So as some of you may know...I just bought my car a few weeks ago. It has around 88k on the odometer. I know it's been kept up with maintenance-wise for the most part and there is paperwork for everything, along with a little notepad with every single thing that was done to it from day 1. Oil changes, brake pads, tires, you name it.

The previous owner told me that he had the 60k service done to it, but I can't find the papers for it and it's not written in the notepad. There IS however 30k service receipts. Tranny, diff, coolant service etc.

I think maybe he got that confused with the 60k service...? I don't know. Whatever the deal is, I am feeling really uncomfortable driving this car on the original timing belt. I don't know if thats what is on it, but I'm not really sure how to tell. Maybe I could take the cover off and look for cracks?

Also, if I do end up replacing the belt soon, I was wondering if I should get the 60k or 120k package. The only difference is the idler pulleys right? Do you think I could make it to 150k on the original ones?

I'll want to get an underdrive crank pulley and overdrive water pump pulley also. But DAMN that stuff adds up. Close to $800 from Z1

Opinions please? Thanks people!!!

-Ethan

where did he get the other service done? if he got it all at the dealer then there si a good chance the 60k was done at the dealer and that means you can contact the dealer and they can check their records

yeah it was at the dealer...good idea I'll call them and ask

A bad timing belt doesn't always show signs of wear/fatigue. Best thing to do is find out if the dealer has records to verify.

If you end up doing the job, there's a couple of things I can suggest:

-The RameyZ heavy duty idler studs. Cheap piece of mind, they're much stronger than the OEM studs.

http://www.importpartspro.com/raz30upidst.html

-The ASP and H.I. Pulley combination is cheaper than the UR pulley set while offering comparable performance. The AMS pulleys are not an option, IMO, because they do not fit properly.

http://www.importpartspro.com/aspni30unpu.html

and

http://www.importpartspro.com/hovwapupufor.html

-The Z1 silicone bypass hoses. Buy them once and never replace them again. They only cost about $2 more than OEM, but they'll never leak and don't need to be replaced.

http://www.importpartspro.com/sicobyho90ni.html

Oh, and some kits include a gasket for the water pump. That's fine, you can use it. The FSM says to use liquid gasket. That's fine, you can do that. But you can't do both. Paper gasket, or liquid gasket, but not both.

BigTDogg (MA) wrote:
Oh, and some kits include a gasket for the water pump. That's fine, you can use it. The FSM says to use liquid gasket. That's fine, you can do that. But you can't do both. Paper gasket, or liquid gasket, but not both.

why can't you use both? im curious because i almost did when i did my 120K but i forgot to put the liquid on.

thaixcore wrote:
why can't you use both? im curious because i almost did when i did my 120K but i forgot to put the liquid on.

The combination has been shown to leak in some cases. Not me personally, but I've seen it on other cars.

BigTDogg (MA) wrote:A bad timing belt doesn't always show signs of wear/fatigue. Best thing to do is find out if the dealer has records to verify.

If you end up doing the job, there's a couple of things I can suggest:

-The RameyZ heavy duty idler studs. Cheap piece of mind, they're much stronger than the OEM studs.

http://www.importpartspro.com/raz30upidst.html

-The ASP and H.I. Pulley combination is cheaper than the UR pulley set while offering comparable performance. The AMS pulleys are not an option, IMO, because they do not fit properly.

http://www.importpartspro.com/aspni30unpu.html

and

http://www.importpartspro.com/hovwapupufor.html

-The Z1 silicone bypass hoses. Buy them once and never replace them again. They only cost about $2 more than OEM, but they'll never leak and don't need to be replaced.

http://www.importpartspro.com/sicobyho90ni.html

Oh, and some kits include a gasket for the water pump. That's fine, you can use it. The FSM says to use liquid gasket. That's fine, you can do that. But you can't do both. Paper gasket, or liquid gasket, but not both.

Thanks so much thats some great information! Especially about the AMS pulleys; I'll steer clear of that. What would you suggest I do about the Idler pulleys? I doubt they have been changed, and coming up on 90k, I won't be going back in there until 150k at least, hopefully.

With money being tight as it is right now, I might have to get the idlers and pass on the ASP/HI pulleys for now. I can do them another day; I would rather have reliability than performance, you know?

AND today I just figured out my driveshaft going out on me now...ah such is the life of a sports car owner I guess haha. Wise words I heard from a guy I used to work with:

Three things you always want to go your way when working on a car:Cost, Performance, ReliabilityBut most of the time, you can only have 2.

es.biggs wrote:What would you suggest I do about the Idler pulleys? I doubt they have been changed, and coming up on 90k, I won't be going back in there until 150k at least, hopefully.

If you can verify the belt hasn't been changed, definitely change them, and the studs. Along with the seals, water pump, timing belt tensioner etc etc. Do the whole gambit, and do it right. Piece of mind while driving these cars is very important.

es.biggs wrote:With money being tight as it is right now, I might have to get the idlers and pass on the ASP/HI pulleys for now.

Agreed. They can always be done later, on a Saturday afternoon, it's not a very involved install.

es.biggs wrote:AND today I just figured out my driveshaft going out on me now

I have an NA, 5-SP, 2+0 drive shaft I can sell. Good shape, collecting dust in my storage unit. My Z has an NA rear end, but I have a 1-pc driveshaft. PM or email me for details. TheBigTDogg at yahoo dot com.

Your friend is spot on with these cars. They are easy to maintain, with plenty of performance, but they're not cheap. Keep the receipts if you ever sell it, or Godforbid you need it for insurance purposes, but don't ever, EVER add them up.