pantdino

The 2004 LX I just bought has 38K miles on it.
The mechanic says it has had the head off

Did the belt brake, trashing the valves?

Most rubber parts have a miles / time life expectancy

What is the time life for the timing belt?

ezone

I'd guess it probably was off to replace the head gasket.

Yes. That's normal.

Maybe it had a radiator failure (crash) and overheated it. IDK.


BUT what evidence did he see that make him declare the head has already been off of it?
Your owners manual says every 7 years. Go ahead and double check that, I'll wait here.

mikey1

if the belt has never been changed then you are WAY OVERDUE!

pantdino

I think it safe to assume they replaced the timing belt when they pulled the head(you'd be a complete idiot not to, but I've seen idiotic things done to cars), but I'll check the apparent condition of the belt.

mikey1

timing belts generally do not show any signs of wear, that is why you need to go by mileage or age/years of service, so checking the "apparent condition" is pretty much useless,

if you are in doubt then replace it,

to inspect signs of wear on a timing belt (cracks at the teeths) you need to remove the belt, and at that point you might as well replace it anyway,

pulling the timing cover and looking at the belt will tell you nothing, a 7 year old belt will look the same as a 6 month old belt

ezone

NO, it's not a safe assumption at all.

This.

See also, cost of the job. A head gasket job by itself is cheaper than adding a timing belt to it.


Refer to Mikeys post above.