All,

My 1994, 190,000 mile Accord EX is getting new timing and balancer belts along with the water pump. Previous owner changed them out at about 64,000 miles so I guess I was driving on borrowed time if you go by the maintenance schedules for the timing belt. On inspection however both belts looked great. No unusual wear patterns, noticeable damage or fraying. I think I could have gone a lot farther on those belts! My question is this: should I replace the timing and balancer - tensioner bearings? The existing ones look good and spin freely. If they can go another 90k, I would put off replacing them. What is the expected service life for them?

Any comments are greatly appreciated.

 

If you don't think they were replaced at 64k, then I'd replace them. Their lifespan can be 200k miles or more, but it's a probability game.

Sounds like you're having a shop do the belts? That job is lots of labor, and new tensioners are pretty cheap compared to duplicating the labor $$$. Even if you do the job yourself, what's your pain threshold for repeating all that work after a few months?

 

Jim,
Thanks for your input. I am doing the work myself (it's taken apart right now), and yes- I don't want to go back in for a redo later. Just thought I'd save a hundred or so dollars but you're right it might be penny-wise and pound foolish. I think if the bearing had only one belt cycle on them I might have opted to re-use.

thanks again!

 

It's the type of component that has an unpredictable lifespan. And very bad consequences of failure. It's just my thoughts, but YOUR money.