2 questions Have you changed your timing belt at the recommended interval? And if so what was your mileage before you changed it and did you change it because you had to?

 

I have ~900 miles before mine is at the 105,000 mile mark. Comes up pretty quick when you average ~2,000 miles per month, lol. I plan on changing them then. If one "had or has to" change their timing belt before or after that mileage, they probably had to change their head as well.

 

I ended up doing my water pump and timing belt around 70k miles...only because I was trying to cover all the bases for an overheating problem...was already replacing the radiator and thermostat.... problem ended up being the heater core

 

Not to thread jack, but what's the best/most complete source for an 04 sxt t-belt kit? I've been searching for the parts, but I can't tell the good from the bad. Thinking Gates belt? Hopefully this can be some help to the OP as well

 

RockAuto has the complete kit for ~$100, which includes a Gates belt. That's where I plan on getting mine from.

 

GATES Part # TCKWP245A {Timing Belt Component Kit W/Water Pump; 3 Components (1 Belt, 1 Tensioner, 0 Idlers, 1 Water Pump)}
W/Mech. Tensioner; Includes Bracket; Interference engine application

$135? Is that everything? Sorry, I just don't want to mess this up. Are there any seals or bolts or anything else that would need to be included in there?

Obviously changing out the waterpump is a good idea, but I don't see any t-stat in there either? Sorry for being such a noob, I'm just trying to go off of VW 1.8T t-belt kits (which are $230, but have a LOT more stuff).

I tried finding a DIY, but maybe I missed it somewhere?

 

That is the one. With that kit, just FYI, you will have to change the tensioner pulley. It doesn't come with the $70 bracket as well. Worth it IMO if you can change it yourself, obviously.

There are seals that can be changed, but I'm not changing mine if they aren't leaking. They don't leak now and I don't really plan on them leaking. I believe the cam and crank seals are under the timing cover...

It couldn't hurt to change the T-stat while you are at it. As for price, you'd spend about $300 in a parts store for the 3 parts listed in the kit above, which is why it really is a deal.

I don't believe this forum has a DIY. I *think* I know where one is. If I find it, I'll post the link later if someone doesn't beat me to it.

 

Changed timing belt and water pump at ~105k. Recently I changed the head gasket and decided to do it all again since I was there (~154k). I'll probably wait another 100k before I go at it again. I didn't have to change it, both times the belt looked fine, but I would rather not have to, as I think there would be a lot more involved if it was a repair job instead of a maintenance job.

 

The thing is, if you don't change the belt and it does break, 99.9% of the time you are going to be pulling the head to fix bent valves too. The Neon engine is an interference-type.

For the link on the How-To: http://chronoscender.freeservers.com...imingbelt.html
Got the link from 2gn.

 

Yeah I realized that as I was typing lol, the "did you have to" part was aimed more towards the water pump side.