Replacing those hoses and belts

Question:

My 2003 Honda Odyssey has 98,000 miles on it, and when I took it in to be serviced recently, the dealer told me I needed to replace my hoses and belts. Is he just drumming up business, or is this necessary?

Answer:

Probably both. If one of the belts he is referring to is the timing belt, you may be doing the job just a bit early (I believe the manual says 105,000 miles) but then, better safe than sorry because if the timing belt breaks, it would very likely damage or even ruin the engine, and there is no easy way to check its condition because it is in a housing.

As for cooling hoses and serpentine belts, it probably wouldn’t be a bad idea to change them, but you can easily check their condition if you want to get a bit more use out of them.

If you want to get more life out of them, inspect your cooling hoses for problems, and if they are swollen, cracked or stiff when you squeeze them, they should be replaced. As for the belts, they should not be cracked or frayed, and they should only deflect about one-half inch when held between thumb and index finger and pressed to one side. Do this check in the straight spans between pulleys.

The timing belt change will be expensive, but serpentine belts and hoses are pretty inexpensive.