Born to Drive – Timing Belt #6
Odometer: 512,076
In my last post I talked about how I learned to drive an automobile. We can actually even go back far beyond age 16 to seek out my true driving origins. As a kid, I obsessed over my MicroMachines collection, my Hot Wheels, my die-cast model cars, radio controlled vehicles, and the Pinewood Derby event in Cub Scouts. If it had to do with cars, I was excited about it.
Long before I was driving an Acura, I put hundreds of miles on my pride and joy — a teal green Specialized Hard Rock mountain bike. I took great care of my bike, washed and waxed it frequently, and maintained it by the book. Some traits never change!
Turns out I was also quite the ATVer at a young age. Here I am on the red 3-wheeler with my dad at Fairview Lake in Utah as a kid.
Later my grandparents got a cabin and we spent a lot of time rolling around in this red Kawasaki Mule.
Somehow I even got our picture in the December 1997 issue of Dirt Wheels magazine (top shot here).
Lots of fun high-miler news to share today:
A fellow YouTube-r tipped me off on a high mileage achievement that I hadn’t yet heard. Lee Bates of Ellensburg, WA has been driving his 1967 Mercury Cougar for 43 years and has reportedly driven it 718,000 miles.
My friend Brandon who works at Lindsay Acura in Columbus, Ohio shared this link to a gorgeous 321,000 mile 1994 Legend LS sedan that’s recently gone up for sale. What a nice find! Pretty immaculate condition considering the age & mileage.
And in Drive to Five reader news, I’ve learned that this blog’s reach has extended even to Europe! I received a very nice note from a fellow high mileage car enthusiast named Francesco from Italy who drives a 2005 Fiat Panda 1.3. His car has recently surpassed the 240,000 kilometer mark. Congratulations, Francesco, on your achievement and thanks for sharing these great pictures!
My Legend stayed put this weekend as I ventured to San Diego with a friend.
The Legend went in for service at Acura of Tempe this week for a 90,000 mile service including replacement of the timing belt, water pump, and drive belts. The camshaft seals, crank shaft seal, timing belt tensioner pulley and spring were also replaced. My service advisor, Dana, alerted me (again) to the fact that my power steering pump was leaking. It had been acting up for quite some time now (probably 100,000 miles or more – it’s the original power steering pump). Since the technician was already “into” the disassembly of the car as far as he was, it made sense to go ahead and have the 8 seals on the power steering pump replaced at that same time. Beyond that, a clean bill of health!
Dropping off the car before work on Wednesday morning.
My loaner car for the day was a sexy Alberta White 2011 Acura TSX with the Technology Package. I quite enjoyed rocking out to the XM Radio on my way into work! The TSX had just over 7,000 miles on the odometer. An infant! Favorite feature? The bluetooth voice command interface.
This particular 90k service (the 6th overall that my Legend has received in its lifetime) was covered by Acura and I express my sincere thanks! Next timing belt service due at 602,019 miles.
For those like me who are counting down, the all-new 2013 Acura ILX goes on sale in just a couple of weeks. There are still questions & answers being posted to the Acura ILX Facebook tab! Keep an eye there for future developments. Also check out some recently-released performance stats & clips from Inside Line.
drivetofive 
May 11, 2012 at 4:12 am
My power steering pump has been leaking for over a year. At 6 bucks a bottle for Honda fluid, I’ve gone through 4 or 5. Must be more of a reflection on age, and not mileage.
May 11, 2012 at 2:39 pm
You’re probably right, Duane – sounds like something that just goes bad over time. Toward the end, mine was leaking badly enough to make a mess all over the place. Hope your Friday is going well and you’ve got some fun weekend plans in store.
May 11, 2012 at 10:39 am
Thanks Tyson…i will send photos again when i reach 300.000 🙂
have a good W-End
May 11, 2012 at 2:40 pm
Sounds great Francesco! Thanks again for contributing your pictures and sharing your story! I look forward to continuing to receive mileage updates from you. Enjoy your weekend too.
May 11, 2012 at 9:52 pm
Next timing belt and WP at 600k thats pretty wild! Keep on truckin’ Tyson
May 11, 2012 at 10:49 pm
Will do, Dave! Thanks for the encouragement. Hope you have a great weekend up there. I’m sure it’s prime weather for a top down drive in that classic Bronco…
May 12, 2012 at 6:51 am
Sounds like an expensive bill! I rebuilt a spare power steering pump last month to replace my 241,000 mile pump. First thought after the repair: “HOLY POWER STEERING!”
May 12, 2012 at 3:41 pm
Yeah I never had a complete loss of power steering, just repeated notations by the technicians that the pump was leaking all over the place. You did the repair yourself? Impressive!
May 12, 2012 at 3:54 pm
I didn’t completely lose the power steering, but replacing the pump made me remember how a non-leaky pump makes it feel like the steering column is lined with silk 😉
May 12, 2012 at 2:24 pm
…And I thought you might pick the six cupholders as your favorite feature of the TSX! I hope you at least took advantage of the cupholders. I remember in one of your blog posts that your Legend doesn’t have any.
I enjoyed my free 3 month subscription to XM/Sirius radio, weather and traffic so much that I extended the subscription after the trial period ended. All three services are approximately $65 every quarter. The traffic subscription allows me to see active accidents/incidents/construction. If I enter a destination, the navigation system will re-route me around traffic. Perfect for metro city drivers!
May 12, 2012 at 3:43 pm
Haha – yes, Amanda, I fully enjoyed the cup holders! The Acura dealership in Tempe has one of the best customer lounges I’ve ever been to. I usually leave the dealership with a bottle of OJ, apple juice, and a V8 drink! Not to mention the cookies and chips. Sounds like a pretty good setup you’ve got with the XM/Sirius. I was a little overwhelmed by SO MANY channel choices but in the 24 hours that I had the TSX, I ended up picking a few faves.
May 14, 2012 at 1:52 pm
Keep her rolling Tyson! I liked the clip of the ’67 cougar! One of my favorite muscle cars from back then. I had the opportunity to buy a black on black ’68 XR7 back in the ’80’s. Wish I had since it had a rare 410 engine
May 14, 2012 at 2:36 pm
That would’ve been a fun car to have, Marc. I’d love to share a picture of your LS coupes on Drive to Five sometime. Got any favorite pics you can email me? Few people are as much of an “Acura collector” as you are 🙂
May 14, 2012 at 4:20 pm
Sure thing! I think I have few I can send over 🙂
August 5, 2012 at 6:47 am
Very interesting article, I myself have a hobby website dedicated to this very vital part of one’s camshaft engine, and I found your article very informative. What do you prefer, standard timing belts or timing chains (as is used by say Mercedes)?
August 5, 2012 at 4:24 pm
Hi Smithy, I’ve never had a vehicle with a timing chain but I imagine that might be a little less maintenance than a belt. What is your perspective?