[Max.S]

I have a 2013 EXL Pilot front wheel dr.- bought in November 2013 from a Miami Florida dealer. It has been timely maintained by dealer shop.
It has 59,550 Miles.
Works well no issues. Dealer indicates I need to replace Timing Belt, water pump, coolant and gaskets.
My questions,
when in general experience is recommended to replace timing belt and other items due to job procedure?
What can be consequences of postponing work?
What are indications is time to replace belt?
Thanks in advance for help and opinions
M. Salino

 

[aggrex]

I have a 2013 EXL Pilot front wheel dr.- bought in November 2013 from a Miami Florida dealer. It has been timely maintained by dealer shop.
It has 59,550 Miles.
Works well no issues. Dealer indicates I need to replace Timing Belt, water pump, coolant and gaskets.
My questions,
when in general experience is recommended to replace timing belt and other items due to job procedure?
What can be consequences of postponing work?
What are indications is time to replace belt?
Thanks in advance for help and opinions
M. Salino

By the maintenance schedule it’s recommended to replace the TB. The other parts should be replaced at the same time. The consequences for a broken TB are usually severe engine damage. Some owners have postponed TB replacement for another year or two but it could be ymmv. Shop around for the best price as you do have some time but more importantly insist on OEM parts only.

 

[Slvr7]

The best time is right before it breaks. Since we can't see the future, Honda states 7 yrs from date of mfgr., or 105k miles. If it breaks generally your 1k ish bill becomes 5k ish.

 

[briantii]

OEM Honda parts OR the Aisin timing belt kit and purchased from a reputable seller like a Honda dealer or RockAuto. Do not use Amazon or eBay for these parts. There are people counterfeiting both Aisin tbelt kits AND Honda kits. As others have said if it breaks you’re looking at significant engine damage. I did our 2013 in August with about 65k miles on it - on disassembly the tensioner was visibly leaking and needed to be replaced. I wouldn’t put it off too long. You can get a GOOD independent shop to do this combined with the Aisin kit and save a decent amount of money compared with the dealer if you are concerned about the price.

 

[jmadams161]

Honda did away with the 105k mile belt change in MY 2012+. I called Honda to question this and was told they built the belt change into the maintenance minder system. My 2013 has 131k and the minder has not come on. I plan to order the Asin kit from Rock Auto soon and have my local shop do it. Quoted me 3-4 hrs labor cost with my parts. On a side note my 2 friends changed theirs at 160k and 175k. Probably do serpentine belt and tensioner and rear shocks too.

 

[Nail Grease]

Such low miles. I'd open the rear timing cover and inspect the belt. If it's not turning brown; cracked, glazed, oily or loose, I might be inclined to roll the dice another year. Just know that's not what's recommended.
What are coolant gaskets? Are they talking about reusing the water pump and just replacing the water pump gasket?

 

[Max.S]

Such low miles. I'd open the rear timing cover and inspect the belt. If it's not turning brown; cracked, glazed, oily or loose, I might be inclined to roll the dice another year. Just know that's not what's recommended.
What are coolant gaskets? Are they talking about reusing the water pump and just replacing the water pump gasket?

Thank you for your advise. What has more impact on the TB: time or miles?
is now almost 8 yrs and 59,600 miles?
In terms of gaskets my understanding is they are included in the kit, is this correct?
Thanks

 

[Nail Grease]

Thank you for your advise. What has more impact on the TB: time or miles?
is now almost 8 yrs and 59,600 miles?
In terms of gaskets my understanding is they are included in the kit, is this correct?
Thanks

Milage for sure would be more reason to replace a belt, but age along with extreme weather conditions can have an effect to.
My advice is based on whether or not your willing to roll the dice on not replacing the timing belt and water pump with the associated components, simply to buy time. Since I DIY, I would have replaced the belt last year.
Parts associated with this job are as follows...

• Timing belt
• Timing belt tensioner
• Tensioner pulley
• Idler pulley
• Water pump with gasket

It can be neccessary to replace 2 cam oil seals and the front main oil seal if they were found to be leaking oil. This is highly doubtful with only 60k miles.

I would recommend to drain the radiator when the water pump is replaced and refill the cooling system with fresh coolant.

It is also a good time to replace the old serpentine belt since it must be removed to replace the timing belt. There should be no additional labor change to replace this belt.

 

[Max.S]

Thank you again for your reply and advice. For me is not only buying time but some savings at this time, since I believe it is a significant work in terms of parts and labor.
However, it may turn into a false savings experience. On the other hand, is it possible or have you seen cases that go beyond 7 years? what would be extreme weather conditions?
This car has been in Florida always and garaged 70 % of the time, not exposed to sun.

 

[xGS]

For me is not only buying time but some savings at this time, since I believe it is a significant work in terms of parts and labor.
However, it may turn into a false savings experience. On the other hand, is it possible or have you seen cases that go beyond 7 years?

I waited about 8-1/2 years to have the timing belt replaced, twice - but my mileage was lower than yours.
Are you planning to keep this vehicle for (up to) another 7 years and/or 105K miles?
If not, perhaps you'd be better off applying the cost of the timing belt replacement toward the acquisition of a new vehicle.

 

[Nail Grease]

Thank you again for your reply and advice. For me is not only buying time but some savings at this time, since I believe it is a significant work in terms of parts and labor.
However, it may turn into a false savings experience. On the other hand, is it possible or have you seen cases that go beyond 7 years? what would be extreme weather conditions?
This car has been in Florida always and garaged 70 % of the time, not exposed to sun.

Yes, there are cases of timing belts lasting longer than 7 years. I would not consider a garage kept vehicle in Florida as extreme weather.

 

[xGS]

This car has been in Florida always and garaged 70 % of the time, not exposed to sun.

I would not consider a garage kept vehicle in Florida as extreme weather.

That 30% of the time it is not garaged could still mean 7 hours out in the sun every day.

 

[Nail Grease]

That 30% of the time it is not garaged could still mean 7 hours out in the sun every day.

To make a more informed decision, it only takes a few minutes to remove the top rear timing belt cover to get a look at the belt. It's condition can be highly subjective. As I mentioned in post #6, I'd look for these signs to base my decision to get it done now or to feel more comfortable about waiting.

 

[xGS]

To make a more informed decision, it only takes a few minutes to remove the top rear timing belt cover to get a look at the belt. It's condition can be highly subjective. As I mentioned in post #6, I'd look for these signs to base my decision to get it done now or to feel more comfortable about waiting.

Assuming the belt appears "OK", how much longer can you wait and how often do you remove the rear timing belt cover to repeat the check?

 

[Nail Grease]

Assuming the belt appears "OK", how much longer can you wait and how often do you remove the rear timing belt cover to repeat the check?

That would be up to the OP. They are already in territory few are willing to discuss because of forum shaming. How did you feel about rolling the dice for 1 1/2 years without opening the cover?

 

[xGS]

That would be up to the OP. They are already in territory few are willing to discuss because of forum shaming. How did you feel about rolling the dice for 1 1/2 years without opening the cover?

I was well below 105K miles, so I wasn't as concerned as if I had been much closer to that mileage.
But I still wasn't willing to go beyond about an extra year-and-a-half.
Had I known that I'd only have driven about 2K miles in the past year, in hindsight I might have waited to get the second replacement done.

 

[Nail Grease]

I was well below 105K miles, so I wasn't as concerned as if I had been much closer to that mileage.
But I still wasn't willing to go beyond about an extra year-and-a-half.
Had I known that I'd only have driven about 2K miles in the past year, in hindsight I might have waited to get the second replacement done.

Totally understandable. I don't want to encourage this approach, but just knowing the 7 year age limit Honda has set, it must be based on a worse case scenario to cover harsher driving conditions. This all can be thrown out the window if the oil pump or one of the oil seals sprung a leak or if the water pump was leaking coolant on the belt. If I wanted another year, I'd inspect it.

 

[dr bob]

So... I wonder if the material technology has improved some in concert with Honda's current mileage-only MM-triggered replacement recommendation? One of the German garage-mates started life with a 60k belt replacement interval, and enthusiasts added a 5 year recommendation. Since then, the belt materials have changed a lot. The reinforcement is now Aramid instead of fiberglass, loops through the teeth, the tooth design is now a round instead of square, and the rubber material is no longer actual rubber. With these improvements, life expectancy comes down to more the number of engine revolutions than material degradation over time. Honda used a 105k or 7 year replacement interval until our generation of Pilots with the Maintenance Minder. The time component is no longer considered in the MM replacement interval recommendation. Doesn't mean that's gone away, as we've still seen dealer recommendations to owners based on the same 7 years.

The other components in the change, like the water pump (for bearings and seal) and the idler and tensioner rollers (for bearings) are certainly mileage/engine revolutions worries. The grease in the sealed bearings does suffer with age, and the petro components fail and leave a wax/soap cake that no longer flows to lubricate. Heat is the biggest factor in the rate of deterioration there. There's a lot of discussion on what the safe numbers might be, more for industrial than automotive but certainly applicable.

The good news is that both the parts and the labor time/effort come in at about a quarter of what the garage-mate demands. You'll probably never hear me gripe about the ongoing costs of Honda ownership.

 

[xGS]

Totally understandable. I don't want to encourage this approach, but just knowing the 7 year age limit Honda has set, it must be based on a worse case scenario to cover harsher driving conditions. This all can be thrown out the window if the oil pump or one of the oil seals sprung a leak or if the water pump was leaking coolant on the belt. If I wanted another year, I'd inspect it.

Also, at the first timing belt change, the dealer noted that the tensioner was leaking.
So, even though the belt might have lasted longer, the tensioner was reaching the end of its life.

 

[xGS]

So... I wonder if the material technology has improved some in concert with Honda's current mileage-only MM-triggered replacement recommendation? One of the German garage-mates started life with a 60k belt replacement interval, and enthusiasts added a 5 year recommendation. Since then, the belt materials have changed a lot.

The other components in the change, like the water pump (for bearings and seal) and the idler and tensioner rollers (for bearings) are certainly mileage/engine revolutions worries.

A few decades ago I owned an Audi.
After having (only) the timing belt replaced on schedule at 60K miles, the water pump began to leak at about 75K miles.
So, off came the timing belt so that the water pump could be replaced.