Honda Car Forum

Just Had a belt changed....148,000 miles on it......I know the history
of the car, the belt looked in great shape, maybe this timing belt thing
that the companies tell you about is just a money making scam?...I kept
the old belt for proof , it looks in great condition , even the mechanic
was surprised!!!!

vze33sg4@mail.verizon.net wrote in news:3F8315E6.52604E12@mail.verizon.net:

> Just Had a belt changed....148,000 miles on it......I know the history
> of the car, the belt looked in great shape, maybe this timing belt thing
> that the companies tell you about is just a money making scam?...I kept
> the old belt for proof , it looks in great condition , even the mechanic
> was surprised!!!!
>
>

Are you the original owner? What year/model? What kind of weather/driving?
Just curious...

How can you tell the integrity of a belt by just looking at it?

<vze33sg4@mail.verizon.net> wrote in message
news:3F8315E6.52604E12@mail.verizon.net...
> Just Had a belt changed....148,000 miles on it......I know the history
> of the car, the belt looked in great shape, maybe this timing belt thing
> that the companies tell you about is just a money making scam?...I kept
> the old belt for proof , it looks in great condition , even the mechanic
> was surprised!!!!
>

It's a 1992 accord...Owned in my family since new ...no cracks or
deteroration in the belt at all....Has anyone ever seen a worn tioming
belt?....or are you taking the word of the mechanic that it's worn?

vze33sg4@mail.verizon.net wrote:

> Just Had a belt changed....148,000 miles on it......I know the history
> of the car, the belt looked in great shape, maybe this timing belt thing
> that the companies tell you about is just a money making scam?...I kept
> the old belt for proof , it looks in great condition , even the mechanic
> was surprised!!!!

Eric <say.no@spam.now> wrote in message news:<3F829045.5BF41CEA@spam.now>...
> vze33sg4@mail.verizon.net wrote:
> >
> > > Just Had a belt changed....148,000 miles on it......I know the history
> > > of the car, the belt looked in great shape, maybe this timing belt thing
> > > that the companies tell you about is just a money making scam?...I kept
> > > the old belt for proof , it looks in great condition , even the mechanic
> > > was surprised!!!!
> >
> > It's a 1992 accord...Owned in my family since new ...no cracks or
> > deteroration in the belt at all....Has anyone ever seen a worn tioming
> > belt?....or are you taking the word of the mechanic that it's worn?


broken timing belts only look bad at the break. the look good
everywhere else. take your chances next time. we love when people
don't listen and come in on a wrecker with a head full of bent
valves!!
Chip

One - belts fail from the inside out. When failure has
reached the surface, then it is too late. Surface cracks have
nothing to do with belt failure.

Two - GM would recommend replacing timing belts every 40,000
miles. Why? Because the accountants who designed those 1970
and 1980 GM products estimated belt failure averaged 40,000
miles. But product thinkers first learn statistics. Belts
would be replaced because one might fail at 90,000 miles. In
statistics, it is called a confidence level. Just another
example of cars designed by 'bean counters' verses cars
designed by 'car guys' - names from within the industry.

Three, those GM belts would fail where internal nylon
reinforcement threads were clumped together at one spot - the
spot where each belt broke at 40,000 miles +/- 500 miles.
Failed due to manufacturing defect because nylon threads were
not kept uniformally separated. I not only had many belt
failures, but also took cross section samples to see why the
belt was failing. Always at one spot where all nylon threads
were bunched together. Most surprising the belts would fail
right at the 40,000 mile interval all three times. If Honda
says replacement is required, then believe them. Hondas were
designed by 'car guys'.

vze33sg4@mail.verizon.net wrote:
> It's a 1992 accord...Owned in my family since new ...no cracks or
> deteroration in the belt at all....Has anyone ever seen a worn tioming
> belt?....or are you taking the word of the mechanic that it's worn?

vze33sg4@mail.verizon.net wrote:
> Just Had a belt changed....148,000 miles on it......I know the history
> of the car, the belt looked in great shape, maybe this timing belt thing
> that the companies tell you about is just a money making scam?...I kept
> the old belt for proof , it looks in great condition , even the mechanic
> was surprised!!!!
>
It's not a scam I had my break on my Toyota luckily engie was not
damaged. I'm not goiong to chance it when my 01 civic hits 90,000 I'm
changing it.

vze33sg4@mail.verizon.net wrote:
>
> > Just Had a belt changed....148,000 miles on it......I know the history
> > of the car, the belt looked in great shape, maybe this timing belt thing
> > that the companies tell you about is just a money making scam?...I kept
> > the old belt for proof , it looks in great condition , even the mechanic
> > was surprised!!!!
>
> It's a 1992 accord...Owned in my family since new ...no cracks or
> deteroration in the belt at all....Has anyone ever seen a worn tioming
> belt?....or are you taking the word of the mechanic that it's worn?
>

Consider yourself fortunate. I've changed many timing belts. It's usually very
difficult to see anything wrong with them until they're just about to fail. One
common mode of failure is for the teeth to strip off down by the timing gear on
the crankshaft. Sometimes you can see small cracks forming in the corner where
the teeth meet the main part of the belt. However, more often the wear is not
detectable. Changing the timing belts at the recommended interval, 6 years or
90K mi, is not a scam. It's preventive maintenance.

Eric

Timing belts wear and break, and a visual inspection is not always
sufficient to determine its condition.

On Mon, 06 Oct 2003 21:43:24 GMT, vze33sg4@mail.verizon.net wrote:

>It's a 1992 accord...Owned in my family since new ...no cracks or
>deteroration in the belt at all....Has anyone ever seen a worn tioming
>belt?....or are you taking the word of the mechanic that it's worn?
>
>vze33sg4@mail.verizon.net wrote:
>
>> Just Had a belt changed....148,000 miles on it......I know the history
>> of the car, the belt looked in great shape, maybe this timing belt thing
>> that the companies tell you about is just a money making scam?...I kept
>> the old belt for proof , it looks in great condition , even the mechanic
>> was surprised!!!!

You can't check to see if a timing belt is good. If it's past the safe
life expectancy, you're playing with fire and it could break or the
teeth can sheer off and then your hosed. You're extremely lucky that
your belt didn't break.

Time is more the enemy than mileage is the enemy on a timing belt. The
rubber on the timing belt will deteriorate over time. The constant
heat cycles it goes through also will shorten it's life. Have your
timing belt changed per recommendation of your car's service manual.

I'm sure if your timing belt did break, you wouldn't be saying it was a
scam.