Hi, Greetings from MA.. My wife just inherited a 1997 Accord with only 36,000 miles on it. It's in great shape and has been maintained properly since new so we should be keeping it a long time. It's going to replace the love of her life which is a 1995 Taurus with 208,000 which she's driven since new. In the past when there were small repairs this was the site where I was able to get answers so I'll be using it more often now that we own the Honda. I have a question for you. The manual indicates I should replace the timing belt at 60,000 miles if the car has been used in extreme weather conditions, which it hasn't. However the belt is 18 years old. Should I replace it this spring as routine maintenance or am I being overly cautious? Your thoughts on this would be helpful. Thanks for the great site, Steve.

 

I would replace it. My first broke a belt at about 35,000 miles and 5 years. Rubber breaks down with age as well as use.

 

Sounds like a great car.

I agree I would get the belt replaced ASAP. The manual says 7 years as well as the mileage so yours is way over due. I would hate to see a low mileage motor like that get ruined over a broken belt.

 

#3 change it, if you cant change it asap , park it if you can, if not, limit driving it if possible. Good luck, lots of good info here.


Ok my 200th post. What's my prize?

 

Thank you. I'll get on that as soon as I can. I saw Rock Auto has kits for this project. Can you suggest a good brand?

 

You get to come over with your snow blower or your shovel and get my driveway cleaned up . Thank you for being a 200th poster..Now get over here .

 

This is kind of an "opinion" question. Almost as bad as asking what brand of oil to use. For "rubber" products, I'm a fan of Gates. Yes I might be "tainted" as I've known many in their senior management, been to their places in KY and CO, know a few of their R&D folks, ect.

Woody - I've haven't seen the new pay plan from Ang yet so I'm still on the penny per 1K posts, now don't forget you do get to post for free as a "perk"

 

Same plan for moderators. Come on up to northeast ohio & we'll let you shovel some snow.

I bet the folks in NY & Boston would trade with me...

 

The city snow plow just went up and down the street twice..aren't I lucky! Now my driveway is really snowed in..Not complaining Time to get shovel out and clear off end of driveway again..

Happy Days are here again..

 

I live on a horse farm with lots of heavy equipment; I don't need to do any snow removal, even when we get three feet (like today) as it's all done by other worker-bees here on the farm. What do I do for exercise on a snowy day (other than clean the barn up twice of course)? Simple, I go for a nice long run up to the lake through the woods on snowshoes.