Protege5 - How many miles have you gone before changing the timing belt?

brickisred · Jun 3, 2008

Changed mine right after I bought it at 71k. Belt looked new. I've broken a timing belt before (at under 100k) but that was an old '86 B2000. Mazda mechanic says they are a lot better made these days. Says the danger is not in breaking, but you could lose a tooth or two. I probably could have waited, but glad I didn't, if that makes any sense...
(drive2)

mazdaddy · Jun 3, 2008

What the belt looks like is not the entire problem...you also have to look at the tensioner. In my case the tensioner was loose & the bearing was worn, which can cause the belt to slip a cog or break...at best case you go from zoom zoom to stop stop! Glad I had it done when I did!!!

mazdaddy · Jun 3, 2008

Rockin03mp5 said:
I bought it in Aug 06 with 39000 and I haven't changed my belts yet. Don't know what happened previously, but I doubt they changed it either since the original tires were still on it then. ( I made it to 65000 miles on the original dunflops!) By that time all 4 treads had started separating. Got them replaced just in time. Can anyone beat that?

But I digress. I've inspected the timing belt and I couldn't see any cracks in it at all. Mine still looks great. I'm going to wait until at least 100,000 miles.

I gave up my dunflops @ 35K..too loose in the wet...65k!!??& the treads letting go?..too long for me. When the tread bars are close to showing up--time to put new rubber on!

Sveivo · Jun 3, 2008

Hehe, I got rid of my stock tires at 55K and thought it was a lot! They were beginning to wear like ripped jeans... no joke.

Back on topic...

Mazda genuine parts ftw (referring to the durability of the timing belt).

ghettoracingkid · Jun 4, 2008

chagned at 172K jsut becuase i didnt wnatto blow it but i think it was fine but better safe then sorry

Rockin03mp5 · Jun 4, 2008

mazdaddy said:
I gave up my dunflops @ 35K..too loose in the wet...65k!!??& the treads letting go?..too long for me. When the tread bars are close to showing up--time to put new rubber on!

Yeah. It got way out of balance from the crappy roads here and was wearing really bad on the inside so it was hard to see. The car started wobbling bad so I checked all around really well one day and noticed the separation on the front tires. I took it in and got the new ones and they said that all 4 were separating and that I was lucky one didn't pop. Glad I had stopped driving on the interstate for a while and taking sharp corners from the wobbling. Now I've been keeping things in check a lot better.

Foolish · Jun 4, 2008

Sveivo said:
You people better have the '03 model. That's some low miles (wrc)

Just hit 46,000 miles, here! Bought Dec. 26, 2003!

Rockin03mp5 said:
( I made it to 65000 miles on the original dunflops!)

Chucked those POS's at <20,000 miles, as we like having the ability to stop in the rain!

Onatrum · Jun 4, 2008

I'm over 129,000 miles...haven't changed it yet. Someday when I'm not so lazy.

RABID_MP5 · Jun 5, 2008

Mine first changed at 206K Miles I think. I asked original owner when he had changed it and got a dumb look. So I immediately changed it upon delivery. Sure enough, a very worn shiny looking belt with no branding, just a few numbers and "Made in Japan" - sure looked OEM. He lived in northern IL, so it saw sub-zero temps. Mazda wants 60K mi intervals at that temp. range. And the mfg date on the car is 12/30/01, so it went about 6 years - I think 5 years is also a recommended limit. But hey on a non-interference engine, maybe he could afford to live dangerously.

Diehonda · Jun 5, 2008

RABID_MP5 said:
Mine first changed at 206K Miles I think. I asked original owner when he had changed it and got a dumb look. So I immediately changed it upon delivery. Sure enough, a very worn shiny looking belt with no branding, just a few numbers and "Made in Japan" - sure looked OEM. He lived in northern IL, so it saw sub-zero temps. Mazda wants 60K mi intervals at that temp. range. And the mfg date on the car is 12/30/01, so it went about 6 years - I think 5 years is also a recommended limit. But hey on a non-interference engine, maybe he could afford to live dangerously.

You bought it with 206k miles on it?

Donas64 · Jun 5, 2008

02 P5 (The white one in my sig) about to hit 90K miles. All is well so far. Though I noticed some hesitation and drop in power. Perhaps time for an oil change and new air filter.

Sveivo · Jun 5, 2008

Foolish said:
Just hit 46,000 miles, here! Bought Dec. 26, 2003!

Chucked those POS's at <20,000 miles, as we like having the ability to stop in the rain!

Dec 03 FTW! Mine was first purchased in Oct of 01 but a young mom

Diehonda said:
You bought it with 206k miles on it?

(wow)

P-Funk! · Jun 6, 2008

Reitrof said:
105,000 miles is the recommended change. That's when I did mine.

^Yep. Some design engineer carefully calculated it (and used good engineering conservatism as well i am sure). Why waste money to do it sooner? Why wait until it breaks/leaves you stranded.

Change per the recommendation of the people that designed it!

bazooka joe · Jun 6, 2008

P-Funk! said:
^Yep. Some design engineer carefully calculated it (and used good engineering conservatism as well i am sure). Why waste money to do it sooner? Why wait until it breaks/leaves you stranded.

Change per the recommendation of the people that designed it!

interesting comment.....i wonder how many have actually broke?

dd123 · Jun 6, 2008

bazooka joe said:
interesting comment.....i wonder how many have actually broke?

I think it would be in the interest of these auto cos to advise these preventive maintenance as often as possible.

ghettoracingkid · Jun 6, 2008

I thought the 2.0 is an interference motor?

liek the belt breaks there goes the motor for the most part

bazooka joe · Jun 6, 2008

dd123 said:
I think it would be in the interest of these auto cos to advise these preventive maintenance as often as possible.

(huh)

ghettoracingkid said:
I thought the 2.0 is an interference motor?

liek the belt breaks there goes the motor for the most part

nope....non...there's a thread that is a mile long about it....right from the repair manual...."noninterference"

RABID_MP5 · Jun 6, 2008

Diehonda said:
You bought it with 206k miles on it?

Yeah, but I don't drive it a lot. I last put gas in it in April. I may keep it say 4 years and sell it with 230K or so.

maxek · Jun 8, 2008

Rockin03mp5 said:
I bought it in Aug 06 with 39000 and I haven't changed my belts yet. Don't know what happened previously, but I doubt they changed it either since the original tires were still on it then. ( I made it to 65000 miles on the original dunflops!) By that time all 4 treads had started separating. Got them replaced just in time. Can anyone beat that?

But I digress. I've inspected the timing belt and I couldn't see any cracks in it at all. Mine still looks great. I'm going to wait until at least 100,000 miles.

Sure no problem. 102K and still orginal dunlops. Thinking of changing them by the end of the summer. They still have a little bit tread left. Driving slow though.

Redcoat · Jun 8, 2008

maxek said:
Sure no problem. 102K and still orginal dunlops. Thinking of changing them by the end of the summer. They still have a little bit tread left. Driving slow though.

There's no way you can eke 102k out of any set of tires, unless you used a separate set of snow tires for the winter months...

Protege5 - How many miles have you gone before changing the timing belt?

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