Does anyone know why the the owners manual states that the timing belt should be replaced at 60K unless the car was initially registered in certain states in which case the timing belt should be replaced at 105K??? This is on a 2000 Mazda Protege. Also, what is the camshaft oil seal???
Thanks.
Originally Posted by Al J.
Does anyone know why the the owners manual states that the timing belt should be replaced at 60K unless the car was initially registered in certain states in which case the timing belt should be replaced at 105K??? This is on a 2000 Mazda Protege. Also, what is the camshaft oil seal???
Thanks.
Good question. Call a few Mazda shops and see if you get the same answer to the question. You may have better luck asking for the service manager, he may not know either but I doubt if you will find any service writer who knows.
The camshaft oil seal is behind the cam sprocket. It keeps oil from under the valvecover/camshaft area from leaking past the cam bearing and getting on the timing belt.
Simple, California consumer laws state that that part MUST last 105K miles. In point of fact very few TBs fail in the 60-100K range. Most people I know replace theirs at about 80K miles, but make sure they do the WATER PUMP at the same time as you're down to that point anyway, and water pumps are USUALLY very long lived.
I own a Mazda Miata and many if not most Miata owners are enthusiasts who dote on their cars like newborn babies, regardless of the age and mileage on the car. On miata dot net there was a poll of age/mileage of TBs to try to determine the maximum mileage/age anyone had gotten out of their belt. IIRC it was about 125-140K miles.
I'm pretty sure all Mazda motors are NON-INTERFERENCE type, which simply means that if the belt were to break while the motor was running it WOULD NOT cause the valves that were open to collide with the pistons when the pistons reach the top of the stroke.
Most areas the belt and water pump and all seals is probably less than $500, maybe a bit more at the dealer.
Frank
Tags: mazda, protege, timing, belt, belt should, belt should replaced, should replaced, timing belt, timing belt should, timing belt should replaced, camshaft seal
