When to Change Timing Belt and Water Pump

[NSXGMS]

This might not relate to the NSX as different timing belt materials might be involved.

I just changed the timing belt, tensioner and water pump on my 1995 civic with 350000 kilometers on it (not miles). I think RON98 hit the nail on the head here. I would have never changed my belt however my water pump started leaking slightly. I didn't want to get stranded so I changed everything ($88 for the timing belt, tensioner and water pump with a $7 core return....oh ya). The timing belt I pulled off was an original Honda belt and you could still see the writing on the face of it but I couldn't see a date or time stamp on it unfortunately. I'm not sure if anyone has ever changed the belt on this car but here is what the belt looked like. Note that I did not "break" the creases; this is what the belt was like naturally and EVERY single tooth was like this. As RON98 said if the water pump or tensioner seized up I have no doubt in my mind that teeth would get stripped off of the belt. I doubt the belt would even break. I tried to break the belt by holding it on the ground with my foot and pulling up towards my chest with two hands and nothing.

Your timing belt might have had some amount of life left in it but timing belts have broken without being precipitated by a water pump failure both before 7 years and before 90k miles on an NSX.

And second, if one's water pump goes before the timing belt (at least in an NSX) you're going to be stranded all right--stranded with a broken motor.

By the time your water pump begins leaking it has passed the point where it could seize spontaneously and destroy the TB within seconds.

Waiting for a leaky water pump is very risky since the TB could break anyway and if the WP fails the TB could fail.

 

[VegasSpeed]

I actually found a car recently for sale that is 11 years old and has 95,000 miles or so and has never had the TB or WP replaced. What do you think of this? Is this acceptable or a concern?

 

[Vytas]

Way overdue in time and mileage. It's seven years or 90K miles. If this important service was skipped, it only leads to wonder what else wasn't done. It's a ticking time bomb. Demand all service records before you buy. If everything else does check out on the car, work the service cost into the price and have it done ASAP. Check the condition of the clutch and all the fluids (coolant, brake, ABS, clutch) and the A/C + heater for proper function.

 

[NSXGMS]

I actually found a car recently for sale that is 11 years old and has 95,000 miles or so and has never had the TB or WP replaced. What do you think of this? Is this acceptable or a concern?

It would be unacceptable not to take the cost of the needed service into account when buying the car. Whatever price you settle on I'd deduct at least $2,000 for the 90K service with coolant hoses, etc.

It would be a concern to me that an owner who neglects the 90K service is likely to also negelct the other services as well as the car overall and I'd personally stay away from such a car unless the price was really compelling.

 

[VegasSpeed]

The price is really compelling. Here is the thing. I got a photo copy of the 90k mile service the car had. They never did the TB/WP on the car. He showed my a 98 manual that states 105,000 miles for the timing belt change. While that may be true it doesn't mean its a good idea. The asking price is 29,900 for the car. That is extremely low for a 1998 car. It does have a fair share of deferred maintenance on the car. It may very well need front brakes, O2 sensor, Timing belt/water pump and a clutch. Ring that up and see how excited people get......I actually got this info from someone on Prime who drive it already.

 

[d1 guy]

Im about to buy a car that has 59k miles on it and the tb & wp was changed in 2003 at like 40k miles along with a few other things. Should i be saving for another timing belt or am I ok for a few more years? It's been garaged and covered since new. Whatcha think about this? Thanks in advance?

 

[NSXGMS]

Im about to buy a car that has 59k miles on it and the tb & wp was changed in 2003 at like 40k miles along with a few other things. Should i be saving for another timing belt or am I ok for a few more years? It's been garaged and covered since new. Whatcha think about this? Thanks in advance?

You probably can squeeze out 8 or 9 years out of a timing belt if the car was kept in a fairly climate-controlled environment with only 19K miles on it without too much risk but I personally would not go much longer than that.

FYI, my TB was last done in 2002 and has ~35K miles on it and I am changing it as we speak. During that 35k miles the car was never in temps lower than 50 deg F.

 

[Ibn Rushd]

The EL (04) and TL (02) both got their timing belts changed at 160k (100k miles) and were both fine afterwards.

We have a 1999 Honda Civic, which unfortunately always took second priority to everything. I'm not proud of doing this to our car (which has more sentimental value than anything else we own), but for 5 years it did not even go for an oil change, tire change (which were bald) and whatnot, and it was still driven.

Long story short: The brakes, tires and whatnot were all done together last year (we now keep two sets, one all seasons one for winter) and the timing belt and whatnot were done this year. (We held off because we were used to the Acura prices and noticed a "newer", more powerful, auto engine would run us the same.

However we got a deal on it and opted to just do the timing belt since we saw that the Acuras just cost us more and the Honda wouldn't. The timing belt was replaced a few months ago (around 10 years of owning the car and 220k km (or 130k+ miles).


The car now? Tip top condition. It drives like the day we bought her (dad and sister claim) and it runs like a champ. She just did a 300 mile drive to Toronto and came back without a hitch. In fact our TL is complaining about an evap canister and has an SRS light (due to canister) but the Civic is still trucking.

We took a huge risk on the Civic and got lucky, don't expect the same, follow the manual.

Between the three cars mentioned: we have over 750k km in mileage on them. These cars are driven, beaten and abused. and aside from some unlucky issue in winter, when they are cleaned and detailed, they drive and look like new...the paint still shines really well and it rarely goes in for cleaning as it is...

 

[d1 guy]

You probably can squeeze out 8 or 9 years out of a timing belt if the car was kept in a fairly climate-controlled environment with only 19K miles on it without too much risk but I personally would not go much longer than that.

Thats about what I figured. I just thought I would drive it a year and then worry about the tb and wp again. Im really looking forward to my new car. I had a 1991 a couple of years ago with 18k miles on it when I bought it. It had 27k on it when I sold it and it had its original tb and wp. Honestly, I have been living with that regret for 2 years now.....bought a 350z after I sold the NSX.....hated it, ordered a new C6 with z51 and a 6 speed....couldnt get used to the power being in the wrong spot ....bought a 335i 6 speed w/sport premium....sold it and bought a z4 M....too small.....did all of this while still missing the NSX. I plan on keeping this one thats on the way