t belts with over 150k miles that looked like new (no rips or stains). The biggest give away is if its not an oem belt, than you definitely know it has been replaced.

I have used oem and gates belts with no problems. I would not put any other belt.

 

I ordered the Timing belt kit today from Larry over at Hansel's Acura for $349 shipped to my door. Better safe than sorry.

 

Alternator bolt? I didn't think you need to remove the alternator do do the timing belt?

 

I was thinking that other belts are often replaced with the tbelt job,,since you are right there anyway
my point was to look at bolts for marks