I just purchased a 97 accord with 126k on it. I bought it from a small time dealer in town. I figured the belt should have been done by now so I asked the dealer about it. He said when he replaced the valve cover gasket he inspected the belt and it looked brand new. My question is can you tell the condition of the belt by taking off the valve cover? Is this guy pulling my leg? When I got the car home I changed the oil and flushed the trany fluid. While under the car I noticed some drips of oil on the bottom of timing belt cover. I'm hoping it's just residual oil from the valve cover leak and not the cam or balancer seal. A leak inside the cover will contaminate the belt won't it? I have a 60 day warranty so should I take him up on it?

 

I've never had much faith in being able to inspect a timing belt & know it'll last another 20k miles or only 200 miles.

But for the oil leak, keep an eye on it & take him up on his warranty before it expires.

 

you can tell if a belt is old or new by taking the VC off. how old, how new.. not really. unless the oil is just gushing out i wouldn't worry about it getting on the belt. however, this is a sign that the belt hasn't been done, or that it wasn't done correctly.

if the belt was done i the last 20k like it should have been then it shouldn't be leaking any oil from those very new seals which should be replaced when the belt is. you can also look at the back of the block from the top drivers side and you should see a strip of fresh looking aluminum between the Tbelt cover and the block. that's a new waterpump. that should be replaced with the belt as well.