Did you recently rush to buy a new vehicle before tariff-related price hikes? A reporter is looking to speak with shoppers who felt pressure to act quickly due to expected cost increases; please reach out to PR@Edmunds.com for more details by 4/24.
timing belt replacement?
This discussion has been closed.
Comments
jayguo: The Protoge has a belt. The engine is also of the non-interference type. Its is recommended that you also change it at 60K intervals. In the past a timing chain was a common item on most automobile engines. Nowdays, they are in the minority. Most engines in todays cars use a timing belt.
Just bought a 1993 Mitsu Eclipse with 48000 miles on it in really good condition. Could someone tell me if I should change the timing belt now or can I afford to wait a while.
David
As to cost, the belt itself is usually not too expensive, it's the labour to do the job. Typically a couple of hours. I would suggest shopping around for a good independent mechanic who has experience with that particular vehicle.
Why push it? At the very least, it will break when you least expect it to and will leave you stranded, possibly in a dangerous situation!
While they are "in there" have them inspect the other belts, water pump, etc.
I am the infamous "isellhondas"
Can anybody explain? ..Let's see what happens this time!
Your host, Bruce
Let's see what happens now!
Thanks
There has also been many complaints on timing belt breakage to the NHTSA. So, I'm assuming I'm on the right track and will contact Mitsubishi today.
Seems as though you've done your homework, and seeing how this problem seems to be well documented, I would keep the pressure on the manufacturer to receive some sort of compensation.
Good Luck.
I have a 1997 Sunfire sedan with the 2.4L DOHC
engine, auto trans and 41,000 miles. I just had the water pump replaced to stop a coolent leak. When the car was returned the engine had clacking noises mostly at idle when the engine was fully warm. This required replacement of the valve chain, chain guides, and chain tensioner. This failures strike me as premature in a car that has been carefully maintained.
I've generally heard good things about the durability of this engine but all this has cost me $1,500 bucks and diminished my faith in the longetivity. I offered Pontiac the opportunity to stand behind their product but then declined. Has anyone else experienced these kinds of problems with this engine?
Thanks, Dan.
I come from Honda/Acura cars with rubber timing belts and 60,000 mile replacement intervals. If the Impala has the metallic timing belt and the intervals are so spaced out, that makes the Impala a fantastic and very easy car to maintain (Easy on the wallet too) compared to the Honda products.
From 1989 to 1997, it was 90K, and before that it was 60K. Is that such a big deal?
This is itself is hardly an argument that a Chevrolet (of all things) as going to be a "fantastic" and "very easy to maintain" car as compared to a Honda!
My ownership with Honda/Acura products goes all the way back to 1989:
1989 Honda Accord LX (5-Speed) 2.0L Barrel Carburator 12-valve 4 Cyl Engine. (This car was DOG SLOW, and had numerous brake problems with it. Now the positives, Top notch fit and finish for 1989 compact car standards and 40 MPG on the highway! The clutch never ever gave up on me, but the A/C (Freon based) did many times.
1990 Honda Accord DX Sedan (Automatic) 2.2L EFI 16 Valve SOHC (Made in the U.S.A.)
Great car! was our household workhorse, never had a problem with it. It was a good faithful friend.
No right hand mirror and austere AM/FM Tape radio with just two apeakers! Nothing power. well except the brakes and steering.
1994 Honda Accord LX sedan (Auto) Traded the '90 for this guy and 2 weeks after delivery my sister was rear and side ended while waiting on a red light by some high school kids speeding in a 1990 Nissan Maxima. End result, nothing happen to the Maxima, but the Accord had to be rebuilt on the entire right side. Suffice to say, the car was never the same again (Badly repaired a the Honda dealer bodyshop)and was developing rust on the replaced fenders. Kept for a few years until..
1996 Honda Accord LX sedan (Auto) Traded the '94 for the "improved" 96 and the first thing I noticed was the "smoother" transmission. The car looked much better than the '94 and '95 and is still with us, 43,000 miles later and no problems. Bad side to this car....3 break in attempts to steal it. This is the NUMERO UNO favorite car among thieves.
1995 Acura Integra LS sports sedan (5-Speed) My introduction to the Acura fold. Good car, but aside from the 1.8L 16 valve standard (No GS-R)engine this car was a Honda Civic in sportier clothes. Got sick of its smallsize very quickly and the hard as a brick seats. Nice car but not impressive for the price.
1997 Acura TL 2.5 "Premium" Traded the '95 Integra for this baby and I leased it for 3 years. I think the first TL was a much more elegant better looking car that the current frumpy "Accord in Tuxedo" 3.2TL. Tight as a drum, but many little things kept braking on this $30,000 premium car (But covered by the 4/48000 warranty). The 5 Cyl engine was a very rare powerplant (Vigor heritage) but was noisy when pressed hard, and love to drink expensive premium gas. The worst aspect about this car was the 4-speed "Grade Logic" automatic transmission...harsh as a Jeep Willys..horrible and a detriment to that car. Honda never did anything to correct the horrible shifting patterns of that transmission. Finished my lease last January...and....
I figured it was time for me to leave planet Honda/Acura and see how other automakers had been doing during the past 10 years. Well, I went to my near Chevy Dealer and test drove the Impala LS....much smoother and powerful all around car than my last Acura TL and all the Accords behind it.
A test drive on that Impala was enough for me to say good-bye to the me too, everyday excellent Honda products.
I still like Hondas, but the smoothness of GM's 3800 Series II V-6 and the superb GM 4AT65 4-speed automatic surpasses the best V-6 engines and transmissions from Honda in terms of reliability, performance, emissions, fuel economy and service. The 3.8L was Ward's Automotive 10 best V-6 engines in the world for many years until 1997 when GM's own 3.5L DOHC 24 Valve engine from the Intrigue detrone it from the honors. Still The 3.8L is one impressive powerplant for being a "Pushrod" with a basic design that dates back to the original 1960's Buick V-6. Impressive.
Isell, I respect Honda, its products and the many years of satisfaction and virtual troublefree service provided...but this is the reality...this is not the 1980's anymore when Honda was the best car in the market aimed at the masses. Much has changed and Honda needs to pay more attention to the quality trends coming from other automakers, including domestic ones. A couple of years ago I saw an interesting book titled "Is Honda competing against its own past?" where the author criticized the "Conservative" approach of Honda and its mainstream products. Very interesting document. Hopefully Honda will turn more interesting products..ala 1980's during this new decade. The Insight and S-2000 is proof of it.
Now, maintenance. I got sick and tired of the high maintenance bill of Honda products. I guess the promise of great reliability comes at a higher price. $300 to $400 a year in routine service is rather high for a car that promises innovative engineering and high quality.
My new Impala doesn't cost more than $140.00 a year to perform routine service, including oil changes, tire rotations and alignments. Big difference. OHV "Push Rod" engines are much easier and cheaper to maintain than SOHC and DOHC engines. Becuase of the nature of the latter (High RPM, more moving parts) strict and more expensive servicing is demanded. Nothing wrong with that, but to me new cars and newer technology should not be this expensive to upkeep, if it promises above average reliability in the long run.
And before you start saying that domestic, specially GM products are junk..well think again. The Impala boasts old tried and true powertrains, electronics and other components, so I am not a beta tester for GM. Sweet car and could potentially treat the long standing leaders in its class...the Accord, Camry, Intrepid and Taurus.
I hope Honda reduces the stringent service requirements in [non-permissible content removed] vehicles...and if they make them more interesting and less appealing to the masses, I am sure I will be back into a Honda showroom in the future.
For now I am happy with my decision.
Good luck and keep selling those Hondas.
Maybe you were just looking for a reason to buy "domestic"? Hope you have good luck with the Chevy. Check back with us in about 2 years and let us know how it is doing. That will be the proof. Maybe Chevy quality is better than it used to be when I drove them. Quality was terrible in the late 70's and early 80's. That was when I changed to Honda.
Mitchell
I am not bashing or faultying Honda for their stringent maintenance guidelines. It is a fact of life with SOHC and DOHC engines. The more moving parts the engine has, the more maintenance is required to upkeep the complexity and reliability of the engine.
"Pushrod" engines might be decades old technology (So DOHC engines are believe it or not)but they still work extremely well and are capable of deliverying the low end torque needed in U.S. driving conditions, that very few DOHC powerplants have been able to match. OHV engines have fewer moving parts compared to DOHC engines thus making them easier and cheaper to maintain and repair delivering comparable performance, emissions (LEV ratings) and fuel economy under normal driving conditions.
DOHC engines are a great accomplishment since the inception of the combustion engine, but their main culprit has been the lack of low end torque and the cost of maintenance and repairs. The main advantage of cammed engines is that the cars perform much better at constant high speeds requiring high engine RPM's. Driving conditions demanding top engine performance at high speeds are found in Europe, not the U.S. We have speed limits in our Highways and generally drive much slower than our European counterparts. U.S. drivers need and are accostumed to have most of the torque available at lower RPM's for passing, pulling, stop light getaways and so forth. OHV valve engines do a great job under those requirements. DOHC engines develop most of their torque and Horsepower and much higher RPM's in the power band, making them perfect for conditions demanding that a car can cruise comfortably and safely at 100 + MPH for hours and hours. DOHC cars give the driver "The Rocket Thrust Effect" rather than the "Neck snapping effect" of pushrods. That's the reason why most smaller displacement DOHC engines feel sluggish off the line and demand to be revved hard so they can develop enough torque and Horsepower (They feel like the Turbo-Lag problem). However, once these small DOHC powerplants are revved to the sky, they can propel the car impressively..for a long time...that's what pushrods can't really do well.
However, out of the two, I prefer the "Neck snapping" effect of OHV's as they better suit the driving conditions of our country. People are sold into VTEC technology, but most don't really understand the purpose and engineering logic behind the technologies offered in cammmed engines and much less get to use them often if ever at all. They just buy for the marketing hype associated with the brand and the DOHC engine technology. I have had both types of engines and I still prefer the metal Timing Chain to the rubber Timing Belt.
Is your Accord coupe a V-6 or 4 banger? How you like it so far?
Very nice car! Problem is that I don't really like cars with just 2 doors (Need to carry people in back)....but if I had been single probably I would have picked the Accord Coupe.
Peace and enjoy!
You might also want to post this question in our Honda Accord problems topic (#903). There's a guy hanging out there who knows a lot about working on Accords - he would probably have some thoughts for you.
Of course, he might see your post here. But if not, feel free to repost in #903. (You can just click on that highlighted link to get there.)
Good luck, and again, welcome, glad to have you here.
Pat
Community Leader/Maintenance & Repair Conference
I had timing belt only replaced on my 91 at 90,000 miles, then had the water pump go bad at 105,000. That's why I would do both at the same time. Labor will be about the same, and you don't have to pay it twice like I did!!!
I also hope the resale value doesn't disappoint you when it's time to sell it.
I rented an Impala recently and although I couldn't stand the looks (subjective, I know), it drove very well.
I came from a family of Buick owners and my first car was a Chevy. I have owned quite a few of them.
My last GM car bought new was an 1989 Buick Le Sabre T-Type that I babied until I sld it with 60,000 miles to a friend. It had the much touted 3800 V-6 engine. My friend, the new owner, babied it even more so than I did but had to have the engine totally rebuilt at 88,000, when the crankshaft broke of all things! Of course, I felt terrible, but the shop that repaired it said that was very rare.
No car is perfect, and I really believe that everyone should drive what they enjoy.
And...A timing chain Vs. a belt does not make an engine one twit more reliable!
I am glad you have "GM" family background and that you liked the driving characteristics of the Impala. Its a great car, may be the one of the best Chevy sedans in a long time. Let's be honest, the Impala wasn't meant to be a "crowd" pleaser or pretends to be a high volume sales vehicle in the league of the Accord and Camry. This car has a love it or hate it nature and I personally find that trait particurlary appealing. But the Impala has the potential to make a "dent" on Camry/Accord sales overtime. Its good to have good competition from the domestics side aside from the "dull" Ford Taurus.
Isell, I am interested to get some insight on the 2001 Civic and the 2002 Honda Accord....do you have any info on the upcoming changes for these cars?. I would like for my wife to eventually trade her '97 Mercury Tracer LS (Very good little commuter car) for a Focus or the upcoming Civic.
Have a great "sales" filled day!
I'm glad to see this improvement in domestic quality. Enjoy your Impala.
working on a car with the LT-1 (impala engine).
the owner showed me the part that is equal to
the dist. cap,this car had about 55K.the part is
mounted between the eng.block and water pump!
His cost was about $240.the water pump is gear
driven and costs a bundle also.If and when the
water pump gaskets leak,guess where the water
goes.
Pat
Community Leader/Maintenance & Repair Conference
I have had timing belt only replaced for as little as $175 at an independent shop, but they are under new management and now charge as much as the Honda shops.
Go to the Honda accord problems forum and get an opinion from the Honda tech there (Auburn63 I think). He seems to know his stuff.
I've seen some artist renditions of what the new Civic might look like, but these are usually off base. The Accords are too far down the road.
And, when the new Civic arrives, some will like the changes while others will ask why we screwed it up! I've heard that it'll look more "german".
Guess we will find out!
Chris
Just my .2 cents
Are you sure he did not say gasket set. Head gasket plus other gaskets for the top end of the engine.
Cheers,
TB
Also, no valve is 180.00, and 200.00 for a head gasket is a joke.
Find an honest mechanic!
Regarding the non-interference question...most Toyotas don't have an interference engine, but I did notice on one of the sites provided in this topic that the 1.8 DOHC engine was one--I believe this is the engine in the 1990 Corolla. Can anyone confirm this?
Teo, I would love to be able to get a new(er) car but I just bought a brand new Trooper last fall and don't have the money to buy another car. Maybe by the end of the year...in the meantime, I'm stuck with this car as our second car. By the way, the car has 123k miles on it (not bad for a 10 yr old car)--timing belt was replaced at 70k--thought I had a few more miles to go before replacing the second one.
Thanks for your help guys,
Chris
The current 3.4L OHV V-6 GM engine is in no way related to the pedestrian 3.4L DOHC of the early 1990's. In fact the new 3.4L OHV has proven to be very reliable so far.
And the 3.5L DOHC V-6 "Shortstar" (exclusive to the Olds Intrigue)is also an excellent performing engine and a far cry from GM's early attempts at DOHC in the 1990's.
In fact, the Pontiac service manager remarked it was the first time in a while that he had seen a worn belt NOT broken. (and it was a black rat's nest under the cam covers) Why? People are rolling the dice or not abiding by the maint. intervals. Well, a $500-600 cost difference tends to make think otherwise about stretching it (no pun intended).
I disagree this engine is a "disaster". Aside from an alternator replaced at 36K miles (since when has GM made a reliable one?), and this timing belt, my bought-new daily-driver '93 GP w/3.4 w/every toy has had zero unscheduled maint. Just periodic fluid/filter changes (air/oil/coolant/trans./brake), spark plugs/wires - and it doesn't leak or burn any oil.
If anything, the engine/tranny is trouble-free, I love how it hits the 4-5K sweet spot when passing/merging on the highway, and it's quick off the line. OK, the heavy 2-doors have sagged, and the rear disc brakes are afflicted with poor slider design, but overall, this car has been joy to own.
thanks,
Shon