What is the price difference between the Honda parts and the AISIN kit in your location?

Maybe split the difference and have Eddy install the OEM parts.

Since he is in there I say do the WP and tensioner at the same time.

Now everything buried in there will be at mile zero....be OEM quality.....and be good for 100k miles with confidence.

 

I can never tell those Aisins apart.

 

@Jonny_Scott

You may find this thread interesting:

https://www.ridgelineownersclub.com/threads/when-to-replace-timing-belt.222987/

 

Siouxsie, great thread recommendation for my situation! I can relate to every comment. Should I or shouldn't I? Honda dealer using Honda parts or local guy using AISAN??? My Ridgeline has been garage kept, but a Texas garage that gets hot. At least it has never experienced snow, ice, and salt from northern climates. But the headliner failed, probably because of the heat from that Texas Garage. Other than the headliner, the truck looks new. (Old people take care of their things.) The paint is perfect. The engine bay is so clean, as it under the truck. The original, now 13-year-old Michelin tires, have great tread. But the tires also have LOTS of sidewall cracks and cannot be trusted. I just changed transmission, differential, and transfer case fluids, all for the first time.

I don't want to risk having to buy a new engine or being stranded because of a broken 13-year-old timing belt. This will be a VERY nice, though dated truck with a new timing belt, new tires, and a new headliner. I have a good relationship with an old mechanic, Eddy, who ran a motor pool in the Army. He has a tiny shop, but everything he has worked on for me has been perfect and he is honest. Installation mistakes are probably the biggest risk in replacing a timing belt. I would like the challenge of doing it myself, but watching YouTube videos makes me think this is beyond my experience. I think I am going to have Eddy install the AISIN TKH002 kit from Rock Auto along with a new serpentine belt and call it good.

Thanks for all of your input!

 

The contemporary manuals, for example for my 2025, say, regarding timing belt:

If you drive regularly in very high temperatures (over 110°F, 43°C), in very low temperatures (under -20°F, -29°C), or towing a trailer, replace every 60,000 miles (100,000 km).

Personally, I wouldn't roll the dice on timing belt replacement and would stick to 9 or 10 years replacement if my vehicle hadn't made 100k miles before those dates.

Plus, of course, it's not just the timing belt but things like the water pump and idlers, too, which add more potentail catastrophic failure points to the equation.

It's not a seriously expensive service and is cetainly thousands cheaaper than replacing a wrecked engine.

 

I gotta say that replacing an OEM timing belt, tensioner, waterpump with only 42k miles on it with aftermarket seems like an iffy decision to me. Honda has no official time limit on the belt and I wouldn't consider time as an issue for the tensioners and water pump. You say you "must" replace due to age but that is not part of Honda's guidelines.
Just about the only failures we have seen for timing belts on this forum have been belts that have already been replaced.
Aisin is not the same as OEM.
IMHO, it would be foolish to replace the 42k OEM parts on your vehicle with aftermarket. I would replace with OEM if you must replace at such low mileage.

 

Eurban, your post is VERY interesting. I learned, I thought from the Ridgeline Owners Club site, that one needed to replace the Ridgeline timing belt every 7 to 10 years, regardless of the mileage. But you say, according to Honda, that there is no 7-10 year replacement requirement. Interesting indeed!!!

 

The TKH‑002 is a reliable OEM equivalent kit with a reputation for quality, especially when purchased from RockAuto or a reputable distributor (not via Amazon).

Tutuapp​

 

The TKH‑002 is a reliable OEM equivalent kit with a reputation for quality, especially when purchased from RockAuto or a reputable distributor (not via Amazon).

Thanks. I already have one in my Rock Auto cart.

 

A Honda Pilot owner asked AISIN that same question and AISIN said that the kit endding 'KR' has the water pump made in Korea. Most Honda owners seem to use the TKH002 kit (Japanese water pump.).

https://www.piloteers.org/threads/timing-belt-kit-from-aisin.188127/?post_id=1886813&nested_view=1&sortby=oldest#post-1886813

 

Perfect answer. Exactly what I wanted. Thanks!!!