Hi,

My wifes 05 TL has about 67,000 miles and at her last service she was told that her timing belt was due to be replaced. I thought unless you drove in severe driving conditions that it did not need to be done until around 100,000 miles.

Her driving is about 50% highway and 50% city and I don't think driving conditions are that severe in SW ohio.

 

They say every 100,000 miles or every 7 years, whichever comes first.

 

For the 3G TL, TB change is not due until you get a "4" on the MID. Period. (There is no populated locale in North America that would meet the temperature/duration requirements for severe driving conditions listed in the owner's manual).

Someone is trying to upsell early. I'm shocked to hear that

 

Nate and nfnsquared,

Thanks I appreciate the info. Even though my wifes car is 7 years old, I think I will put it off for now. I was kind of surprised when the dealer told her it need replacement, this is the first time the dealer has ever tried to upsell us anything early.

Oh well, I guess business is slow.

 

It is true there's nothing in the manual dictating it needs to be changed, in fact myacura.com for the 2004 MY said no scheduled engine service until 105k in fine print. If it really broke before then I'm sure you could go as far as taking them to court and winning.

I went ahead and DIY-ed my TB at high 60k and found a few things that could use replacing (whether it needed it or not is debatable) like the water pump leaking and the hydraulic tensioner leaking. I was able to do it on a weekend for a nominal $300 which was the cost of parts and tools. First time job for me took 12 hours with breaks.

 

I personally did mine early because I having problems with my timing belt pulleys squeaking so I just went ahead and did everything early. If it wasn't for that I'd do it at 105k or push it to 10 yrs from 7.

 

Sure thing. I wouldn't worry about 7 years. Again, Acura doesn't list mileage or time for normal driving, just the MID indication. It's possible (although certainly undocumented) that the MID does factor in time, but if it does, it's longer than 9 years because there are a few Azine members with low mileage 04 TLs that have yet to get the dreaded "4" on the MID

 

yep, i'm on year 8 pushing 9 and have yet to receive the MID indicator with 73k miles.

 

Even though it's "recommended" at 7 years or 105k I think it'd be fine if you waited 8 or 9 years. The time limit is really so you don't let the car sit for 50 years and then try to drive it with the same TB. I personally have 88,000 miles and it's just about 7 years old but I'm going to wait at least another year.

But what if you do a lot of idling, thus inducing more wear?

 

I'm surprised a lot of you guys would wait. It's a rubber belt. It deteriorates and cracks over time. Look at drive belts, and coolant hoses. See how they look. Or pull the timing cover off and look at the belt yourself. If you see any signs of cracking, I'd get it done and not put it off.

Personally, I'd do it regardless. You also do tensioner and WP at the same time. If a T-belt goes, you in for a serious repair bill. Better safe than sorry if you plan on keeping the car for quite a bit longer.

 

Respectfully, modern timing belts don't crack anymore. At least on H/A vehicles. Even with very high mileage and age I have yet to see one cracked. They become glossy and the lettering wears off. I have 12 years/30km on my Legends belt and have no plans to change it anytime soon. ymmv

 

Again, 7 years is not recommended anywhere, except by a clueless or sleazy service manager....

Agreed. From the long list of us Azine members who have done our own TB change, I don't recall anyone remarking about the old TB being the least bit cracked.

 

I just bought 07 TL with 63K miles, pretty sure TB hasn't been replaced. Obviously, don't know the condition 1st owner drove it. Should I be looking to do it sooner than than the 7 years/105K? Also, what is the MIB '4' folks are talking about? This is my first acura..!

 

The MID is the multi info display on the dash. The MM, maintenance minder, determines service intervals. MM #4 is the timing belt, spark plug, valve adjustment service.

 

When I say cracked, I don't mean the belt horizontally. I mean the teeth on the inside which is really the concern anyway. You guys really aren't seeing any wear on the T-belts? That's a shock to me.

Maybe I'm old school, or possibly the son of a mechanic :P but there's no way in hell I'm going to wait for the car to tell me that it needs a TB service. I'm also not going to follow the oil change intervals it asks. I'm going to run Synthetic and change is every 6k regardless of what % of oil life is left.

 

Mine is close to 51K and i plan to DIY the timing belt next yr- early spring.

 

None for me, it looked practically brand new. I still have the belt hanging on my garage wall.

 

I agree with oil changes. But I have never seen. Snapped H/A timing let other than a seized accessory pulley. Modern lets are ridiculously good for longevity.

 

Modern belts. :rolls eyes:

 

I remembered when I used to work at Nissan, a couple of coworkers and I changed the timing belt on my car around 110k miles. When we pulled it out, the belt didn't show any cracks at all on the teeth side nor the outside. And during those 3-4 years of ownership til that time, I ragged on my car a lot!

 

I appreciate everyones comments on my original question. One of the main reasons I was wondering was when the dealer quoted my wife $1200.00 to do the job.

 

$1200 for Acura to do the full TB service isn't too bad.....depending on what all that included. My 105k service which included more than just the TB was quoted at around $2500 from my dealer.

 

That's a lot of coin! If you don't mind me asking (and I'm sure others would like to know) what else was included in the $2500?