What automotive engineer ever thought the timing belt was a superior idea and practice over the timing chain?
We on BITOG are all in the habit of careful maintenance so that our vehicles will last a long time, so any of us with timing belt vehicles can expect to have to change them two or three times over the life the car. My Honda Accord V6 timing belt job cost me $900 at the Honda dealer two years ago. If I keep the car another couple of years, I'll be at 200,000 and in need of another $900 timing belt replacement.
Some will say timing chains stretch or break, but those are rare occurrences. I've always believed a chain to be far superior to a belt that has be changed every few years.
Some of you fellows can fill me in on the historical specifics, but I would guess that some automotive engineers 30 or 40 years ago had the idea of a belt that could be accessed easily and changed for $100 at most shops. Very quickly, however, manufacturers began stacking all kinds of parts and components in the way of the timing belt cover and causing the cost of the replacement to go way up. Again, this is my idea of what happened.
What do you gentlemen know about this? Thanks.
We on BITOG are all in the habit of careful maintenance so that our vehicles will last a long time, so any of us with timing belt vehicles can expect to have to change them two or three times over the life the car. My Honda Accord V6 timing belt job cost me $900 at the Honda dealer two years ago. If I keep the car another couple of years, I'll be at 200,000 and in need of another $900 timing belt replacement.
Some will say timing chains stretch or break, but those are rare occurrences. I've always believed a chain to be far superior to a belt that has be changed every few years.
Some of you fellows can fill me in on the historical specifics, but I would guess that some automotive engineers 30 or 40 years ago had the idea of a belt that could be accessed easily and changed for $100 at most shops. Very quickly, however, manufacturers began stacking all kinds of parts and components in the way of the timing belt cover and causing the cost of the replacement to go way up. Again, this is my idea of what happened.
What do you gentlemen know about this? Thanks.