Dear all: My car is about 80,000 miles, civic 2002: the manaul recommends 110,000 for timing belt change, however I heard from someone to ignore the recommendation and go ahead with at timing belt plus a tune up before 80,000 -- since this is a very expensive investment I wanted to know what other's have experience or recommend. I dont push my car very hard -- just normal day to day driving, so I dont think I fall under the category of driving in "extreme conditions" -- I tried going with just a tuneup but my mechanic tells me that doing both at the same time would be cheaper then doing it one at a time, thus I am left with a decision to make. thanks in advance. alex
Don't you think Honda engineers know better than "someone " who is living in the past? Go by your users manual as it has a mileage and time specification.
Your manual does not recommend 110,000 miles; your manual recommends 110,000 miles OR so many months. How many months has it been, and what does the manual say?
Do you believe that the manual was written by engineers? My guess is that the timing belt recommendations, as well as things like recommended oil-change intervals, oil viscosity, fuel octane rating, etc. are as much influenced by a desire to appear cheaper to maintain and operate as much as protect the vehicle. <snip>
Timing belts are lasting longer than they used to. Better belts, better sprocket tolerances, better tensioning systems, who knows? In the 90's the replacement interval went from 60,000 miles to 90,000 miles and now up to 110,000 miles. While the interval is almost double of what it used to be, when I changed my 2001 Toyota belt at 101,000 it looked great. A little dry but no obvious distress. Paul.
As others have noted, mileage and age both count, and the manual is the best source of information. Does "normal day to day" mean lots of short trips in city traffic? If so, that would qualify as severe service. As the only common labor is bringing the car in and opening the hood, I am hard-pressed to see how doing the two together would be cheaper. If he had said 'timing belt and water pump', that would be a different matter. Dan (This account is not used for email.)
The manuals are written by technical writers. The specifications are written by engineers through the development of the product. Now get back on your paranoia meds and go out and play with the other children.
