When's a good time to replace timing belt/water pump/tensioner?
 

Hi,

I just recently bought a 05 RL with 115K miles on it. Should I replace the timing belt/water pump,tensioner ASAP? I read that the G1's timing belt can last up to 150K but I couldn't find anything about the G2's.

Thanks in advance,

t.t.

with those miles I would make plans to change soon - you don't want a broken belt to make things worse for you (valve replacement plus).

I know on the 2nd Gen TL the recommended interval was 105,000 miles or 7 years, which ever came first. Obviously, there is a little play with that as some people do go over than interval with no problems.

Just weigh the risks versus cost to you. I know the timing belt/water pump is an expensive replacement, but the cost is relatively lower than having to deal with bent valves if that occurs.

Hope this helps!

105K is the interval discussed in the initial Acura technical releases on the 2005 RL

http://hondanews.com/channels/acura-...query=acura+rl

105,000-MILE TUNE-UP INTERVALS
The RL requires no scheduled maintenance until 105,000 miles, other than periodic inspections and normal fluid and filter replacements. This first tune-up includes water pump inspection, valve adjustment, and replacement of the cam-timing belt and sparkplugs.

The owners manual notes that under severe conditions, including temperature extremes, you want to do it every 60K miles.

If you drive regularly in very high temperatures (over
110°F, 43°C), or in very low temperatures (under
-20°F, 029°C), replace every 60,000 mile (U.S.)/
100,000 km (Canada)

C series engines, the G1 and G2 Legend was amended from every 60K to 90K or 6 years, whichever comes first.

Not sure what the intervals were on the 1G RL until the 2002 1G RL. That C series engine was the first time I became aware of the change to the 105K mile timing belt interval for RL's.

We had a 97 RL and sold it with 224,000 on the odo. I was advised that the interval was 90,000 and I religiously changed it at those intervals. Why take a chance. If I was told 100,000 then that would have been what I did. Follow what Acura recommends, they have tested this more than we ever can. Be thankful it is not my Alfa Romeo 164Q which has to have belt and bearings replaced every 40,000!

105k is a good time to change it ... although i know people have gone up to 200k without changing, as people claim that the age of the belt is more of an issue than the mileage.

IMO if acura says 105k, i would change it around that time

The RL would have signalled a code by 105K which, you imply, was probably passed by the previous owner. Did the previous owner have the work done? If not, who reset the codes?

He said he had a mechanic look at it and said it still looked good and didn't need replacing. Other than that his service records look good.

i'm a lil over 106k and i just changed the tranny fluid, plugs and it happened to be time for an oil change. car feels very young again.

in case you're wanting to change the plugs yourself, my trick for the back three was to use (2) 3" extensions to remove/install the plugs. it's a really tight fit, but in the end it only took 10 mins to change all 6.

fyi...i never got a code for my 100k service.

there is no way to look at the belt and see if needs to be changed ... it just breaks when it gets old

x2

Pull the cam gear covers and you have instant access to inspect the belt.

Thanks guys I'll change the belt and water pump. Is the tensioner something that should be changed at 115K too?

Good question. I would like to know the current thinking on that.

On the C-engines, it was recommended because if the tensioner did start to seize, you had to do another timing belt job. Most of the job is labor, and the parts cost, the belt, the water pump and tensioner were small in relation to the labor. The same philosophy makes sense with the J series engines...but what is the current thinking....

Come to think of it, I used the same philosophy in A, B and E series I-4's that I have owned.

Timing Belt 2000 TL
 

I have a 2000 TL with 64K - bought new - it has only been dealer serviced - because of the low mileage many services due at a higher mileage have been done earlier e.g radiator flush etc. Should I be concerned about replacing the timing belt anytime soon?

Any info would be appreciated - thanking you - TennKi

I was told weather can also shorten the life of your timing belt. I live in New England so the drastic temp. change from negative numbers in the winter to up in the 100's in the summer makes the belt dry out a little faster. I would recommend bring the car into a trusted mechanic and have them look at it. It would be worth the money for something as important as a timing belt.

Just my opinion. Good luck with the new car.

Rich08RL
 

thanks for your note - i appreciate your help - TennKi

Seller says the timing belt was done less than 3k ago but does not look like it to me
 

Hi guys I'm new to this site and found it to be the greatest resource. Thank you all! I just picked up a 2007 RL Tech 103,500 mileage. The used car dealership said and produced a phony looking document to me that the timing belt was done less than 3000 miles ago. " I took it to my mechanic and he took one look at the belt "through the cam cover pulled back" and said no way it was done "buddies not an Acura dealer". It doesn't look too Bad or messed up but not new looking. Plus all the writing is illegible and worn away completely. My question is can this writing or "belt identifier" be completely "worn away" gone in less than 3000 miles? it was supposedly replaced with a Gates belt. And I have seen with 60,000 miles and still legible printing?

Sounds like a crappy situation. I don't have much advice regarding how to tell a new belt from an old one, but I would think that a 3,000 mile belt would be like new.

The one thing I do want to caution you about is the tensioner pulley. It should be replaced with the belt. Otherwise, it can develop a leak and lose tension which would require the work of a timing belt replacement.

I know it's not what you want to hear, but the best bet is to replace the belt and tensioner regardless of what the seller tells you. Hopefully more people will chime in.

I have 105,000 miles on my 2006 RL and will have the timing belt, water pump, and tensioner replaced in 3 days from now. I actually gambled with the 9 year time frame and won. I purchased the car with 83,000 all highway miles on it and I drive all city miles. I only put 5000 miles a year on the car so I will be good for another 21 years. I also live the the northeast and the temps are extreme season to season however I keep my car in an indoor heated garage which helps extend the life of the entire car.

An old shop saying...You can pay me now and do it once. or you can pay me twice to do the job at twice the price.

Get in there, replace all the bearings, tensioners, water pump and belts. Sure, it is going to cost you some $$, but if you roll the dice and gamble, then it breaks, you will pay a lot more than you could have if you had done it right the first time.

Agency charged me $1130.00 which includes tax for timing belt, tensioner, serpentine belt, and water pump and PA state inspection which is $48.00. The Acura tech that works on my car has been with Sussman Acura in Jenkintown, PA for 40 years. His name is Rick. In order to change the timing belt you must remove the side motor mount. Rick discovered that one of the two bolts on the bracket that holds the mount to the motor was cross threaded and stuck. I had a local garage install the motor mount about 10,000 miles ago so the mount was new. At first the service adviser told me that I would need a new mount at a cost of $300.00 but they would pay the labor. Master tech Rick went home and brought in a special saw that will cut these bolts which are made from a hardened aluminum and actually saved the mount. I only had to pay for two new bolts and the bracket at a cost of $120.00. He saved me $180.00. Simply an amazing experience with an Acura dealer service department. After reading so many bad experiences with dealer service I have to highly recommend this exceptional Acura dealer service department which again is Sussman Acura in Jenkintown, PA and ask for Rick to do the work. By the way when I shopped the cost to replace the timimg belt etc every other Acura dealer in the area quoted me $1475.00. Sussman rules.

Seems like a fair price. Just had mine done due to time, over 7 years, but mostly because I got a break. I was able to use my 7 year Acuracare warranty one last time, oil pump was leaking and throwing oil on the timing belt, so half the labor was paid for. I have to say that this car has been pretty reliable, and the $1500 I spent on the 7 year 120K warranty was sort of a wash. Maybe spent $3000 in warranty costs over the years. Replace the steering wheel buttons, remove repair the nav system drive, engine mounts, oil pump.

Just had my timing belt replaced, water pump, summer tires installed and balanced, oil change, spark plugs replaced for a total of $1100. Car just turned 101000 miles but is old enough where I thought the TB needed to be done now. The cost seems reasonable given some of the others posted on this site.

BTW, I was given a 2013 ILX hybrid for a loaner. Hands down the worst loaner I have had to date.

How about the tensioner
 

That is a decent price. Which dealer did your service?

........tensioner included

Prime Acura North, North Hampton NH

Hello: Am currently replacing timing belt on 2007 Acura RL. Went just fine until I put the new marked belt on and had it jump about 7 teeth on both camshafts. Maybe it wasn't fully tensioned. Anyway, the problem is getting both camshaft gears on #1 TDC. The front one isn't too bad, but the rear one jumps when turned with a wrench so that setting it on the timing mark is hard (nearly impossible). Any ideas?

I know what you're talking about! Been there, done that.... unfortunately I don't have a good answer, just go realllllly slow when you get close so it doesn't jump like that.....

I am in a similar boat. 2007 RL with 84000 miles. I am tempted to go ahead and get it replaced based on its age alone. I called a few places around Wisconsin. Here are some quotes for what its worth:

Acura Brookfield: $1200
Honda: $1100
King Motor Sports: $675 coupon for timing belt + $189 for tensioner

I don't know if you're willing to drive across the state line to Illinois, but I would talk to The Pit Shop in Libertyville, IL. I'm sure he can beat the dealers and will replace the tensioners and bearings. I can personally vouch for Drew, standup guy. He used to work down the street at Acura Libertyville before opening his own shop, and he uses OEM parts for the timing belt replacement. You will talk with Ben or Drew when you call, you can tell him Ameer with the blue RL referred you, they should remember me :)

I'm looking at changing mine soon. Looking at ordering the kit from Amazon...





Doing a search I see others have had no issues with this kit.

Hi Ho: You asked about replacing the belt tensioner. There are actually two: one is mechanical and one is hydraulic. One thing that seems obvious to me is to use OEM parts--or as close to that as possible. Since there is a fair amount of labor involved it is also obvious to me to do all that is possible. After all, parts are relatively cheap. I recently replaced timing belt, both tensioners, idler bearing, water pump, park plugs, and engine coolent for under $300. The labor is the same for timing belt alone or all of these. Easy choice for me even if the parts I took out looked just fine.

As to when to do this, the answer is simple: When you have a couple of days when the weather will be comfortable...or you have a heated garage available. From now till spring I only do what absolutely has to be done. It's already 40 deg. outside.

Sorry, I forgot to mention that there are a couple of U-Tube videos on dong this that I would recommend you see before doing it yourself.

105k miles and I just dropped my car off to get all this done

I bought this...



plus NGK spark plugs, serp belt, tranfser case fluids, oil change.

Just got my car back. Runs just like it did before, pockets are just $600 lighter :D

NathanJax, what was included in that kit ? I saw another kit on ebay which includes the following:
"Includes The Following New Parts:

Timing Belt
Honda / 14400-RCA-A01

Idler Roller / Pulley
Koyo OE / 14550-RCA-A01

Tensioner Roller / Pulley
Koyo OE / 14510-RCA-A01

Water Pump & Gasket
Aisin / 19200-RDM-A02 / 19200-RDV-J01

Hydraulic Tensioner
Honda / 14520-RCA-A01

Front Camshaft Seals x 2
Honda / 91213-R70-A02

Front Crankshaft Seal
Honda / 91212-R70-A02

Serpentine Drive Belt
Bando/ 38920-RCA-A03 6PK-2135
"

Water pump timing belt kit
 

115k to 120 k is reasonable..i do mine at 120k in a cl type s. And just rolled 270k miles with 215 lbs. Of compression on all 6..

You just replied to an 8 year old post lol

Probably a victim of infinite scroll lol

that is not true good sir. you can remove the two camgear covers and inspect it their

yes. my wife didnt have hers changed on her pilot when she had belt done. 9 months latter tensoner failed bent all the exaust valves only. so strange