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Timing belt question
Car: Honda, Civic, 1998 - Back to Fix-It - Honda Civic Repair Manuals
Q.I have a 1998 Honda Civic DX with 146,000 miles. I just bought it and I'm trying to find out if the timing belt has been replaced. I am the 3rd owner of the car. When should the belt be replaced per the manual? Any other thoughts would be appreciated.
Answer According to the owners manual in normal conditions it would be at 105,000 miles. Under severe conditions, like in the southwest, with summers of 100 degrees or above or areas where it reaches 20 degrees or below during the winter months, it recommends to have changed every 60,000 miles. So it depends really where you live. If you live in an area under the normal conditions, then every 105,000 miles, in the severe areas it would be every 60,000 miles. You may want to contact a local Honda dealer & find out what schedule they follow to get a more Acurate idea. If the car has never had a timing belt changed, I would highly recommend to having it done along with replacement of the water pump. If the timing belt has not been replaced & if it breaks, you can risk bending valves in the cylinder head & the cost of that repair alone would be about 3-5 times the cost of a timing belt & water pump replacement. Unless you have service records or know if the car was serviced @ a particular Honda dealer, they may be able to tell you, if not you can only guess, if it has been replaced already or not.
Addition Just one more follow up on this please. I have requested this info from the dealer I bought the car. I know I should have earlier. A local mechanic said that some people will put a sticker near the belt casing when a new belt is installed to notify anyone looking under the hood. Is that common in your opinion these days? Also one source I looked at online said that the Honda engines aren't "true" interference engines although they state they are.
Answer I have not heard anyone at a dealer level using a sticker method, usually the problem with that is where ever the sticker would be placed would need to be really clean & hopefully not get a lot of heat where it would be placed. Dirt & heat would definitely cause a problem to be able to use the sticker method at least under the hood. Maybe if some independent shops are using that method, & have found a way for it to work, then that would be good. As far as I know, it is not common practice. I have heard some people using a paint marker to indicate the same thing, but of course it is not common practice everywhere, so that would be something that could work, but you would have to know where.
Yes, most all Honda engines are interference, meaning if the timing belt would break, you would bend valves. Again if you are uncertain if it has been done or not, or unable to get info from the dealer, you may want to look into having done soon & the water pump also. You may want to look to see if the water pump is new, it will be on best viewed from the backside of the engine from below or above. Here is a diagram of where the water pump is:
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