Hmmmmmm coming up on 12 years and you know I don't think a timing belt has ever been done on this car. Just saying.

:lol: Kidding. They put that 60k recommendation in there for a reason. Can you go over? Yes, my dad's running 15k over on his van. However is that safe? No not really. You could very easily ruin the motor. And the harder you drive it the more critical it is.

 

haha...thanks. you know what I mean though. I tried looking online for more info, but I guess I just wanted to see if people said you could wait until 70k or something to change it or before major problems arose.

 

If you're really thinking about stretching it out you can pull the front bank timing cover and see what the belt looks like. It'll at least give you an idea of the condition to let you judge for yourself. If its dried and cracked I'd be seriously amazed if you didn't replace it hastily.

 

That's a good thought. Have you done it yourself? or did you just go to a dealer...because they were saying it's like $6-700?? That's crazy...

 

6-700$ is probably just the labor.

And I build these engines so t-belt's are easy. :lol:

 

there is also a pretty comprehensive how to on this site for changing the T-belt. If you are a DIY'er then it would be a fun weekend project. If you are not mechanically inclined i highly suggest you take it to the stealership.

 

5 years or 60k miles...

 

Going on 10 years and 18k over, over here:lol:.

 

I did my timing belt and all the other crap with the guy who wrote the how to on here. It's complicated but def worth the money. I spent almost 400 in just OEM parts.

 

OEM = good but only worth it if its not from the dealer. Gates belts are better then contitech (Mitsu's timing belt company) and goes for their pulleys and tensioners too. Aisin makes stellar water pumps (OEM for most domestic applications and many imports). Gates' hydraulic tensioner is made by NTX (Japanese company) who is also Mitsu's supplier (I'm fairly certain of that). Tstats are made by NTC (also Japanese) which you can get for 25$ at carquest as opposed to the goldmine Mitsu asks for it. Gaskets and such you can get from Feplro, they're great. Other stuff like sensors and harmonic balancers and stuff I would ONLY get OEM from the stealer or used authentic unless you can somehow cross reference the suppliers. Bosche however does make good o2 sensors. Anyway... Timing belts. DIY is a go if you've got an impact gun.

 

Holy Moly, thank you guys so much for asking these questions and to those of you that help answer them with your expertise and experience. I'm at 97,000 and have yet to do this maintanance. It has just risen to my #1 priority. Thanks again guys. Now to go on a hunt for the best parts to get me another 100,000 miles. KK-

 

It was the first thing I did to my 2002 GT when I bought it in 2011 (with 130,000 miles on it). I used Dayco belt/pulley kit and hydraulic tensioner, Aisin water pump, all from rockauto.com (site sponser, has 5% off coupon code in club3g.com's "vendor forum"). My t-stat came from the dealer, and I also replaced all the radiator/heater hoses (Gates brand) and serpentine belts (Gates again), as well as a Dorman balancer.

Basically if I had to take it off to do the timing belt, I replaced it

 

Thats the way too do it. I myself just did the same last weekend!

 

^ Scaring me LOL

 

Yeah I hear ya there about being scared. Maybe that's what I should have said you guys did to me.

I'm at 98,000 haven't done anything except change the spark plugs at 20k, and maybe 4 or 5 oil changes. But my manual tranny synchros did go, so I'm on a new tranny with new fluid.

Not having done the maintenance and still driving well I figured let me sink some money into the old boy to get another 10 years. But after these threads I'm almost afraid to drive it now! lol

 

Just for example, my 1998 ranger 2.5 said replace at 100K miles. It broke at 120K miles. (non interference engine so no problem).

Also I just changed mine at 130k miles on the v6. It definitely needed it. It had MANY SPIDER CRACKS and was a little loose. Also changed the idler and tension pulley. Everything else seems good.
One more thing, there is a Write-up here

The crankshaft bolt can be too tight or maybe someone used loctite. If so The easy way to get it loose is by putting a breaker bar with socket on it then put the breaker bar against the frame rail to the rear. Bump ignition and the bolt is now loose.

 

pretty sure he got it cover.....since he posted it 3 years ago

 

:lmfao:

 

partsgeek huh i will definetly check that out. but my local advance auto parts matches prices with shipping. so i dont have to wait on the shipping. they're good guys