timing belt change needed?

My '91 Miata has about 29K real miles on the odometer and has never had
the timing belt changed. Should the belt be changed, or should it still
be good for 60K, despite its age?


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i had also a low milages 72.000 KM and had it replaced 2 years ago.
recomendations are 100.000 KM or 10yrs.






"Scott" > wrote in message
...
> My '91 Miata has about 29K real miles on the odometer and has never had
> the timing belt changed. Should the belt be changed, or should it still
> be good for 60K, despite its age?
>
>
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News==----
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ok, 60,000 miles or ten years... but i have a '95 with 100,000 and no
records or memory of the previous owner having changed the timing belt
though she owned it since 30,000... so is there an easy way to check it?
some cars have peep holes for inspection for instance. of course i would
rather wait until it hits 120,000 but perhaps i should have it done to be
safe. all comments welcome and appreciated. thank you!

ps. garage recommendations welcome for the greater metro nyc area
appreciated.

"dingo" > wrote in message
...
>i had also a low milages 72.000 KM and had it replaced 2 years ago.
> recomendations are 100.000 KM or 10yrs.
>
>
>
>
>
>
> "Scott" > wrote in message
> ...
>> My '91 Miata has about 29K real miles on the odometer and has never had
>> the timing belt changed. Should the belt be changed, or should it still
>> be good for 60K, despite its age?
>>
>>
>> ----== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com - Unlimited-Uncensored-Secure Usenet
> News==----
>> http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 120,000+
> Newsgroups
>> ----= East and West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption
> =----
>
>

Christopher Muto wrote:
> ok, 60,000 miles or ten years... but i have a '95 with 100,000 and no
> records or memory of the previous owner having changed the timing belt
> though she owned it since 30,000... so is there an easy way to check it?
> some cars have peep holes for inspection for instance. of course i would
> rather wait until it hits 120,000 but perhaps i should have it done to be
> safe. all comments welcome and appreciated. thank you!
>
> ps. garage recommendations welcome for the greater metro nyc area
> appreciated.
>

There is no easy way to check it that I know of. I have heard of people
pulling 100K timing belts off that looked like they had plenty of life
in them, and I have also heard of 60K belts that were already showing
cracks. At 10 years and 100K miles, your's will definitely have some
wear, but it could also easily make it to 120,000, or even 220,000, as I
saw a Toyota Camry do one time. By the time that Camry died, almost
everything had been replaced except for the engine & timing belt. Of
course, your belt could also easily break during this time as well.


FWIW, I planned to replace the belt on my last miata at 100K miles
before it was totaled. I have heard of very few timing belts going out
before then. My main concern was having it go out on a long-distance
trip. Here in Austin I can either replace it myself or we have an
excellent shop that specializes in miatas and charges very reasonable
rates. Out on the road we are at the mercy of whatever shop is nearby
when the car breaks down.

pat

Thank you for your insight.
If I were to read between the lines I suppose you are saying it is entirely
possible and highly likely that it was never replaced and essentially
impossible to tell by visual inspection if it had or had not been done.
Sounds like I should make this a priority over cosmetic upgrades that I was
considering.
Thanks again.

"pws" > wrote in message
...
> Christopher Muto wrote:
>> ok, 60,000 miles or ten years... but i have a '95 with 100,000 and no
>> records or memory of the previous owner having changed the timing belt
>> though she owned it since 30,000... so is there an easy way to check it?
>> some cars have peep holes for inspection for instance. of course i would
>> rather wait until it hits 120,000 but perhaps i should have it done to be
>> safe. all comments welcome and appreciated. thank you!
>>
>> ps. garage recommendations welcome for the greater metro nyc area
>> appreciated.
>>
>
> There is no easy way to check it that I know of. I have heard of people
> pulling 100K timing belts off that looked like they had plenty of life in
> them, and I have also heard of 60K belts that were already showing cracks.
> At 10 years and 100K miles, your's will definitely have some wear, but it
> could also easily make it to 120,000, or even 220,000, as I saw a Toyota
> Camry do one time. By the time that Camry died, almost everything had been
> replaced except for the engine & timing belt. Of course, your belt could
> also easily break during this time as well.
>
>
> FWIW, I planned to replace the belt on my last miata at 100K miles before
> it was totaled. I have heard of very few timing belts going out before
> then. My main concern was having it go out on a long-distance trip. Here
> in Austin I can either replace it myself or we have an excellent shop that
> specializes in miatas and charges very reasonable rates. Out on the road
> we are at the mercy of whatever shop is nearby when the car breaks down.
>
> pat
>
>

Christopher Muto wrote:
> Thank you for your insight.
> If I were to read between the lines I suppose you are saying it is entirely
> possible and highly likely that it was never replaced and essentially
> impossible to tell by visual inspection if it had or had not been done.

yes, if no service records were kept that mention a replacement, I would
assume that it is the original belt.

> Sounds like I should make this a priority over cosmetic upgrades that I was
> considering.

That's probably more practical, but imo, a broken-down miata with a
racing beat nose will at least look better than a broken-down miata with
the stock nose. :-)

> Thanks again.
>

No problem and good luck on the work. It is not a really hard job to do,
but mechanics tend to charge a lot for it so it can be good to shop
around since any competent mechanic can do it. You will probably save
some money by buying the parts first from Trussville or Mazda South.

It would also be a good idea to replace the water pump at this time, a
friend of mine had her timing belt replaced about a year ago at 100K+
miles and they decided to reuse the water pump because it looked ok.
That water pump just started to go out and it would have been much
better to spend $75.00 or so for a new one at that time than buying it
now and paying for the labor again.

pat

In article <Lyk%d.3523$191.3153@trnddc02>,
"Christopher Muto" > wrote:

> Sounds like I should make this a priority over cosmetic upgrades that I was
> considering.

When you buy a used car, it's a good practice to make sure all the
maintenance is up to date--a "baseline" for future maintenance. In
addition to the timing belt, change all the fluids and both fuel
filters, plus the air filter, spark plugs, and plugwires. While you're
in there, clean all the chassis and engine ground points.

And Pat is right on target about the water pump. I skipped it at 60k,
and it started leaking at 114k. Replace the TB idler and tensioner
pulleys, too.

--
Lanny Chambers, St. Louis, USA
'94C
the alignment page:
http://www.hummingbirds.net/alignment.html

Lanny Chambers > wrote in
:

> In article <Lyk%d.3523$191.3153@trnddc02>,
> "Christopher Muto" > wrote:
>
>> Sounds like I should make this a priority over cosmetic upgrades
>> that I was considering.
>
> When you buy a used car, it's a good practice to make sure all the
> maintenance is up to date--a "baseline" for future maintenance. In
> addition to the timing belt, change all the fluids and both fuel
> filters, plus the air filter, spark plugs, and plugwires. While
> you're in there, clean all the chassis and engine ground points.
>
> And Pat is right on target about the water pump. I skipped it at
> 60k, and it started leaking at 114k. Replace the TB idler and
> tensioner pulleys, too.

According to miata.net the following parts should be replaced:

Timing Belt, Valve Cover Gasket, Front Crankshaft Seal, Accessory Belts
(they need to be removed anyway, so it can't hurt to replace them now
instead of waiting until they break), Anti-Freeze, (You need to drain
it anyway, so you might as well do it now.), Woodruff Key, Camshaft
seals, Water pump.

I agree the idler and tensioner pulleys should be replaced also.

A word about the camshaft seals, you don't need to replace them but
they're very likely to begin leaking a few miles after the timing belt
is replaced as mine are doing now. If they'd been replaced with the
timing belt I'd be waaaaaaaaay ahead financially.

Notice almost all the parts recommended are going to be free of labor
since you're going to be in there anyway.

You can bet when I replace my leaking camshaft seals the almost new
timing belt, water pump and accessory belts are going into the trash,
I'm NOT GOING TO DO THIS AGAIN!

There's no possible way I can afford to do this so it's even more
likely I can't afford to do it over, right?

Damn, I'd like to find the moron who replaced my timing belt w/o
replacing seals.... I have a couple of words I'd like to say to him.

On Sun, 20 Mar 2005 23:08:16 -0700, XS11E >
wrote:

>Lanny Chambers > wrote in
:
>
>> In article <Lyk%d.3523$191.3153@trnddc02>,
>> "Christopher Muto" > wrote:
>>
>>> Sounds like I should make this a priority over cosmetic upgrades
>>> that I was considering.
>>
>> When you buy a used car, it's a good practice to make sure all the
>> maintenance is up to date--a "baseline" for future maintenance. In
>> addition to the timing belt, change all the fluids and both fuel
>> filters, plus the air filter, spark plugs, and plugwires. While
>> you're in there, clean all the chassis and engine ground points.
>>
>> And Pat is right on target about the water pump. I skipped it at
>> 60k, and it started leaking at 114k. Replace the TB idler and
>> tensioner pulleys, too.
>
>According to miata.net the following parts should be replaced:
>
>Timing Belt, Valve Cover Gasket, Front Crankshaft Seal, Accessory Belts
>(they need to be removed anyway, so it can't hurt to replace them now
>instead of waiting until they break), Anti-Freeze, (You need to drain
>it anyway, so you might as well do it now.), Woodruff Key, Camshaft
>seals, Water pump.
>
>I agree the idler and tensioner pulleys should be replaced also.
>
>A word about the camshaft seals, you don't need to replace them but
>they're very likely to begin leaking a few miles after the timing belt
>is replaced as mine are doing now.

Why should the camshaft seals start leaking because you replaced the
belt?

Natman > wrote in
:

>>A word about the camshaft seals, you don't need to replace them
>>but they're very likely to begin leaking a few miles after the
>>timing belt is replaced as mine are doing now.
>
> Why should the camshaft seals start leaking because you replaced
> the belt?

For the same reason you'll have a flat tire if you leave the jack home,
Murphy's Law. Since you'll have to repeat all the labor of changing
the timing belt in order to replace them of course they'll start
leaking if you don't change them the first time.

BTW, If you do change them, they'll be in perfect condition and could
have gone a million miles w/o leaking, that's also due to Murphy's Law.