Timing Belt

Based on previous discussions of the same issue, timing belts on California miatae are warranted for 100K miles - same car same belts - so it would seem the odds are in your favor. The miata has a non-interference engine so should the timing belt break, you should just come to a stop, no damage. If you really want to risk getting stranded somewhere, why not push it well past 100K miles? Maybe 200K.

I changed mine out at 58,000 simply because I was beginning a very long trip. Since it was close to 60,000 (recommended to change at that mileage according to owner's manual) I decided to play it safe. Upon inspection of belt, it was found to still be in great condition. I now have 100,000 miles and my belt still looks good with 40,000 miles on it.

But, I would not push my luck, no matter what the warranty is......just MHO :)

About a month ago my radiator blew out at 101,000 miles. Since I was going to have to pull the radiator anyway, in order to save the cost of doing that twice I decided that it would be a good time to replace the serpentine belt, the timing belt, and also the water pump, which is buried under all that stuff. A water pump is only about $80, and now I won't have to worry about it going bad and costing me $200-$300 extra for the labor to get into it. The old timing belt looked pretty good despite having gone 41,000 miles past its scheduled replacement date.

Note also that in California the same timing belt is rated to be replaced at 105,000 miles! So by that standard you should be good for another 27,000 miles. But age makes belts deteriorate and your timing belt is almost fifteen years old by now.

So I've heard, the Miata has a non-interfering engine, which means that if your timing belt goes it won't eat any valves, your engine will just suddenly turn off. I had a timing belt break on a Corolla at 180,000 miles when I was going down the Interstate in Tampa; I coasted down an off-ramp right into the parking lot for a car mechanic's shop.

Yours WDK - snipped-for-privacy@ij.net

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No risk of ruining anything but your day if you break the belt.

Bit of advice tho.. if you do have the belt replaced, make sure they do the water pump too. I made the mistake of replacing the belt only & not too much later the water pump died. You basically have to take just as much apart to do one as the other.. and it's that dis/re-assembly that makes the belt replacement cost so much. The really annoying thing about that whole deal is that my belt probably would've outlasted my water pump if I hadn't done the cautious thing and had it replaced shortly after the 60k mile mark. (I think I was somewhere in the 90k mile range when the water pump failed).

-Scott

My Mazda dealer's recommendation when doing my timing belt (at around 75,000 miles) was to inspect the water pump and replace only if there were signs of wear or leakage. In the end, they didn't replace it. I think he said the WP could easily go 200,000 miles. Surely he could have replaced it if he had wanted to.

Mine started weeping at 114k...so I did my second timing belt replacement a bit early.

Replacement timing is very much dependent upon one's tolerance for being stranded.