Just how critical is the 60,000 mile service interval? Can I safely push that out a bit till the economy firms up and my employment situation improves?

I'm not meaning the oil change, etc, but the expensive stuff - timing belt change, new water pump, etc.

Are there some items that would be considered absolutely critical that I should do at 60,000 for sure? And some other items that are less critical, which could safely be put off for a while?

I will definitely be doing an oil change, rotate tires. Anything else?

 

good question. i'm wondering this as well. I'm at 56k right now and I've been paying off credit card debt and hospital bills. The evo is at the very bottom of my priority list but some things just have to get done as far as maintenance.

 

If the timing belt breaks, then you will likely have to replace all the valves, springs, etc.. I wouldn't push it too much on the timing belt...

 

I agree with the previous statement.

If you dont have the funds to do it, then you just simply dont have the funds. Either cut back somewhere or bite the bullet on a credit card to get that stuff done soon.

I would definitely take the timing cover off and look at the condition of the belt and see if it is cracking or splitting anywhere. If it looks good you probably have some time to put it off, but I wouldn't wait too awful long. The factory builds in a cushion into their maintenance schedules, but again do it asap.

 

+1 the factory warranty schedule is always put on a mileage before those parts absolutely need to be changed, so depending on the parts condition depends on the car. My timeing belt looks new since ive always used belt comditioner, even at 56 k miles.

 

+1

I consider it critical, especially the Timing Belt as others have mentioned. If that snaps, you'll be in a world of hurt. I keep hearing horror stories about how people who didn't change their timing belts @ 60K miles had it snap on them @ around 65K-70K miles. Destorying the valves, spring, rockers, etc in the engine in the process, leading to costly engine repair. It seems after 60K miles you're running on borrowed time.

 

I don't see why this car's timing belt interval is 30K short of your average car. I honestly think it's Mitsubishi's way of covering their *** due to acknowledging how badly some will abuse them.

 

^^^ most manufacturers dont ask for the timing belt to be changed at 60k?

 

 

I think 60K is pretty standard... I personally will do mine long before i reach 60K miles just to be safe, especially at my power level and the extra wear and tear of driving it hard

 

Personally, esp. if your evo is your daily driver - get it done, no use kicking yourself later when the belt breaks! But, depending on your driving style, you might be able to get away with letting it go quite a bit. I, myself, only daily drive mine, and only hit boost when passing grannys and cell phone users

 

I don't understand why the timing belt needs changing at 60K. I drove the stock timing belt on my WRX to 100K and although it looked a bit stretched it was not cracked or frayed and that belt is much longer and it has to turn 4 cam shafts. I wonder if it has anything to do with the "hydraulic lifters" on the 4G63 or tighter valve piston clearances than on other engines and the recommendation is not based on breaking a belt but the inaccuracies caused from a stretched belt.

 

on my brother's sti, the subaru dealership replaced his at 54k because it was worn through the rubber into the belt itself

 

I feel you on the money side. It'll probably be fine and you can probably stretch it for another 10000miles or less. There are some vendors that offer reasonably and well priced timing belt packages.

 

Personally I'm going to only replace the belt and the tensioner/ balance belt. Water pump going out at 60k.. Never heard of that before. Pulleys, never seen one of those fail either.