Unless you want the engine destroyed, it is critical to change the belt - - and I have always changed before the recommended mileage. Most of the cost is the labour charge to remove all the parts necessary to access the belt........it's a good practice to replace the water pump while those bits are removed to avoid having to return in the future.......and a leaking water pump will usually ruin the timing belt.
Chances are yours is gonna break before 3 years are up.
Yet another reason I now only buy cars with timing chains that last much longer than belts . . . still used on most Ford products as well as others.
Well, it sounds like you don't really care if the car lasts more than about another 10K miles to start with.
Your car has a camshaft that opens and closes the valves at just the right time. A lot of modern cars just have a giant rubber band driving this camshaft. If that belt breaks, the cam stops with some of the valves in the open position. The piston hits the valves, and both are damaged, and the engine stops running until it is completely rebuilt.
Which is why the recommendation to change the belt after 90K miles. Subsequent replacements are suggested at 60K because the replacement belt might not be the same quality as the factory belt.
Is there anything wrong with the car other than faded paint? If it's still running good, replace the belt. You might be surprised how long newer cars can last. 200,000 miles isn't uncommon.
If the frame and body are rusted, the interior is shot, and the thing is always breaking down, ignore the timing belt, and when it breaks, scrap the car. It's not going to break at 90,001 miles. It may go 100,000, 120,000, 135,000? There's only one way to find out.
It would really help to know what model and engine this is. Some engines are notorious for not being forgiving about pushing the change intervals and some are very forgiving. I just changed the belt in my daughter's 2002 Sienna; it was last replaced with a Toyota branded belt at 88K miles and we pushed the interval from 90k to 100K for this one. I needn't have worried - the belt looked nearly new, with no sign of microcracks. In Siennachat I saw somebody had let theirs go 175K miles!
However, if you let the belt break you are not going to get where you are going that day and you will have a towing bill, which can approach the cost of replacing the belt depending on where the car is when you break down. You could always do what so many others do - sell it in lieu of replacing the timing belt. It sounds like you would be a few thousand dollars ahead at least.
I'd start with listing the make, model, and year of the vehicle you're writing a book about. I've never seen a motor with a variable replacement time. If the belt needs replacing every 60,000 miles just what makes the first belt not need replacing until 90,000 miles?! That does not make a bit of sense. The fact that you don't put many miles on the vehicle means the belt you have now is not only over the safe amount of miles driven with the timing belt but it's also very old and the rubber gets bad from age as well as from usage. replace it along with the water pump, the tensioner and pulleys for the belt!
If you read your manual it will say 60000 or an age whichever comes first. As your car is 9 years old you are living on borrowed time. If it breaks and nothing serious is damaged you'll be paying a recovery fee at the least. I'd expect that will be half the price or replacement. Do it at the next service. It's not worth the risk of it breaking.
Changing the timing belt is costly on most vehicles but it is also very important. If the belt snaps, and your vehicle has an interference design head, the damage due to a broken belt will be far more costly to repair than a belt replacement.
I understand that your vehicle is older but if it is currently in good shape, a little bit of preventive maintenance on your part can go a long way for future reliability.
Very critical!
If you had jotted the year make and model of your car down we could let you know if your motor was an interference or non interference engine. When the timing belt breaks on an interference engine the valves smash into the pistons and it would cost a small fortune to repair.
Timing belts should be done at age or mileage.
If it breaks then you can almost certainly wave the engine goodbye. This probably means the car is a total loss. Insurance does not pay for this.
Why gamble with wrecking your car.
It's not critical at all. It's like saying every man needs to go to a Proctologist at the age of 40. Does everyone do it on their birthday. No, it's just a suggestion. You can run it as long as you'd like. It could last another 3 yrs or then again it could not. You could diagnosed early of colon cancer, then again, you might never get it.
It is not as pricey as replacing a whole engine! A new belt is only about $40-50 and is a good DIY item w/hand tools. Labor is about $150 or so for most all Japanese cars.
My car is coming up for a 90K service, the drivers manual states that timing belt is due for replacement at 90k then every 60k after that.
What does that mean, if I wait until 95k or 100k will the engine explode or what?
I do quite a low mileage, less than 10k per year, the car is a 2005 model and as the paint is very faded it has little resale value, maybe $3000 so I dont really want to spend lots of money on servicing the car, I heard the timing belt is quite an expensive thing to replace. What is the risk, if I keep the car for 3 more years it will be ready for the junkyard anyway as I have to park it outside.
If the timing belt breaks the cost would of course not be worth paying and the car would be junked.
The car runs perfectly with just the minor $350 service every 10k
Should I pay up big to get it fixed or just keep driving the car until it dies, whenever that may be?
What would you do?
Very critical dont put ur belt on u will crash infront of the glass and and it will shatter into your head..
