I have plenty of time before I need to change the timing belt but reading another thread made me think about this. By next year at this time the TL (2011) will have between 35K to 40K miles on it, so I will be way under the 105K mile mark but it will be approaching the 7 year mark.

I've owned it since new so I know how its been maintained, which means everything is done on time or sooner. The car is not driven hard and since I live in NYC area it is not subject to extreme heat or cold..

I just hate the thought of Acura opening up the engine of a perfectly fine running, great driving vehicle roughly 60K miles ahead of time. However, I do know that time (7 years) causes belts to dry, crack etc so of course I don't want it to fail.......

Here's my concern. A couple of years ago someone I know had the belt changed on his Hyundai at around 6 years and 100K miles. He had it since new and never had an issue, it looked and ran great, he maintained it properly so at 100K he had the belt changed and he said it never was the same.

He said there were leaks, vibrations and it just never felt the same afterwards. He had planned to keep it until the wheels feel off but approx a year later he sold it and picked up something else to use for work because he was so disgusted with it.

Over the 13 years I have used my dealer they have been great, so even though I doubt something like this will happen I can't help but be concerned when I hear something like this, because it will be my luck this time they "F" something up..

Knowing how I am probably going to have it changed, but was wondering what everyone else's thoughts were on this? I

Thanks..

 

read the manual.
I believe they got rid of the wording that said "7 years"
double check

 

Yeah I checked the manual and it is very vague, only saying to change it when the number 4 appears on the Sub Menu in the Maintenance Minder or @ 60K if the car is driven in extreme conditions, which it's not.. It makes no other mention of miles or time.

But I do know Acura used to recommend a 7 yr/105K interval so I wasn't sure.. I'm going to check with my service advisor the next time we speak, I have a great relationship with him so I know he would never tell me to have it done if I shouldn't..

 

with it being vague like that and giving "extreme conditions" , I would infer that as "dont change it until the 4 comes on"

but thats just me.
and I thought I remember reading somewhere that the belts are made with kevlar??? or am I just making up stuff?
(might be tougher than your standard run-of-the-mill-belts...is what im tryign to get at)

 

I think the 7 year thing was there because the timing belt is rubber and rubber deteriorates. If you can pop open the timing belt cover and look at the belt, i think that might put your mind at ease a tad.

 

the t-belt cover was hard for me to get too. lol i wouldnt advise to open it up, unless you have lots of time on your hands

 

But then how else can you safely advise someone that "you're okay to not change your belt so soon" blind faith? #jesustakethewheel?

 

my old timing belt LOOKED exactly like the new timing belt. it wasnt stretched (if stretched, timing would be off) and it didnt look like it was going to break or deteriorate

and that was past 7 years but only 70k miles.

 

Then you replaced too early

 

I did.
but only because I had the engine torn down and it was only logical to change the belt at the same time

 

Yeah, this is kind of what I'm thinking at this point, but will see what my SA says.. Not sure about it being Kevlar, would be nice, but never heard that before..

That's was my thinking too, since the rubber deteriorates that is why they put a time frame on it, but it's no longer in the 2011 manual or service info anymore.. Not planning on opening the cover, but I have heard of stories where a belt even at 100K looks new but has micro cracks on it so who knows..

Thanks for the replies guys...

 

the tensioner letting go would be more of a concern to me than the belt actually breaking, as the tensioner is hydraulic

 

^ Maybe, but in my case I don't see the tensioner going at 35K miles.. Damm hope I didn't just jinx myself..

 

right, i'm just throwing out scary situations. thats all.


LOL

 

Yeah, I get it.. I guess I'm just "old school' where you either follow the mileage or time interval.. So even if my SA comes back and tells me not to change it until the MID displays "4", if I get to 9 years and still doesn't display a "4" I'll probably replace it at that point anyway.. Unless of course they tell me the belt is made of Kevlar. LOL, couldn't resist..

 

I'd be shocked if your SA would say that and lose a high value sale

 

We've become really good friends over the past 10 years, so there are things he will say to me off the record (on his cell phone) I am sure he won't say to others..

 

you's a lucky bastard JT

 

My old 01 Acura CLS on the road since May 2000 with 266,oooKM's just sold it last week with the original belt and water pump.

 

thats scary. hope you informed the buyer.............or you'd be a bad seller

 

Not sure what would go first, the TB, or the transmission...

 

 

Yes I informed the buyer,$800 he couldn't go wrong
The Trans went at 155,000KM's fix under warranty

 

a steal then

 

awesome!!

 

The car still ran and looked good,man I really liked that car hope the new one is as good to me.

 

WOW, so approx 165K miles on the original belt and pump, good to know... The car looks great, what's replacing it??

 

just so you know, HIS owners manual DID say 7 years.
it was around 2005, when acura removed the "7 year" wording

 

Yes you are right it did say 7 years

 

I bought a 2012 TL AWD Elite I think it's called Advance in the US

 

thats awesome that the belt lasted that many years!!

 

Had 2002 Acura RL, sold it to my friend. Last year we decided to change timing belt, pump (Saturday project). Anyways that time it had ~210000 miles with original belt. and that belt was same like the new one..... No cracking no wear...

 

I was gonna say, Wacker, member who had a few TL's said the same...he did his at 160K or something, no issue.
I wouldn't go early, JT...
Put the miles on the V...never change the belt on the TL = Profit.

 

This topic has been discussed in so many forums. There are people who never change it and it never breaks. Lucky them. I personally think if you're going to be keeping the car long term, doing the TB job right (new water pump, tensioner, etc) is cheap insurance against the catastrophic engine damage (that's why they call them interference engines) that is a certainty if the belt breaks. Find a good reputable Acura dealer and pay the $800-$900 to get it done right. I'd want someone taking mine apart that was doing it for the 500th time vs, someone who did a couple per year. I'll be doing mine at 7 years or 105K, whichever comes first. To each his own tho.

 

I replaced it on my '09 last year with roughly 80k. I took off my TB covers (IIRC, I think it's like 5 -10mm bolts) and noticed my belt had some mild slack. It didn't appear enough to have jumped a gear, but concerning enough for me to go ahead and tear it apart. Long story short, my tensioner was shown to be slightly leaking oil. Needless to say, I highly recommend you to replace your tensioner and water pump at a minimum whenever you have to service any of those components (since you're already in there and have everything apart). You shouldn't have any leaks as a result of your TB service, unless they replaced the crank or camshaft seals and fubar the install.. Those are really the only seals you could mess with that could cause a leak. I guess there's the possibility of a leak if they don't torque all the water pump bolts I only replaced my crank seal, but many will say don't mess with it if it's not leaking. If you decide to have the TB covers removed yourself to inspect the belt, make sure you reinstall the cover's rubber seal correctly that prevents debris from getting into the cover. Btw, my T belt was in great shape. No cracks, stretches, etc. Goodluck.

 

I would recommend doing it at or around the 7 year mark. Rubber "gasses out" and dries then cracks. I've been working on cars for over half of my 32 years and have seen some interesting failure points. In my 3 years here at Excelerate I have seen two instances where the tensioner did not fail, the belt didn't snap, but the cogs on the belt actually sheared off the belt, causing timing to shift, valves smash into the pistons and the car require a new/rebuild cylinder head. The reinforcement in the belt does not extend into the teeth. One car was on the cusp of the recommended miles but at 11 years old. The other car was 30k under the recommended mileage but at 8 years old. Sometimes low mileage isn't good.

When it comes down to it doing the timing belt early is cheap insurance for a very expensive machine.

 

Just confused because the only thing that concerns me is having the engine opened up @ lets say 35K miles and it not being right afterwards. I would have my dealer do it, sure who doesn't like to save money, but for me it would be more piece of mind to have Acura do it. As someone else posted and I agree, I'm sure Acura is more familiar with this than an independent shop..

Since I am beyond anal in regards to maintenance I know if I don't do it will probably drive me nuts because if the belt were to go, well you know the consequences...
Well at least I have plenty of time to figure it out..

I plan to put more miles on the V before the winter, weather permitting of course. But as soon as the snow hits once she stays inside until rain washes the salt off the roads.. Something you FL guys don't have to worry about..

 

I just had my '09 done a couple months ago for the first time. 185K miles on it. They guy who did it (Acura tech on the side), said the belt looked fine, but I'm driving this thing into the ground and the timing was right for me.

 

I actually spoke to my SA and SM about this 3 weeks ago. They both told me that since the car is well maintained if it was their car they wouldn't change the belt out at 7 years if it only had 35K to 40K miles on it.. I know these guys 10 years and they both said that they have never seen a belt fail at that little mileage, and the few cars that they have replaced belts on with around 50K to 60K miles / 9 years the belts were in good shape. I'm glad I have plenty of time to figure out what I'm going to do.

 

Don't take into consideration a subpar brand like Hyundai

I would've gone ahead and done the TB & water pump for the ease of mind!