How to Tell if Your Timing Belt's Been Replaced

How to Tell if Your Timing Belt's Been Replaced

[Loebane]

This is helpful! I'm doing my first timing belt change on a car with an unknown history for peace of mind. I thought the belt looked to be in great shape, but this showed me how an old belt can still look to be in good shape.

[retromotors]

Great job on this video! Short and to the point. You can actually string sentences together in a coherent fashion (rare nowadays). Even more rare, no screaming children or barely audible talk radio playing in the background. Bravo!

[btomas]

I usually wait until my pistons to smash my valve train....Works for me- TWICE!

[zappa]

Brilliant topic Brian. These topics are gems in the motor service industry, especially for the home mechanics.

[nickv]

A good mechanic would place a sticker in the engine bay to denote a timing belt change and at what mileage. A sticker is the first thing to look for. We inherited a 2002 Sonata from my father in-law and had no idea about if or when the timing belt was ever replaced. I found a sticker in the engine bay that told me it had been replaced at 90, 000 miles. It saved me from doing an unecessary replacement.

[bdrichardson]

Not only do you do a great job of 'filming', it is always easy to understand every word you say.  I appreciate every one of your vids.  Did you take a course in speech and public speaking?

[mobiledetailyou]

One thing that is nice occasionally the mechanic will mark the motor with a date and that it was replaced. I know any knucklehead can do that to mislead someone to... So what your showing is definitely a great way to get piece of mind and confirmation. "Trust but verify" like the great one said.

[versansky]

Thanks for the educational video. I know to change the timing belt near 100, 000 miles, but I never knew how to check to see if it's still good. Good piece of information to have.

[hakoshi]

Brian, I just discovered your channel a week ago and man you are so smart and talented. I appreciate what you do, I have learned so much in just a couple of visits. Thank you and please keep doing this. I aspire to one day to do what you do.

[rottmanthan]

i have a 2012 sonic, with 96k on it, i looked at the belt, it looks good to me, can still read everything on in, also all the motor mount bolts that have to be removed on my car to do the job have marks on them, like washers have socket marks and bolts have marks on edges.

[toonmag]

Very informative.
Personally I avoid timing belt engines due the uncertainty of breaking.
Unfortunately my wife buys cars on other criteria and invariably they're belt engines.
Fyi I paid for a timing belt and pulley renewal for one of her cars, from a main dealer.
I suspect that the job was never done.
I'm in the UK, I'm sure that the US have more stringent monitoring of bandit garages.

[fix-and-drive-diy-repairs]

that guess or assumption can be costly! the best thing is to learn to change it yourself in that way, you will have a peace of mind that the belt is good. remember its a rubber and it dies with time not only mileage. a car that is 10 years old but driven only 10, 000 mile, will need that belt changing.

[MegaZiglet]

This is very interesting, informative. Preparing to purchase an older Honda CRV and the timing belt and water pump are my two main concerns. Naturally, the used car dealer tells me they checked and it's fine. But with 201, 000 miles on the car, seems to me it'd time for a change.

[brianandcindy]

Thanks! Was just looking at my 01 Subaru that I just bought, and the back of the belt is glossy, so I figured it's original. Your video confirms that. 122K miles, so it is getting changed this coming week.

[DioFan]

I always feel " smater " after watching your videos Brian. LOL. You da man !

[dustinlewis]

Thanks Brian! Always lots of helpful tips and common sense in your videos. Thanks for the tip about how long it normally takes the print to wear off.

[Max-lqbi]

Thks. Do you recommend changing timing belt by myself?

[timothyball]

Thanks for this. One thing that would have been more helpful is to describe what to look for on the teeth. On the Subi, the cam gears have the guides on them, but others are open where you can see the gap between the teeth and the the cam. The other thing I look for is at the point where the root meets the side of the peak, are there signs of fraying threads?

As to chains vs. belts, one advantage to the belt is that when done properly, all of the timing points are reset to factory specs. Additionally, since most water pumps are driven by the timing belt, you renew that as well as all other bearinged items. This renews all of those parts and as long as they are quality parts, the chance of them failing, is now almost nil.

[fordxbgtfalcon]

My old 93 accord went 210k on the factory belt, broke when we went to start it up in the morning. we were told it had been changed in 2008, but when my mechanic replaced the belt he said it was still the original belt in it....

[gustavososa]

Hi, when is the timming belt replacement service? 140.000km? Thank you.