CRV timing belt

2002 CRV with 91,000 miles. Did some routine maintenance this weekend,
and was looking through the owners manual to check the recommended
time and/or mileage to replace the timing belt. I saw no reference in
the manual for replacing the timing belt. Did some checking on-line
and read that in 2002 and newer, Honda went with a timing chain. I was
not aware of this (my '04 Accord - V6 - has a belt). I was just
looking for additional confirmation from the experts here. Is that
correct? The 2002 CRV does not have a timing belt that needs
replacement? Thanks.

G

 

Yep. The belt went out with the B20 engine, whose last year was 2001. Your
K24 has a chain.

Unlike the old-style chains of yore, the CR-V's chain has a really long,
slinkily curved tensioner that won't wear down like the old tiny "shoe"
tensioners did.

Change your oil according to the schedule in the Owner's Manual and the
chain will last the life of the engine.

 

Is it a duplex or single row chain. That can affect life.

 

It's a silent chain, not a single or duplex.

<http://www.google.com/#hl=en&source=hp&q=silent+chain&btnG=Google+Search&aq=f&oq=silent+chain&fp=92ba666181073553>

 

Thanks for the confirmation.

G

 

Goes to prove I have not been keeping up with changes in automotive tech.
Had to Google silent chain to find our what it is. Certainly, seems to be
an improvement over what used to be. I can still see the duplex chain
system on the 64 Jag XKE I had years ago.

 

I did provide a Google link for that.

It's a /considerable/ improvement. And combined with the new style of
tensioner system, means that chains are the wave of the future. And believe
it or not, chains are cheaper for automakers to produce.

The original problem with chains was the fact that they wore a lot over
time. Wear meant that they "stretched", which in turn retarded valve
timing, throwing emissions, mileage, and power off from what they should
have been.

Belts were better for all the above, but their downfall was the need for
relatively frequent replacement. Hence the current move back to chains, but
with new chain technology. Silent chains (AKA inverted-tooth chains) wear
at a fraction of the rate that the old beefed-up bicycle chains did.

 

Apparently the technology is not that new, one of the results in google is a
scan of a page from Rankin Kennedy C.E. (1912). The Book of the Motor Car.
Caxton.

It took automakers almost a hundred years to make use of this type of chain?
Bizzare....

I am glad that honda put a silent chain in my CRV. It means many years of
driving without having to crack open the timing chain cover to do some work.

 

Good reference here:

"Today's Silent Chains are actually an update of a 19th-century design."

http://chain-guide.com/applications/1-6-3-inverted-tooth-chain.html

 

I'll bet silent chains were either very expensive or had other issues which
made it unsuitable for automotive application. Automakers took advantage of
just about every other mechanical and metallurgical advance from 1912 until
now.