Greetings -
Maintenance Monitor tells me its time to change timing belt. 2008 Accord EXL coupe with the 3.5 L V-6. Almost 95000 miles. Driven easily about 75% interstate and the rest suburban. Honda owners manual says change timing belt and check (not replace) water pump. Usual advice is to change water pump too, but I believe Honda water pumps easily can go about 200K- Honda stuff is just so good. I'm asking for advice on this topic- change pump too or just let it go? I plan on just changing belt and tensioner and do water pump next timing belt change. What does the Hive think?

 

Really up to you. I work on the concept of Well I'm in here anyway.......Of course I've never replaced a timing belt at the recommended mileage either

 

Thank You
"While I'm in there" - true but just doing belt and tensioner avoids dealing with that insanely tight crank shaft bolt, various timing tasks, draining/refilling and purging coolant, etc. Things never go smoothly, unless one does this job a lot.
Honda says to check pump, not replace. Of course mechanics want to do the pump too for the $$$. Gets spread around and now its the universal "Truth". How many Honda water pumps with 100k or less has anyone on these forums seen go bad or before the next TB replacement? BTW, seeing some crusty coolant around seepage hole is not indicative of a bad pump. For example, Toyota FSM says this is normal but to monitor coolant level for a month to be sure. Same for other manufacturers. Many pumps get replaced needlessly. I have a DD Toyota that has this crust for last 80K and still never need to add coolant.

 

I tend to agree with your assessment. At 95k you should be good. I did timing belt/tensioner/cam seals/front main/water pump at around 190k on my 2000 Cr-V. The water pump had just BARELY started weeping.

 

Mechanics have the experience of working on 1000s of these vehicles a year. We've seen the mechanical carnage that can occur when the job is done half-assed. It is our reputations on the line.
So trust me when I say very few mechanics are doing it "for the $$$"
Replacing a pump has less to do with it leaking and more to do with the bearing failing. If it fails(and it does) the belt will jump and engine damage will likely occur.

There is no reason not to do the pump. There are quality timing belt kits available that include the pump and replacing it adds no more than another 30 minutes to the job.
The timing belt service interval is roughly 7 years or 100k miles. Can they last longer? Sure. Ive seen people push them to 200k. Ive also seen the belts break @ 60k miles. Makes no sense to do a job half assed and risk engine damage,IMO.....

(BTW the Honda crank bolt thing is a thing of the past. The Lisle Impact socket and other similar sockets have made short work of Honda crank bolts. Ive never seen a bolt it couldn't break free since I started using it about a decade ago. And I've done several hundred Honda Tbelt jobs in that time)

 

Thank you for your reply and advice- much appreciated.

Regarding failure mode of the water pump: seepage of coolant at the weep hole protects the bearing from failure. WO a weep hole providing an escape path for coolant bypassing a leaky ceramic seal before it reaches the bearing, the bearing would be quickly destroyed as its lubricant would be washed away. Quality (Honda) bearings themselves can last gazillions of miles but for damage done by the leaking coolant (or misbalance). Main cause. So yes, its mostly about leaks. Addressing the leak, addresses the bearing failure.
Regarding replacing the WP during TB replacement, Honda says Check WP, not replace. Mechanics replace WP as part of the TB service to avoid comebacks and the attendant hassles and expense, but the customer pays for the mechanic's "peace of mind insurance" by buying the pump and installation time. Your post implies a bad bearing is the cause of belt jumping and the resulting engine damage; so all one has to do is spin the WP by hand and feel for roughness or wobble? Is this what Honda means by "Checking"?
Regarding replacement OEM water pumps at the dealer- not the quality of the pump installed at the factory.

 

Forgot to add
That tight crank bolt problem does not apply to me. I use the starter to loosen it if my breaker bar and arms are not up to the job. Lisle socket and amazon knock offs work well, but I already got too many tools

 

WP replacement is not done just for mechanics piece of mind,it is also done in the interest of best customer service.
Since the intervals are often spaced at 100k or more apart, there is no guarantee that the bearing you check at 100k miles will not fail and 140k. None.

Again, when one looks at the facts coupled with experience, replacing the pump is a no-brainer and is absolutely in the best interest of the customer.

Regarding the bearing, many are lubricated by the coolant itself and many times the failure is the result of contaminated coolant( such as coolant with high PH or improper mixture) other times simple mechanical fatigue is the culprit.....

 

Thank you-
I disagree with your statement WP is lubricated by engine coolant. I wanted to paste a long quote refuting your claim (by a bearing engineer) but the super restrictive policies of this site prevent me from pasting it. It said these bearings are lifetime lubricated and coolant leaking past seal will wash out the lube. Perhaps you mean the ceramic seal itself is lubed by coolant?
You and your fellow mechanics must be ultra honest! Just about every mechanic I have encountered tries to upsell unneeded work or outright lies. That's why I do all my own work.
Example: Porsche dealer service writer tried to charge me $700 to replace electrical part of ignition switch. I put in a VW (same part #) for about $10 from Rock and 20 min under dash; or $500 to replace clutch interlock switch I by passed for free but eventually replaced using OE Porsche for $46. I have many additional stories I can relate to you about unnecessary work or plain rip off.