I recently bought a 1992 Honda Accord. It has high mileage but the records kept on it were impecable up to about the last 3 years. I have read that you need to replace the timing belt/water pump every 80k miles. However; I do not know when it was changed last. The Only record in the book on the subject was back at 90k miles. That was the first time they had the timing belt changed.So How do I know its time to change it again? The car now has 199k miles. I do not want to do unnecessary work before time, however; I also know that the affects it will have on the engine is great if its not done within the right TIME! Is there anyway to know it needs to be done? What kind of signs will the car give? And how much is it going to cost me when it has to be done? Thanks!
A water pump is mostly pretty obvious when it is going/gone it chirps it squeaks and your temperature will usually be higher than it usually was [not always]. As for a timing belt... they are relatively inexpensive, the labor isnt that bad since the car is VERY easy to work on, and it is difficult to tell when one is needed since the most it will make is a whining noise when its getting weaker, only sometimes though. This is hard to hear too. Best advice I have is to just get a couple appraisals/estimates, or have a friend who is mechanically savvy take a look to see if he/she can tell if the belt is worn to the point where it needs replacing. I had a timing belt done for $120 parts and labor on a 91 accord (same car)
can't tell you the price, don't know where you live and where you get yoiur work done, call around.. belts need to be replaced when they're worn. look for cracks, frays and listen for squealing. (sometimes the water pump will squeal when it's bad...) otherwise, take the car in to someone you trust and have them look at it..ESTIMATE only..
