This is Saul Reisman here at Saul’s AUTOTEK, and today I’m standing over this V6 Honda to talk to you about timing belt service.
You’ve heard us talk a lot about timing belts, the importance of them, the significance of them, why they’re in modern vehicles, and what you need to do to maintain yours. Some of the most important factors are realizing that a timing belt is designed to be smaller and lighter weight than a timing chain, which means it’s designed to save rotating mass, which builds an engine better fuel economy in the long term. The downside is the thinner or softer or gentler or lighter weight that component, in this case, a belt versus a chain, the more likely it is to have a failure or the more suspect it is to experience failure if something interferes with it.
Now, this vehicle came in because it’s got 105,000 miles on the clock. The local owner took it to their dealership and was told it’s time for a timing belt because that’s when the original equipment manufacturer says it’s due. However, the owner was able to provide a receipt showing that it was replaced less than 25,000 miles ago, so they asked the dealership, why do I need to replace it? It’s only been 25,000 miles. And the dealership didn’t give them a clear-cut response. They felt uncomfortable so they went elsewhere.
They brought it into us and we took a look at the vehicle, and we actually found something very interesting. While it did have some minor concerns, it needs a couple of oxygen sensors and the power steering pump is leaking a little bit of fluid, and we’re going to take care of that, there was nothing with the timing belt that showed any issues. The timing belt casing has actually been stamped showing when it was replaced. It has the initials of the mechanic that performed the service along with the name of the facility and the date that it was done, but there are no leaks of any kind anywhere near the timing belt system or its drive components. We physically removed the upper timing cover to shine a light down and put a mirror and confirm that the timing belt was not only changed, but that the timing belt tensioner, idler pulleys, and associated cam and crank gears and seals look to be in good condition, and there are no leaks going on in there.
Now, while we understand that the dealership made the recommendation because Honda says 105,000, it’s time for a timing belt, they weren’t very thorough. They didn’t check it to see it had already been done and they just sold their customer based on what somebody else recommended without actually looking at the vehicle.
Here at Saul’s AUTOTEK, we’re always going to look at every detail of your car because we perform a 60 point quality check on every vehicle that comes in our doors. We do it to protect you, the owner. We want you to be informed about every possibility with your vehicle all of the time. We want you to remember that the job title of the gentleman up front is Service Advisor. Their job is to advise you of any and all services that your vehicle may need now or potentially need in the future.
Now we understand the concern of I came to get an oil change and the mechanic said there are 12 things wrong with my car and it will cost thousands of dollars. No one’s trying to sell you anything. The exact opposite. The mechanic wants to make sure that you know exactly the condition of your car before you invest any money into it so that you can make an educated decision about the future of your automobile, one of the largest financial decisions that you’ll make in your life.
So if you’re concerned about yours, come and see us here at Saul’s AUTOTEK. Anytime we see your vehicle, we’re going to perform a quality check on it and we’re going to guarantee that we know the full health, condition, status, report of your vehicle so that we can talk with you about it and help you make good educated decisions without any second guesses, without any questions, and without any knowledge of if something coming down the road might fail and lead to a greater expense.
We’ve got your back and we sure want to make sure that we’ve got you covered. And if that means we do a few steps extra to stay ahead of the game and make sure you’re informed, we’re going to do that every single time.
AUTOTEK is proud to say that we’ve been doing quality checks here since 1989, we’ve never stopped, and we will always continue to do such. This is no fly by night, 15-minute oil change. This is an ASE master certified technician performing a maintenance service on your vehicle to make sure it lasts as long as possible and protects your investment.
An automobile is the largest item that you will purchase that will depreciate in value throughout the course of its life, no matter what. We want to make sure you get the best value out of that dollar and we want to keep it on the road as long as possible.
Come see us and our master certified technicians so we can perform all your factory maintenance and keep you running safely as long as possible.
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