Timing belt question

I know the timing belt is supposed to be replaced at 60k. My 2000 is
at 75k but the belt is in good condition... no nicks etc. Money is
tight at the moment... how much longer can I go before this has to be
replaced... I know that I'll be stuck wherever I am but there is no
damage that can occur right?

zenmartini wrote:
> I know the timing belt is supposed to be replaced at 60k. My 2000 is
> at 75k but the belt is in good condition... no nicks etc. Money is
> tight at the moment... how much longer can I go before this has to be
> replaced... I know that I'll be stuck wherever I am but there is no
> damage that can occur right?
>
As I understand it a broken timing belt will not mean pistons and valves
crashing into each other but I'm unsure if other sorts of damage can be
caused.

Have you considered doing the job yourself? It could make the job pretty
cheap and you will feel pretty good afterwards for having done it your
self (I know I do after having done stuff like that).

Kind regards
Bruno

WOW,
You have a great job potential ahead of you if you can look at a timming
belt "on the car" and tell if it is going to fail. (I don't know of
anyone that can do that.) Go to Mazda as soon as you can. I'm sure they
can use you as soon as you can start. :-)
As far as damage, if you don't count damage to your pocket book, the
chance that the belt may destroy the front plastic belt covers and the
guy that hits you in the rear end when you are in the center lane of a
freeway and youe car stops and they are going 70 MPH and following too
close. Not too much damage at all. :-)

Bruce Bing '03 LS

"BRUCE HASKIN" > wrote in message
...
> WOW,
> You have a great job potential ahead of you if you can look at a timming
> belt "on the car" and tell if it is going to fail. (I don't know of
> anyone that can do that.) Go to Mazda as soon as you can. I'm sure they
> can use you as soon as you can start. :-)
> As far as damage, if you don't count damage to your pocket book, the
> chance that the belt may destroy the front plastic belt covers and the
> guy that hits you in the rear end when you are in the center lane of a
> freeway and youe car stops and they are going 70 MPH and following too
> close. Not too much damage at all. :-)
>
> Bruce Bing '03 LS

Bruce,
Do you think maybe he's looking at the fan belt and thinking it's the timing
belt?

On May 3, 7:50 am, "Aardvark J. Bandersnatch, MYOFB"
> wrote:
> "BRUCE HASKIN" > wrote in message
>
> ...
>
> > WOW,
> > You have a great job potential ahead of you if you can look at a timming
> > belt "on the car" and tell if it is going to fail. (I don't know of
> > anyone that can do that.) Go to Mazda as soon as you can. I'm sure they
> > can use you as soon as you can start. :-)
> > As far as damage, if you don't count damage to your pocket book, the
> > chance that the belt may destroy the front plastic belt covers and the
> > guy that hits you in the rear end when you are in the center lane of a
> > freeway and youe car stops and they are going 70 MPH and following too
> > close. Not too much damage at all. :-)
>
> > Bruce Bing '03 LS
>
> Bruce,
> Do you think maybe he's looking at the fan belt and thinking it's the timing
> belt?

Yes I guess I am... and as a new Miata owner I am kind of in wonder of
the unsuspected ex-prize who left the previous message. Rather than
give any helpful insight he decided to make a joke at my expense. I
could see the joke and then pointing me in the right direction...
whatever. Is the timing belt something I can do? I used to work on BMW
motorcycles quite a bit but am not familiar with the Miata... so far.
myself?

"zenmartini" > wrote in message
ups.com...
> On May 3, 7:50 am, "Aardvark J. Bandersnatch, MYOFB"
>>
> Yes I guess I am... and as a new Miata owner I am kind of in wonder of
> the unsuspected ex-prize who left the previous message. Rather than
> give any helpful insight he decided to make a joke at my expense. I
> could see the joke and then pointing me in the right direction...
> whatever. Is the timing belt something I can do? I used to work on BMW
> motorcycles quite a bit but am not familiar with the Miata... so far.
> myself?
>


There is a bit of stuff to remove, but it isn't rocket science. Take a
look at http://www.miata.net/garage/timingbelt.html . I managed to do mine,
but then I would never get the fan belt mixed up with the timing belt.

My 1995 Mazda 626 has 152,000 miles and the belt has never been replaced.
YMMV.

"zenmartini" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> I know the timing belt is supposed to be replaced at 60k. My 2000 is
> at 75k but the belt is in good condition... no nicks etc. Money is
> tight at the moment... how much longer can I go before this has to be
> replaced... I know that I'll be stuck wherever I am but there is no
> damage that can occur right?
>

"news" > wrote:

> My 1995 Mazda 626 has 152,000 miles and the belt has never been
> replaced. YMMV.

The previous owner of my 1992 said the belt broke around 120,000 miles.

The best guess I've gathered from people here and elsewhere is that the
belt is *PROBABLY* good for 100,000 miles and that Mazda's
recommendation is *PROBABLY* conservative. As always, YMMV.

On Thu, 03 May 2007 17:26:52 -0700, XS11E >
wrote:

>"news" > wrote:
>
>> My 1995 Mazda 626 has 152,000 miles and the belt has never been
>> replaced. YMMV.
>
>The previous owner of my 1992 said the belt broke around 120,000 miles.
>
>The best guess I've gathered from people here and elsewhere is that the
>belt is *PROBABLY* good for 100,000 miles and that Mazda's
>recommendation is *PROBABLY* conservative. As always, YMMV.

Mazda's recommendation is definitely conservative. Let's say the belt
breaks at 80,000 miles.

If the manufacturer recommends 60K, then the owner feels guilty for
not changing it according to the recommendation.

If the manufacturer recommends 100K, the owner is outraged that the
%^$%$^%$ timing belt broke, even though he followed the maintenance
schedule.

Still, you should still change the belt at *around* 60K.

> >The best guess I've gathered from people here and elsewhere is that the
> >belt is *PROBABLY* good for 100,000 miles and that Mazda's
> >recommendation is *PROBABLY* conservative. As always, YMMV.

When I first started reading this group I remember this subject coming up.
It was said that the water pumps often start to fail near 100k and all the
same stuff has to come off, so do the belt and the water pump between 80k
and 100k.

(No experience myself with this, just remembered it as sounding sensible.)

miker