Honda Car Forum

Looking at buying 96 3.2 TL w/ 164,000 on the clock. I don't know if the timing belt was ever changed but I'm assuming that w/ that kind of mileage and after 13 years that it would have broke long ago if it hadn't been changed at some point. Does this seem logical? Could this car go that long on the original belt?

Yeah if it's good it's good. It's one of those parts like say the O2 sensor. It'll work perfect until it breaks. 164k really isn't that much for mileage these days anyways. Do the other checks, oil, trans fluid, suspension, safety devices etc.If it's not running right pass though. It wouldn't be for sale if the previous owner could fix it cheaply if at all.

It is possible,but it is waiting to break,anytime now,the water pump bearing is going to take it out too.It is likely that they were replaced at least once.

Well it is hard to say but I can tell you this. Your Acura's timing belt is due every 6 years/90,000 miles. So it should have 2 timing belt replacements by now, but that is not guarantee that it has ever been replaced. One thing to do would to look at the condition of the drive belts which are visible on the outside of the engine. If they have cracks in them then that may be a clue as to whether the timing belt has been replaced or not. Most of the time the drive belts are replaced when replacing the timing belt as they need to be removed to get to the timing belt.If the drive belts are new looking then that can be misleading because they may have been replaced independently but if they are old and worn than you have some real good information on whether the timing belt has been changed or not, you know what I mean?

i wouldnt worry about that being an issue...if it breaks fix it

Usually 90k is the replacement point. I can't imagine it wouldn't have gone by now if it hadn't been changed. But still it'll need to be replaced again at 180k miles regardless. That'll be about a year from now. As someone else said above you'd need the water pump too (cheap part, same labor).I just had that work done on my 01 TL and it cost about $800. No small job, but still cheaper than buying something else.You might see if you can use that as a negotiating point on the price. Check the tires, too. If it's gonna need new tires soon that's another negotiating point. Tires ain't cheap these days (I just dropped $700 on a top of the line set).