Alright, so I have an 01' Accord LX 5spd with 68k miles. I was wondering when I should be doing my timing belt service and whether I can wait another 10-20k miles before doing it. Additionally, I plan on getting the coolant flushed, I'm just going to get a place to refill it, does it matter in terms of quality what kind of coolant they put it or is coolant pretty much just coolant? Thanks

 

I would say you can probably wait the 10-20k more. also It would be smart if the coolant isn't to bad just to wait for the flush when the do the timing belt and water pump. coolant is basically coolant. but when I buy it I always buy prestone. its usually the one that catches my eye.

 

90k miles is probably when your owner's manual calls for changing the timing belt. Maybe it's 105k? If you lived in Death Valley I'd say change it now because the heat can kill it sooner. Have you ever had an oil leak where the timing belt got soaked in oil? That would be another reason to change it early.

If you rinse your cooling system with clear water several times to remove all the old stuff, then you're good. But... Certain combinations of old & new antifreeze are bad news. If you don't know exactly what's in there now, you should make sure all the old stuff is rinsed away. When I did this to our '98 4cyl, it took about 5 times filling with distilled water & draining thru the block drain, before ALL the color was gone.

FYI, almost all antifreeze is ethene glycol, so that's not the part you're worried about. The differences are in the anti-corrosion packages. Mostly they all work, but mixing old & new is sometimes bad.

 

Well I went to Lube Express yesterday and I got my coolant flushed completely and I got extend life coolant put in there now. In terms of the timing belt, if you guys recommend I wait until 90k miles then I surely will because I don't want to have to spend the extra money unless I have to.

 

take off the top timing cover and inspect the belt. if it looks OK you should be fine until 90k.

 

Notorious do you know the differences between the F23a4 and F23a1? Are the head on the blocks different or what?

 

I believe the owner's manual says 90k miles

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Corruption &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Notorious do you know the differences between the F23a4 and F23a1? Are the head on the blocks different or what?</TD></TR></TABLE>
the exhaust manifold, o2 sensors, and the ECU are different. that's it. the block and head are identical.