afreeclimber

This is intended to be information for other's use, based on my own personal experience, so take it for better or worse.

I bought my 93 Accord used with 160k miles on it. I've since put 140k miles on it over 9 years.
Bought it from a type A personality physician who drove it all highway, due to working out of town. He took good care of the car, but I cannot say when any particular maintenance was done at this point in time.

I believe the car has its original motor, trans, and clutch. I changed oil/filter every 3k miles with Valvoline non-synthetic. I goofed up and never changed the transaxle oil until now. Fluid level was good and oil looked okay, but I'm sure many properties of the oil were compromised over time/miles. The car shifts a little better now (was good anyway).

Just changed the timing belt, balance belt, and water pump for the first time since I bought the car, after 140K miles. The alternator belt had a little glaze, so I scuffed it with sandpaper. The power steering belt had some minor cracks, so I replaced it. The balance belt looked brand new! The timing belt was kinda loose and had cracking on the smooth side, none on the toothed side. The belts did not say Honda on them. The water pump was Honda and seemed fine, but I replaced it with a new non-Honda pump.

I replaced both tension springs (old balance tensioner spring was loose, barely hanging on. But, the new one was NO BETTER. Don't bother buying that spring!) The tensioner pulleys cleaned up nice and bearings seemed good, so I didn't replace them.

When changing the water pump, don't forget to transfer over the little "L" shaped rubber seal! Once the new pump is on the car, it's too late.

I found it very helpful to make my own timing marks on the various pulleys, since you can't line your eye up straight with several of the factory ones. Also, the Chilton manual does not specify how to line up the rear balance shaft timing mark. I could lock the shaft with the 6mm bolt at both 10 o'clock and 4 o'clock. The dot needs to be at 4 o' clock!

I added just a wee bit of extra tension on the balance belt before locking it down. The spring was adding NO tension on the adjuster arm (new spring from Honda). The balance belt was kinda loose (more loose than the original, I believe) so I just poked the adjuster arm with one finger, still leaving the belt a little loose, but allowing some tension on the spring.

Overall, the job was very time consuming due to the car's age and having been in the Rust Belt for many years. Had to do a lot of cleanup on the parts and wrestle with rusty bolts.

Make sure you buy the crank holding tool ($25)! I can't imagine doing the job without it. That bolt still needed some heat (45 sec with a propane torch) even with a two foot breaker bar and a three foot cheater pipe on it. Besides, you'll need it to tighten the bolt back up later.

I have some new noises now with the car. I think it sounds like that non-Honda water pump. Now I'm sorry I didn't spend the extra cash, but I don't know how much longer my car will last anyway. I hope that the noises will abate, as things wear in.

YeuEmMaiMai

putting 140K on a timing belt is just ASKING for trouble, that **** snaps, you're done especially if it happens at hwy speeds.

Honda specs all of their replacement belts for 105K and that is for good reason

DCFIVER

What type of noises are you hearing now?? Honda water pumps are repackaged japanese pumps. So long as you bought a decent brand you should be fine..

professorman

It is not that the belt definitely WILL break, but it is that it CAN break after that mileage. No one have heard of the belt breaking before the recommended mileage, but we have heard it breaking close to the mileage, or even way over the mileage. It just depends on your luck. Almost everyone who changes their timing belt, it should still look new. If it looked old, you were on borrowed time for a LONG time. It is one of those preventative measure that you take to make sure that you dont get screwed over because of negligence. I try to use genuine Honda parts on the inside of my engine to preserve the reliability of my Honda. I agree though, with 300k miles, it is hard to justify spending an arm and a leg when other things might break which might cost you money even if your engine doesnt break.

afreeclimber

Borrowed time indeed! Believe me, that timing belt has been on my mind for a while and I understand the possible consequences of breakage.

The noises (some mechanical ticking and whirring) are slowly going away. I think the parts just need to break in.

m0nee

I'm almost at the 300k mark also brother. I own a 94 EX Accord coupe and I had retired it @ 287K miles because I bought myself a Civic 1.5 yrs ago. It is still sitting in my driveway and I start the sucker up once a week. I bought the car @ 145K miles, and broke the timing belt @ 265K miles while revving it hardcore, but there was no internal damage. Was I lucky or what?

afreeclimber

You've gotta drive that sucka till 300000! How many cars (especially early 90's cars) are capable of it? I don't see too many Ford Tempos out on the roads these days...

Especially if it broke a timing belt and suffered no damage. That car needs to be driven.