Timing Belt Life

[blacksambo]

Think about it this way...everything around the t-belt is worn after 138K. That means the cam gears etc. So the most pliable or flexible item is the rubber belt. To break in other new metal/hard items carries an inherent risk of inbalance or noise in the whole chain of action. They run the risk of becoming minimally dissimilar components near term which causes extra pressure on the old items and are thus more prone to causing failure. Keep everything the same as much as possible...that's the best scenario.

[Ldub]

So why doesn't that apply to the timing belt?

You get the timing belt changed when it's working fine as preventive maintenance, before it breaks. The same principle applies to the water pump 'cuz it's so difficult to get to. You have to dig deep to get to the water pump behind the timing belt. As long as you're right there anyway, it'll take just a few minutes and not much money to change the water pump.

If your water pump fails soon, it'll be such a waste to have to remove the timing belt again. You may say, "the water pump will probably last for years longer". You could say the same thing about the original timing belt. If you decide to do preventive maintenance on one part, why neglect the other?

A broken timing belt is rare. A water pump problem is much more common. The water pump is by far the weaker part. If you're only gonna change one of those parts and not the other, I'd change the water pump. Change 'em both and be done with it.

Mark Griffin

Think about it this way...everything around the t-belt is worn after 138K. That means the cam gears etc. So the most pliable or flexible item is the rubber belt. To break in other new metal/hard items carries an inherent risk of inbalance or noise in the whole chain of action. They run the risk of becoming minimally dissimilar components near term which causes extra pressure on the old items and are thus more prone to causing failure. Keep everything the same as much as possible...that's the best scenario.

I now understand this...

To each his own gents, IMO, if I'm already in up to my elbows...you know I'm gonna replace everything in sight...

So, by the logic given, you wouldn't put on a new tensioner with a new timing belt?

[Hades]

Anybody Know if there's a way to get the plastic covers off without removing everything? I know the normal condition interval is 100,000 miles (though I thought belts were 60-75 in all other cars), I'm at 144k with no prior knowledge of it being done and still unsure of the posts that I read if this is an interference engine or not. If I could get under and feel the ribbing it would be nice to know before removing everything only to find its been done recently!