Hello everyone,

I have a 2001 Honda Civic Coupe EX 1.7L with 137,000 miles. For the past 6 years it has been my winter beater and I was holding off on doing the timing belt as I am planning to get rid of the car after this upcoming winter.

I am in the middle of changing the valve cover gasket right now and I figured I check out the condition of the timing belt while I am there. The belt appears to be tight with no visible cracks (at least on the visible section).

In your opinion, judging from the photos below and mileage, do you think I'll be able to get by for another 5-6K miles or is it too much of a risk? Since I already have the valve cover off, I can potentially do the timing belt if I really have to in order to make it through the winter.

Your expert advice is greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

 

Has it been done before? If not I'd say you're pushing it. 137k miles is a lot.

 

This is a non interference motor
If it breaks
TThen rreplace

 

There is no way to determine whether the timing belt will fail or not.

 

Cracks or oil leaking from a seal or water pump
IIs tthe oonly rreason iI replace

 

Not true. If the timing belt snaps, you can bend valves.

 

Do you know the difference between an interference and non-interference motor?

 

Here is a wiki definition.

"An interference engine is a type of 4-stroke internal combustion piston engine in which one or more valves in the fully open position extends into any area that the piston may travel into. By contrast, in a non-interference engine the piston does not travel into any area into which the valves open."

these civics are interference engines which will likely cause valves to bend when timing belt snaps or if the belt is more than 2 teeth off. By all means correct me if I'm wrong.