I was just wondering if any members here had ever had their timing belt let go while driving? If so, what kind of damage was the end result? I know our engines are interference engines so valves and pistons can touch. Which is obviously not a good thing.

 

here!

 

Fixed it for you:

What happens on a "interference" engine?
If the timing belt breaks on an interference engine, major engine damage usually does occur. It most commonly involves open valves being struck by pistons as the engine continues to turn to a stop after the belt breaks. The camshaft stops opening and closing the valves and the ones that happen to be open get struck by the pistons in their cylinder. Sometimes just the valves are bent. Sometimes a piston may be damaged, or worse. The bottom line is an otherwise needless expensive repair that could have been avoided had the belt been changed at the recommended time or service interval. In pretty much all cases, a complete replacement engine is guaranteed to be required.

 

My mother had a 99 a Eagle Talon that the timing belt broke. The shady mechanic said he could fix the timing belt, but it might not run well. No Shit, it was nothing but valves and pistons rattling.

 

While my timing belt didnt snap, a friend mechanically over-revv'd my car.

which technically, provides the same results.

the pistons hit my exhaust valves which bent the stems.

I swapped heads and now my car is good to go.

 

I haven't read here of anyone having a belt break, and I think Honda builds in a decent safety margin to the belt in terms of the service interval. My brother pushed my old TL (00 MY) to ~ 140K miles and he said when he got the belt back, it looked to be in very good condition (no cracks) .

That said, I would stick to the manufacturer recommendation to have it done at 105K miles or the MID '4' indicator. A little over is more than likely fine, but it's such a relatively small cost vs having to swap out the engine. I have 102K on mine now, and I look forward to the next 100K miles, so I'm not living in 'fear' of the belt breaking by getting it done on time (actually before as it was done at 95K).

 

In a sense it is the same action that occurs, but the circumstances are different- with your buddy overrevving the engine, the interference was for probably no more than a second or two, plus the internals, although off time, were still moving. I'd imagine that if a belt broke, the interference would occur for a longer period of time (some valves open, so closed, but the bottom end would still be moving, no?). I dunno, maybe I'm out to lunch, but I would think the belt snapping would be a far more drastic end result than an overrev. I'm not engine expert though.

 

I am an expert on tacos though. If anyone has questions, please feel free to ask.

 

I have read of timing belt failures but if my memory serves me correctly they have been after the belt was replaced.

 

when i replaced my belt at 125k, it looked pretty good to be honest. no cracking or fraying of any kind. I would imagine it could go 150-160k no problem, but then I guess it depends on how you drive the car too

 

I thought the same of my belt at 108k, if I didn't know which was the new belt and which was the old I would've probably mixed them up. Don't get me wrong I had some issues doing my timing belt, but for $130 and a day of labor I wouldn't risk going over 150K absolute maximum.

I also couldn't see paying $1000+ to have it professionally done. If you can read you can do almost anything on a car.

 

Honda builds in a decent size factor of safety with their maintenance schedule, like all manufacturers do. If honda expected a complete belt failure at 105k, you'd bet they'd be telling you to change it at 60k. This goes for any wearable item, including engine oil, on a car. It's not like your oil magically stops working the second it hits 5k, or whatever the interval is. But Honda knows people will always push limits.

 

I got the 105K done at around 109K, no problem. However the tranny failed at 108K : (

 

5at? or 6mt?

 

according to his sig it would be a 5AT