Timing belt poll

Looking down upon this motley crew from the lofty heights of a 2nd gen, with timing chains I'll have you know, I shall leave you with some of my timing belt regimes.
My rule #1. Re. used vehicle buying - If it's got an interference engine, it's gone past the manufacturers recommended intervals and you don't know the history of the timing belt(s), change 'em.
My rule #2. Sure let it slip past the age or mileage recommended for a change but I won't let it get too far past those.

Why, you might ask, would a chap who does 20k OCI's worry about his timing belts - firstly, he doesn't worry, see first sentence. Secondly, when I do have timing belts I am fully aware that some people can and do get huge miles out of a timing belt that's older than my daughters but for the sake of a 100 buck glorified rubber band and a weekend's work skinning knuckles I am not going to risk totalling a perfectly good engine and twiddling my thumbs by the roadside, because, as with all things, these things are great.... until they're not.

I implemented these self imposed rules many moons past after my old Audi A8 had a belt failure on a busy roundabout with the ex and my kids on board, if nothing else it was flipping embarassing.

 

Put it this way, i just did my second timing belt. I only have 46k on truck. Its $500 in parts with acc belt and takes a afternoon. If you dont and it is can ruin your motor, just remember. Machine shops are not seeing these motors a ton. And they are getting harder to find. If it looks old. Change it.