I drive a 2005 Accord Coupe, 4 cyl with 76000 miles on it. Honda says to change the timing belt around 105,000 miles. I'm wondering, since the car is driven about 10,000 miles/year and not the average 15,000 miles most people drive, should I have the timing belt changed before 105,000 miles are reached - a 10 year mark? Will the timing belt dry-rot, or because it is sealed in a air tight free environment, it does not dry rot? What do the experts say?

 

Not an expert......the '05 4 cyl have a chain. The 6 cyl have a belt.

 

A-ha. My last Honda was a 6 cyl and I just assumed... That's great news and saves me $.

 

Only caution I can give with an '05 4 cyl with the chain, keep up with oil changes and levels.....the tensioner on the chain is "driven" by oil pressure.....don't want that to get low, chain jumps, just as bad a the t-belt breaking.

 

Not knowing what type of engine your car has is like not knowing your car's color... This should have been apparent when you bought your car. (V6 is way more expensive than I4 and would have been a major selling point..)

 

accordhybridowner, of course I know that I drive a 4 cyl engine! I’m not that stupid. As I said in my previous post, I used to drive the 6 cyl model (a 99’ accord) that I did have to replace the timing belt at 100,000 miles. I assumed the 4 cyl I now drive had a timing belt as well.

 

fvansan-This IS an excellent question to ask for those of us who do drive a V-6 with a timing belt! I also average less than 15 K per year on my Accord. Out of curiosity, does anybody have an expert opinion answer to this question for us V-6ers? (I have a 2007 SE V-6) Thanks!

 

Oops, I must have misread your post. Sorry.

 

Rule of thumb......7 years or 100K miles.