MY 2004 Honda Accord V6 has only 50K. When should I change timing belt?plan to keep this car many more years. I Also, air bag icon flashes intermittently. What causes this flashing?
Your car will be ready for a timing belt change in about 1 year, on the basis of elapsed time. Odometer mileage is irrelevant once the elapsed time limit has been reached. For confirmation, open your glove compartment, take out the Honda Maintenance Schedule, and see what it specifies for this procedure. Note that it will say “xxx,xxx miles or x months”, whichever comes first.
As to the flashing airbag icon, it indicates electronic problems with your airbag that will prevent it from deploying when needed. Even if the problem is intermittent, if you have an accident during one of those “flashing” periods, you will have no airbag protection. I suggest that you have the dealership check the airbag system for electronic problems.
Here’s a wacky idea. Open your owner’s manual and see when the people who designed your engine tell you to change the timing belt.
The belt is about 7 years old right now and my opinion is that around the 6 year mark you’re really gambling so it should have been changed a year ago.
You will have to have the car checked by the dealer for the airbag problem. I note that ALLDATA has several Recalls and Technical Service Bulletins in relation to airbags along with one Recall that could possibly be related to the problem.
Recalls are free of charge to you; the TSBs are generally not. Maybe the problem your car has is associated with one or more of these bulletins. Hope that helps.
Your engine is an “interference” type engine which means it could be severely damaged if the timing belt should break. If you are going to keep the car then get the belt replaced. It’s also a good idea to get a new water pump when the belt is changed.