What's the best real-world interval for timing belt replacement? I'm just here to announce that I bought a 99 Mirage LS with 101,000 miles on its original belt! I changed it, of course, but the Mitsu dealer technician guy who checked it out says "yeah, little 1.8L engines can go 100K on their originals easily." True?
For the record, the manual says that for California/Massachusetts/Connecticut, 60,000 miles is "recommended but not required" while every other state gets 100,000. What the hell?
Ask that Mitsu dealer technition guy what happens when the belt breaks. A buddy of mine had a honda prelude that said the timing belt shoudl be changed at 80K. Well it broke at 75K and trashed his engine. All the honda folks had to say was "your warrenty is 3 years or 60K miles which ever comes first"
Realistically how much are you saving by changine it at 80K instead of 60K. Here it cost $400 to change a belt. If oyu keep your car for 200K miles, youve changed the belt 3 times instad of two. An extra 400 dollars distributed the 10 or so years it takes to put that on the car is worth the piece of mind. Not only do they trash the engine but also leave you RING at the spot they pop. Be it on a long trip, a bad neighborhood, or late for a big appointment.
Just not worth the worry to me.
For the record, the manual says that for California/Massachusetts/Connecticut, 60,000 miles is "recommended but not required" while every other state gets 100,000. What the hell?
On Mon, 9 Oct 2006 13:26:48 -0700, something compelled "CrunchyCookie" , to say:
Apparently in your case, yes.
I got myself a 97 Diamonte with over 100K on the clock. One Fine Morning the check engine light came on, so I took it in to see WTF. The valve cover gaskets had failed and allowed oil to pool into the spark plug well, destroying the plug wire insulation and causing a misfire.
The mechanic also said that they were the original wires, and the original plugs. I knew that changing the plugs was supposed to happen *way* before that, and figured that if that maintenance hadn't been done, the more expensive jobs had been left out as well.
I had them change the belt and the water pump, and bring the rest of the maintenance up to date. The number one thing I need from my car is that it work when I want it to, and now I motor about in a much more relaxed frame of mind.
Swap that baby out every 60K? Hell yes.
While I agree that it's poor economics to wait an extra 40k, there is one very contrary fact about the 60k standard: In california it's 100k. It's in the manual of our 2001 Eclipse 4cyl. And no, they don't supply a different belt to cali.
I've never been able to resolve that issue. I know it won't matter a bit if the engine blew between 60-100k and it's not a Cali car, but it really makes one think.
Dave
Original poster here... You got it backwards: Mitsu recommends 60K for California (and Mass and Conn), 100K for everyone else.
I think this question of when, depends on how hot the engine gets ; neoprene ages ( hardens & cracks ) faster with heat. Japanese manufacturers don't calibrate their tmprtre gauges, so 1 way to tell if an engine ( in a fwd car ) is too hot is to touch the front*wheels : if * cannot be touched for 1 minute, then engine is too hot for belts to last as long as expected per service schedule. I made & fitted 11 sets of copper / aluminium wires with washer
-connectors & silver paste, from a 4G15P ( 3 onto distributor, 2 onto thermostat cover, 6 onto rocker cover's 3 bolts near exhaust manifold ) to its compartment walls, then * are not too hot to touch. The 1st t-belts nearly broke by 76958 km, mechanic said in Msia, from his experience, t-belts must be changed after 70000 km. I believe the 2nd t-belts ( in a cooler engine ) will age slower.
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