timing belt change needed?

"Generic" wrote in news:423f8281$0$8910$ snipped-for-privacy@news.nntpservers.com:

There's exceptions to every rule.

Reply to
XS11E
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Wow. My experience with the cars I bought in the 1990s.

'91 Nissan Sentra, 170k miles before I sold it, no water pump leak. '93 Geo Prism, 60k miles before trade-in, no water pump leak. '98 Chevy Monte Carlo, 122k miles so far, no water pump leak. '98 Ford Windstar, 120k miles, sold it, no water pump leak.

So I must be *really* lucky?

Dana

Reply to
Dana H. Myers

You may be right, but that figure sounds so outlandish no one is going to believe you. I've never had a car where the water pump failed before 80,000 or maybe even 100,000 miles. That includes a 1969 VW Squareback, a 1973 Audi 100 LS (the water pump was about the only thing that DIDN'T fail on that car). a 1976 VW Rabbit, a 1979 Buick LeSabre, a 1985 Dodge Caravan, a

1992 Nissan Sentra, a 2000 Ford Explorer and a 1996 Miata.
Reply to
Frank Berger

Gee, how much later on Japanese cars. I just sold a 1989 Camry 4 cyl with 232.000 + miles on it. Two belt changes and a clutch at 225,00. The water pump was still going when I sold it. You might think more about changing your coolant mix more. That is the real killer of water pumps ! People just don't pay attention to the coolant like they should !!

Bruce RED '91

Reply to
BRUCE HASKIN

True, but 30,000 miles is an exception as well, at least for the miata, and most if not all other modern cars as well. If the average life of the water pump was that low, we would see constant complaints here about them going out, especially considering the labor involved in replacing the water pump on the miata. The same complaints would also occur if the average life was only 50K miles. I have inspected and worked on quite a few miatas and have never seen one that had a factory water pump give out before 100K miles. I am sure that it happens, but it isn't common.

pat

Reply to
pws

No intention of offending the OP, but it seems like old truths die hard. Swaps are most strongly advocated by those with a potential conflict of interest. It's sort of like saying "You'll ruin the engine without changing the oil every 3,000 miles" while factory service manuals and 3rd party tests now say 5k, 7.5k or 15k. Not to mention the cars with oil quality sensors. If tire wear wasn't obvious some would advocate changing tires every 15k-30k like the old days!

Technology improves over time. The auto shop profit motive remains constant.

-John

Reply to
Generic

On Tue, 22 Mar 2005 03:08:53 GMT, "Frank Berger" wrote in news:1111460890.635f8555dbb7001c0b4d3195ed9f9256@teranews:

[heavy editting]

If the water pump had failed on your squareback, I would say you were the most unlucky dude on the planet!

I've never had a front CV joint fail on my Miata either! :)

Reply to
Red

Yeah, like every water cooled car I've ever owned, including Fiats. Never replaced a water pump after only 30K on any of them either.

I'm not buying it and apparently neither is anyone else.

Reply to
Natman

You've been working on too many Ladas. I've never replaced a water pump on any of my cars, except the Miata. Most of them had over 80k on them when sold, and my current Accord has about 170k.

Reply to
Lanny Chambers

Agreed, but, be careful...

Have you ever seen an oil quality sensor? I haven't. They don't exist. The "oil change" light on modern cars represents an educated guess based on factory testing and engine operating factors. The ECU calculates when to turn the light on. You could change the oil weekly and the light will still come on as long as you don't reset the computer's notion of when the oil was changed.

Heh. If mine only lasted that long.

Totally true. That's another tangent, though.

Reply to
Dana H. Myers

Oops.

Reply to
Frank Berger

XS11E wrote: snip

Sound advice...hard to beat that logic...

Reply to
Gord Beaman

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