i have a 97 escort, around 80k miles on it. i bought it at 33k miles three years ago and have driven it on highways ever since, mostly in places with no salt on the roads, etc.

im guessing that i probably should swap out the timing belt, but its bitter cold outside and i jsut dont want to deal with it. i also know this is a non-interference engine. does anyone know the normal timing belt replacement cycle for this car? what would change given how old the car is? (i think most cars this old have more miles on them).

i changed the belt (and water pump) on my 93 escort five years ago and it was a huge pain in the butt. possibly because it was fairly rusty, but a big project nonetheless. is the 97 any different? is it still rec'd to change the h20 pump at the same time? any words of advice on milking it?

thanks,
anthony

I would think that as long as you are not abusing the car you should be able to get another 12k out of it no problem... there is always the chance it could break, but I think odds are that you could make it.

Timing belts and timing chains are more likely to snap or slip when the engine rpm drops suddenly. This happens anytime you revv up the engine and 'drop the clutch' in a standard transmission, and the side of the belt that is usually in tension becomes the 'slack' side. Its not likely to happen in a car with the automatic tranny.

well, she is a 5 speed.

removing the timing belt cover was (ironically, i thought) one of hte hardest parts of the 93 escort belt change. is the 97 similar? maybe i could just take a peek at it and see how she looks..

You should be fine. I change my 99 every 70K miles and have not had any issues. You should be good for 12K miles.

Two cars are different animals I think but a '94 Ford Escort 225k. It's a standard or manual 5-speed shift transmission as well. Got quite a bit more life out of the belts when used to do a lot of highway. Assuming the previous owner(s) knew how to drive a manual shift you should be okay for 60k and it wouldn't surprise me if that's at or below the recommended interval anyway. A Haynes manual should advise you on most of the necessary info for tools, procedures and intervals. By the way plastic is flexible. ;) No need to remove the engine mount to get that cover off on the '93 escort. Checking and double-triple checking the rotational direction of the engine, I used the starter to break the crank damper bolt loose. (would've otherwise been impossible without pneumatic tools -- and you'll still need one to permanently tighten it anyway) Small, deep socket against a crowbar to force-back the tensioner pulley at the base. Have no clue what might be involved with the '97 but you may have to use a little creativity that won't be found or warned about in any Haynes manual.

Under the normal mix of city-highway and being a lead-foot, forget it... I would never reach 60k. Slip near idle and am off the clutch fairly quickly with little to no change in RPM from where I started slipping. (no jerking) Routinely buy the very best belts I can find from various different parts chains which helps. I can barely get 15k out of any of them before the belt stretching results in an ever-increasingly rough running/idle and slightly longer crank time. (runs like first day driven off lot whenever replace tbelt) I've had a "tooth" missing on a belt with ~50k on it. I've had one slip with less than 30k on it. Engine is easy to turn by hand and the locking tensioner is just fine; though I found it helps to go a little above recommended torque spec and augment the spring-loaded tension force as much as reasonable before locking it into place. (push from base, not pulley) Really the thing needs a chain...

I would advise putting in a new water pump at the same as the new belt, just because you have to remove the timing belt in order to install the pump. Then you can forget about it for 100,000 miles.

My last timing belt outlased the timing belt tensioner, which only lasted about 62,000 miles.