CitadelBlue

I have a MY '04 with 68000 miles, garaged. Noticed today the serpentine belt is turning brown... I don't see any cracks .... time for a replacement? What's the recommended replacement cycle?

zeroptzero

I'm not sure colour means anything, you generally go by cracks, frays, or the stretch/wear indicator on the tensioner. The oem Honda belts can take a lot of use. You probably have some life left in that belt if you wanted to stretch it out, but at that age and mileage it doesn't owe you anything. I can almost guarantee that the stretch indicator is likely maxed out but the belts can physically last longer than that before you start seeing cracks and frays. I did mine around 60k miles, I tossed on a Goodyear Gatorback for under $25.

s2klariat

Brown color might indicate early stages of rot. Think of it this way, it's over 8 years old, what are you going to lose if you do replace it? They are inexpensive and extremely easy to change.

CoolGuy094

Yeah, I agree. If it is the original belt it is likely past its service life anyway. The Dayco belts at Autozone, etc. will do just fine, they are around 15 bucks.

TougeS2k

shit mine is almost 13 yrs old.. im assuming there is a nice DIY for doing it.

MM3Kwolik

DIY? Remove factory airbox (if applicable) apply 14mm wrench on tensioner pulley to swing the tensioner out of the way to loosen the belt. Pull off old belt and put on the new belt. Simple as that.

CitadelBlue

yep ... yep .....yep .....that's what I was thinking ....

2003AP1

Mine is turning brown as well..

40K on the clock, but its an 03 with what I believe to be the original belt.
There is actually a wear indicator, however I suppose the cracks come before the wear indicator ever really has a chance.

CoolGuy094

^Yeah, I would assume that a ~10 year old car with only 40k miles under it would show signs of natural aging prior to mechanical aging. That's less than 5k miles a year man!

Saki GT

I'm not sure you need a replacement - if there are no cracks, the belt is holding up fine, probably just discolored due to heat. I have an 04 with ~75k mi, some discoloration but no cracking or fraying, and I asked Billman last spring at the Dragon about my belt and he stated it was fine. Obviously ymmv, replace it for peace of mind if you need it. For reference, what does the manual say about replacing? I think its 105k mi, but I can't recall if there is a time limit as well.