| can you tell when a belt is going to go just by looking at it?

mysterios get no info fr me

 

| You really can't tell anything looking at a timing belt unless its frayed.
| Usually, if they are going to fail, they look brand new right up until the
| moment of death.
My F20A's balancer*belt ( fitted in 10-05 ) broke in 9-07
when this * still looked new, both mechanic ( good ) &
parts shop owner believe this * was not fitted properly ( in
10-05 ). This shop then claimed a replacement for me, from
manufacturer's salesman.
In 12-05, my 12-90 Mitsubishi 4G15P 's OEM t-belt ( 15
yr old ) @ 76958 km was visibly cracky when replaced :
mechanic ( honest ) told me to look @ this belt, he said "
You're just in time ; your belt is close to breaking.". He said
car makers are mad to prescribe 100000 km for t-belts in
this warm & humid climate, even OEM t-belts should be
replaced by 70000 km ( I presume he meant before 5yr old
), obviously he'd seen many broken t-belts.
I gather that synthetic rubber cannot deteriorate & yet appear
as strong.

 

"really real" <reallyreal@shaw.ca> wrote in message
news:7HyCj.86857$w94.49814@pd7urf2no...
>I got some good advice here about my '01 Prelude which apparently now needs
>a new timing belt because they decay with age, not mileage. I've gone less
>than 55,000 km.
>
> I found a mechanic who will do it for a reasonable price, considering it's
> a four hour job, but he doesn't want to, thinking it's unnecessary.
>
> Is there a school of thought that says we can ignore the age of a timing
> belt? Just what happens to a car if the timing belt breaks?


Just changed the belt on kid's 98 GSR, 10 year old belt with 90K miles. From
what I've read, this engine is of the interference type.

 

Frank wrote:
> "really real" <reallyreal@shaw.ca> wrote in message
> news:7HyCj.86857$w94.49814@pd7urf2no...
>> I got some good advice here about my '01 Prelude which apparently now needs
>> a new timing belt because they decay with age, not mileage. I've gone less
>> than 55,000 km.
>>
>> I found a mechanic who will do it for a reasonable price, considering it's
>> a four hour job, but he doesn't want to, thinking it's unnecessary.
>>
>> Is there a school of thought that says we can ignore the age of a timing
>> belt? Just what happens to a car if the timing belt breaks?
>
>
> Just changed the belt on kid's 98 GSR, 10 year old belt with 90K miles. From
> what I've read, this engine is of the interference type.
>
>

in a moderate climate and with moderate driving habits, i'd be
comfortable with mileage not age. but i'd also be alert for the
slightest change in the noise the belt makes too.