My 2002 Honda Odyssey mileage is now at 230,000 km and have not had the timing belt changed yet. My previous 1990 Honda Accord which I bought new had the timing belt changed only at around 300,000 km, (14 years) and I only changed because I had some other work done. The car was sent to recycler after 20 years. So my question is, am I taking a big risk? The last time the mechanic opened up the cover to inspect, the belt looks to be still in pretty good condition. Any advice would be welcomed.
Timing belt
- Thread starter Bagus
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You can never look at a timing belt to see its condition really. The best way to to flip it inside out and see the steel threads coming apart. If its off a new one should go on anyway. Id say do it, cheap insurance. My timing belt blew at 64k on my A4 and cost me well over 4500 to fix. We charge about 800-850 for the belt, so the cost comparison is huge.
Kestas
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I recenty bought a timing belt kit. The manufacturer claims the chief reason for failure is not the belt itself, but seizure of the tensioner or pulley.
Originally Posted By: Bagus
My 2002 Honda Odyssey mileage is now at 230,000 km
Originally Posted By: Bagus
and have not had the timing belt changed yet. My previous 1990 Honda Accord which I bought new had the timing belt changed only at around 300,000 km, (14 years) and I only changed because I had some other work done. The car was sent to recycler after 20 years. So my question is, am I taking a big risk? The last time the mechanic opened up the cover to inspect, the belt looks to be still in pretty good condition. Any advice would be welcomed.
Belts make me nervous because if they break your screwed. Having said that I would never go over 100k miles and i basically refuse to buy any car with a timing belt though. But yes I agree get it changed NOW!!! if it breaks you will be very unhappy.
My GF ignored me when I told her to change her hyundai accent (recommended interval was 60k miles)
I told her about 7x(every oil change I did)
BOOM 103k miles it broke... 1750+ 1 month of no car.
cost AT THE DEALER was 450$ for new belt.. she didnt have the money for... 
apparently she had the money to fix it after it broke.
apparently she had the money to fix it after it broke.Consider the cost of belt failure.
Are you willing to junk this vehicle when the belt breaks?
If not, have the timing belt service done and drive the thing for another 230K kilometers.
I'd say that you were very lucky with your 1990 Accord.
I wouldn't have tried my luck quite that far, and I never have on the numerous Hondas that we've owned.
Photo of a bent valve from broken timing gear on the right (obviously). It's not from a Honda, but an interference engine nonetheless:
http://s628.photobucket.com/albums/uu9/p...dnewvalve-1.jpg
Like Kestas mentioned, it's not the belt itself that fails. This is an all too common misconception. It's one of the rotating elements the belt rides on that causes the actual failure.
Not only will you need a new T-belt, you'll need to replace:
1) New water pump
2) Timing belt tensioner
3) Tensioner pulley
4) Idler pulley
I've seen examples of clean timing belt failures, where the rotating elements are just fine, so I'm not so sure that this is a misconception, common or not.
In any event, timing belt service must be done as specified on any interference engine, unless the owner feels real lucky.
very carefully drive it to a shop you trust and have it done right now!!!
Originally Posted By: fdcg27
I've seen examples of clean timing belt failures, where the rotating elements are just fine, so I'm not so sure that this is a misconception, common or not.
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I'm not trying to say that you shouldn't replace everything involved on a service likely to be done only once in a car's life.
I'm only saying that the belt itself can break, and I have seen this, where everything else is just fine.
I agree that it would be foolish to go to the trouble of replacing a timing belt without replacing everything else involved.
Change that timing belt asap if that belt breaks your valves and possibly your pistons will be destroyed... Use only a Honda timing belt and change the tensioners and wp as well (buy from stealer) we see a lot of these engines blown apart because the belt broke...
We also use dealer timing belts on those hondas.. Dont take a chance you have just heard that from an owner of an engine shop!
Don't wait
The Subaru t-belt service interval is 105K, I had it done at 100K, along with the tensioner and pulley's. The car had a new water pump put in at 80K, so I didn't worry about that.
If you have an owner's manual or a factory service manual, check the maintenance section for replacement intervals.
Back in 1987, Honda didn't specify any timing belt change interval for my Legend. I have yet to find in any factory documentation that states the belt should be changed at x-miles or x-time. I found this to be highly irregular that Honda wouldn't spec belt replacement but would spec a high pressure ABS hose replacement as a maintenance item.
The belt that's currently on the engine now has 148k miles on it. I do have a belt/tensioner kit and a water pump on the shelf. I'm waiting for another parts order to arrive before I tear into it.
Yes, there is a risk with any engine, but I don't think there is a definitive point in time where one can say a belt is going to let go. I've heard stories of low mileage belts letting go. Perhaps this is from something other than the belt itself failing.
I would change the belt if for any other reason than peace of mind.
That's true paulo,
Hondas don't typically have out of the blue issues with anything timing belt related. That type of occurrence would be about as common as a timing chain failing.
If it's an engine known to have T-belt related failures, those are the ones you need to address by the book or earlier.
One that comes to mind is the late 1990s early 2000's Daewoo 2.2L used in the 1998-2003? Isuzu Rodeo Sport, Daewoo Leganza to name a few. Idler pulley bearings would fail typically around 40-60K, cause the belt to slip off and crash the engine.
Joel
This is Honda Odyssey we are talking about! Anybody wants to take bets on whether it will be transmission which will go or the engine? There should be so many good running Odyssey engines available on the used market given that many are junked once they blew their transmission few times.
I have 1999 Odyssey and I changed the belt at 140K miles. I looked at all the replaced parts such as belt, pulley, water pump. They all looked great.
As long as you understand that when the belt and/or pulley and/or tensioner goes, you will lose the engine. On the flip side, I have rarely seen that damage on Odysseys under 200K. But I have very very rarely seen them on their original transmission at 200K mark.
Your call.
- Vikas
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