I am looking at a nice 98 Prelude with 119K, 5 speed with immaculate interior, with no rust and clean carfax for $3500. The owner (he is no. 3) has pretty good maintenance documentation, including a detailed bill for refurb of tranny and new clutch, t/o bearing and flywheel. The car runs really strong, cv boots are all good, brakes are good, undercarriage is straight, clean, no evidence of any damage or overspray. Does have the typical leak around one of the rear light assemblies, easy fix. No rust in spare tire well. All in all, a sweet car.
However, there is no paperwork for t-belt and water pump replacement. Owner says previous owner stated that he did change the T-belt at around 100K... When we discussed it while I was looking at the car, he said he could show me the T-belt. I pointed out the cover and told him that unless it is removed, the T-belt is not visible. So the guy is clueless.

Question: could a T-belt have gone 119K without replacement?

I know it's an interference head, don't want to see a relatively low mileage car with a busted valvetrain, or more importantly, to strand my wife if the belt breaks. What do ya'll think?

 

if you have doubts you should just replace it and while you're at it throw on a water pump. I just did my h23's and it wasn't too difficult as long as you're flexible.


Posted from Honda-tech.com App for Android

 

Hard to say; it's certainly possible for the car to go 120k without changing the t-belt or associated maintenance (it's recommended at 105k). Did this owner have all the tranny work done? If so, it is possible the last owner did not do the t-belt if they didn't do much maintenance on it. If you don't know, better to be safe than sorry. If the work was done at a dealership, they might be able to check it based on the VIN; it's worth asking at least at your local dealership if they have it in their records. If in doubt, though, get the work done; should run ~$800 iirc.