Miata timing belt

Quick question on my recent purchase here - car (2000 Miata) has 84k miles on it, no idea if timing belt was done within spec (60k mi), any way to determine "goodness" or just do it for piece of mind?

And, if I do it, level of difficulty and time required for a Miata noob. I do enough R&R and "upgrading" of parts to be dangerous, but I'm not working on cars every weekend like I did when I was a young fella.

I'd do it just because. Unless you are ok with it breaking and stranding you somewhere.

The first time I did one I think it was maybe 4 hours or so.

After watching a bunch of "how to's", I promptly chickened out and had a shop do it. Either way, do the waterpump too.

I did mine in the MSM back in March. It wasn't very hard. I replaced the water pump, thermostat and accessory drive belts at the same time. I found several DIY tutorials online that walk through the whole thing, other than the MSM specific stuff.

Ok, one way or another (me or a shop...) it'll get done then.

Are these interference motors? That'll determine how quickly I order up parts and/or schedule it.

Thanks all.

the Miata engine is non-interference.

Non-interference

I have done a few. It isnt too bad, but plan a full long day for it. I babysat someone who had barely changed their own oil through one on a VVT. Only thing is MAKE SURE you only remove the small cap if its a VVT, otherwise small pieces go flying and you will spend hours finding them all.

You pretty much need to do the water pump at the same time. If the Rad end tanks are brown, go ahead and replace the rad (brittlement and indicative that its soon to fail). Also a great time to go ahead and replace the crank, and crank seals as well as the valve cover gasket.

I also replace the woodruff key when I do one and replace the boss hub if it looks at all suspect (I actually have a brand new spare sitting on my shelf), but then I have lost a motor to keyway failure (on a 1.8L) and am overly paranoid in the aftermath of that.

ACCURATE TORQUE WRENCH AND LOCTITE!!! A must for this job.

Apexcarver wrote: a great time to go ahead and replace the crank...

Uh...replace the Crank?! When doing a timing belt?

err, meant crank and cam seals... Been a long day typing too many things

I have a motor sitting around that needs a new crank that I would love to part with.

They can look fine, then shear off teeth. On the other hand, it's non interference, so it's just an inconvenience if you break it.

I'd prefer not to get stuck, but we'll see how adventurous I'm feeling.

Exactly, the only thing it'll wreck is your day. But it'll do that for sure. I prefer to schedule my own maintenance, so I'd do it.

Some guy wrote a book with a decent step by step on the process...
www.amazon.com/Mazda-Performance-Projects-Motorbooks-Workshop/dp/0760316201

It's not hard, just a bit time consuming as you start by removing the coil pack, and if thats never been off that one bolt in the back is a real SOB, than you can take off the cam cover then you can take off the timing covers.

Keith Tanner wrote: Exactly, the only thing it'll wreck is your day. But it'll do that for sure. I prefer to schedule my own maintenance, so I'd do it. Some guy wrote a book with a decent step by step on the process... www.amazon.com/Mazda-Performance-Projects-Motorbooks-Workshop/dp/0760316201

Eh, not sure the author knows very much about that particular car, but he seems like a nice fellow - and I think there's enough spare change in the couch cushions to get that book.

Of course, I've probably just doomed myself to no future help by making that comment, but it seemed like fun at the time...

First time expect to take up a lazy weekend. Honestly had I not started Saturday afternoon, I probably could have done it in a day the first time. Second time it was an afternoon, and that included replacing all the seals, water pump, hoses, etc. I miss working on them honestly. They're that simple once you've torn it apart once, you won't hesitate to dive into it if it needs something.

EDIT: a 4' section of pipe, a breaker bar, and impact socket for the crank bolt. Put the car in reverse and set the E-brake, or have an assistant move the seat forward and push as hard as they can on the brake pedal.

EDIT #2 Cam bearing caps are stupid light for torque settings. In lbs IIRC. If you're stupid like I was and think you can just tighten them down by hand and snap one off. Just remove the cap, and put rags over everything and use a dremmel to cut a slot in the remaining bolt. Back it out with a flat head.

I agree w/do it yourself. I am a mechanic and did not attempt flat rate times. Do it over the weekend and replace w/pump, belts, etc. Take your time and do it right. Torque everything that has a spec. Use the correct sealers. Replace coolant, back flush engine and heater core. The hive is here for support if needed. You drank the Kool Aid and this is part of the initiation.

Do it yourself.

Do NOT use the Bosch water pump. It is a POS and will not seal.

The guys who claim they can do it in four hours must be wrenching gods. I'm a halfway decent wrench and it takes me 7-8, depending on how many seals I replace. The valve cover gasket & accessory belts are no brainers, you have to remove them anyway.

When I bought mine I did a full baseline: http://wiki.miata.net/tiki-index.php?page=Baselining+Your+Car

Good peace of mind and a good way to get introduced to the car. I spent a weekend with a (not so helpful) helper and got it all done.

When I did mine the first time, it was well under 4 hours. But I was used to doing DSM timing belts, so it was like "That's it?"

Uhhh... i can and have done a timing belt on a 2002 in 1.5 hours. Bet i can get that under an hour now that i've done 4, soon to be 5.

Did NOT include water pump.

I do not wrench for a living. The FM crank pulley tool is key.

Also: after doing a KL timing belt crammed in an Escort, the Miata belt job is hilariously easy.

Timing Belt, Acesesory Belt, Water Pump, Thermostat, All Hoses including heater hoses, which are a bitch to replace. Also take a good look at the radiator and heater & consider whether they might be even partially plugged.

All that done, you should be good for at least another 75K+ miles or ten years, whichever comes first. But don't freak. As long as you can call AAA and bring it home, you're still OK. It is a non-interference motor.

And while you already have all that apart, you might want to consider forced intake air, IE: supercharger or turbo charger. It's a hugely under stressed motor. It can probably handle more than anything you might be able to buy and throw at it. And will be a ton more fun!

I felt sort of bad that I waited till 90k miles to replace the t-belt on my Miata but I figured that 20 years was old enough.

JohnRW1621 wrote: I felt sort of bad that I waited till 90k miles to replace the t-belt on my Miata but I figured that 20 years was old enough.

My last one was a 92 with 180k on it. When it got close to 200k I decided to do the belt, water pump, seals, hoses etc. I had always attributed the hard to start and poor fuel mileage to just being an old motor with almost 200k on it. The belt had slipped a few teeth. Jumped to life with barely a turn of the key when I was done, it was quieter, got better mileage etc with the timing set properly. When I was done with the job I called the PO, he was the second owner of the car, had owned it since 70k and had never changed it. We're pretty sure it was the original belt.

I've got one with 98k on original belt right now. I should probably do something about it.

Had a car dragged into a shop years ago. The belt looked just great other than the fact that it was broken. It popped when the owner was pulling away from a stop sign in traffic. The belt in question was 12 years old at the time and had 80k on it.

So, yeah. It won't wreck the motor, but it'll screw up your day. Change it.

All the online guides make it sound like it's a big deal to do. It's not. Just keep in mind that the intake cam will want to jump over a tooth (luckily, someone makes a useful tool for this) and you'll be fine. You can easily eyeball the location of the marks on the cam gears once the tension is set and tell if it's timed correctly. Lots of goofing around with cutting belts in half, counting teeth, etc. Just remember that most online guides were written by an amateur who just finished doing the job for the first time.