I bought my civic about a month ago with 108,000 miles on it and i know honda recomends changing the timing belt at 90,000. I have no way to know if they guy before me had this done, is there any way i can tell by checking it? i dont want to spend the money to get it changed if its already been done, thanks

 

pull the top timing belt cover off and look at the belt. If the outside looks like it has tiny cracks all over it, It is time to change it. Also if there is black dust on the inside of the cover or any where else inside the timing belt area, change it. I am a mechanic and I recommend changing them every 50k. cheap insurance.

 

I would just change it. A timing belt is something that can look fine one day and just snap the next. There is really no way to know just by looking at it. If you weigh the cost of the new belt next to the cost of the damage that can happen, it's a no brainer.

Be safe and just change it.

Miguel

 

Hey, I see you are from Minnesota!!!

Like both of these guys said....I couldnt agree more. A timing belt is not really like a tire where you can see the wear happening and change it when needed. The cost of Timing belts themselves is nothing compared to what the damage that could be done if not changed.


ALL of the motor swaps that I peform the timing belt and water pump is replaced, unless I have the complete history and mileage of that motor.

 

Just pull off the valve cover and remove the upper timing belt cover and check it out. It isn't that hard to replace the belt either. If you search, I had an earlier post where I gave my thoughts on the difficulty...it's not hard if you check your work constantly to see where you are then double or triple check to make sure everything is right before putting everything back together...people made all these horror stories about bending valves which is very capable of happening if your work isn't right, but overall it's not that big of a deal. You spend more time removing **** than you actually do messing with the belt.