I have the same miles as U, and my advice it to wait.
90,000 miles+ will be a good point to change.

That's just Haynes, they always want U to spend money on what they put in the book for U to do. A True SPI owner knows when it's time.

 

I really appreciate the advice. The Pep Boys info may be false, but it did make me panic enough to call the stealership for a quote thinking I better get it done ASAP. I love my SPI! Its a great work car, getting 33-34 mpg commute (70/30 hwy/cty) and 37-41 mpg highway. [Search the forum for a description of my mpg mods.] With your advice I will wait for 90000 miles to change the belt, tensioner, and water pump (possibly the oil pump as well). As long as the mpg stay good I hope to drive this car for many years!

 

90k should be ok, but the belt is really easy to change...I can do it in under 2hours on the floor with hand tools - of course, I also changed over a hundred of them when I worked for ford, but it's very simple...no special tools necessary. water pump replacement is not necessary, unless you're having concerns, but if you're waiting until 90k and you feel reasonably confident about your ability to clean the gasket surfaces and create a proper seal, doing the water pump with the timing belt isn't a bad idea, just so you don't have to pull it apart again later.

 

But I would rather suguest to change the idler pulley, but not so much the water pump.

 

they're really not that expensive...do both while you're in there...just keeps you from having to tear it down later if something goes wrong

 

Great advice! I will wait for 90000 miles to change the belt, tensioner, idler pulley, and water pump.

 

ok, i need t know something my spi foucs just hit 85k and i've been getting some vibration under the hood and i dont know if it would be the timing belt, the vibration is worse when its in grear. i inspected the belt and it was still in good condition, i talked to some ford guys and they told me it could be a engine mount that could be shot.....can anyone offer more advice??

 

I am at 78 thousand miles and about 3000 miles ago I got new motormouth to for the same problem

 

^^^Well, my advice will be off topic for this thread, but if I were you, I'd start off with a tune up if you haven't already. Check your spark plugs, air filter, plug wires, change your fuel filter, check all fluids, etc.
Whoever just randomly pops off an answer like, "your mounts are shot!" is obviously not making an informed suggestion.

 

thanks for the advice, i did do all the normal tuning when the problem started but it didnt do any good. i have notice that the vibration gose away when the engine warms up as im driving, but returnes when i hit the gas. with all the tuning up out of the way i cant think of anything else.