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Hello everyone, i found this website because i have some questions to ask. I bought this civic about 3-4 months ago. It now has 171k miles on it. It has the body kit, pearl white, black rims, shaved door handles, everything under the hood wise is stock though. In April it was towed and the next day i went and paid to get it out...an hour later it broke down. The mechanics at the shop that i broke down next to said it was the timing belt. We had it towed(my mothers friends husband owns a shop) to said shop. One of the mechanics "confirmed" it was the timing belt. But then when i go to get it back he said the timing belt that was in there wasn't that bad at all(so he should have checked for other problems, yes?). But he just put a new one on there. Then this past Friday it broke down once again, had it towed to the shop again, went on saturday to watch them take it apart so i can see for myself what happened this time. Apparently the timing belt tensioner exploded(mechanics words) and the tensioner spring got all messed up and is not a spring anymore. So he ordered the parts and all and put that on. I called him today and he said that every valve in the engine is bent this time...we called some other mechanics to ask some questions(get a second and third opinion). They said that when you purchase a timing belt it comes in a kit. That he should have replaced the belt the tensioner and the spring back in April! And now because he didnt i have either a scrap car or a whole new engine(that which i do not have the money for at all).

So my question is, are the other mechanics correct that he should have replaced the tensioner and spring last time, especially since he said himself that the belt wasn't that bad. The mechanics also said that if he had done his job right the first time that there is NO WAY this could have happened a second time under 100,000 miles. (since the timing belt was put on i drove it under 1,000 miles) He said the belt that was on there was the factory belt(after 170k miles it finally breaks?). We might, depending on more research, be taking them to small claims court to either get them to fix my engine or get them to buy me a new vehicle.

Any information about this would be much appreciated!!!

 
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Im confused as to your mileage but heres how this goes:

at 120k you are due for a timing belt kit, which is as you said a timing belt, tensioner, and water pump. this is the factory maintanence schedule.

When someone does a timing belt it may not look bad, but thats an opinionated question, he may not have actually inspected the belt, if it was missing a tooth every few teeth it was time for replacement even though the back of the belt may still have looked brand new. If he replaced the timing belt and didnt do the whole kit then its his fault, and because your timing belt broke while driving, well tensioner, but essentially you lost timing while driving, and that for sure wouldve bent all your valves, no reason to rebuild definitely a scrap engine. So yes, sue him, if i understood your description accurately. If you didnt have the belt done till 171k then he definitely shouldve replaced everything.

 
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At 110k miles you are supposed to have replaced

-the timing belt itself
-the timing belt auto-tensioner
-the water pump
-valve cover gasket

optinal parts would be

-the drive belts (depending how long ago they were changed)
-spark plugs (depending how long ago they were changed)
-crank and oil shaft seals (if they were leaking)
-spark plug tube seals (if they were leaking)

Your valves bent because of what the guy above me said..the "mechanic" who worked on your car was supposed to have changed the tensioner if he was a mechanic at all

 
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Okay thank you! I would have replaced everything at 110k-120k but i did not have it when it was at that amount of miles. We will be calling them tomorrow.

 
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Just want to share my files, dont wanna put old thread at top.

Here is also a complete 04 civic timing belt file. https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0...czg&authuser=0

Some search words: 2001‑2005 Honda Civic 01 civic 02 civic 03 civic 04 civic 05 civic 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

I think this site gets indexed on google, which helps.

 
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I called many Honda dealerships and they say that the timing belt tensioner and spring are rarely replaced. They inspect the tensioner and spring, and if necessary, they replace them. The stock tensioner should be able to go 200,000 miles (320,000km).

I would recommend changing the tensioner and spring on the 2nd timing belt change.

 
Rep Power: 519

I've figured the same thing.....

If the timing belt I'm servicing is expected to go beyond the 200k mark before the next change, I strongly urge replacement.

With OE tensioner ONLY!