Timing Belt/Clutch... Pull Engine?

[97 Aspire 5 Speed]

My Aspire has 113K miles on it and I'm 99% sure the clutch has never been touched nor the timing belt.

So I'm looking for opinions as to whether I should just pull the engine/tranny as a unit and do everything at once or just do the timing belt in the car and wait for the clutch to go out... :cry:

(If the engine is coming out... a B6 is going in... ) : 8)

I'm not having any problems at all, but I just think things are "getting due". What is the life expectancy on the timing belt and/or clutch?

Any thoughts/suggestions....

[gomer]

Most timing belts have about a 60,000 mile change interval (belts on cars with flyweight cam/valvetrain assemblies like the Festy and Aspire usually last much longer)... as you don't know when or if this was changed I'd change it now ,, they're cheap to buy and easy to change... The clutch (unless abused) probably has another 50% of it's life left...

[nonamekid]

The timing belt, you don't have to pull the engine to replace. I'd just pull of the top cover and check for cracks or age in the belt. If there is replace, but if not, leave it. If your going to replace the belt, here is a guide.

http://www.fordfestiva.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=356

As for the clutch: go with the age old saying; "if it's not broke, why fix it?"

The stock clutch were well made clutch and can last 200,000+ miles if used properly.

[97 Aspire 5 Speed]

Thanks for the info!!! I'll pull the cover and do a good inspection of the timing belt and go from there.

I'm not used to a clutch lasting anywhere near 100K miles... but then again, I'm used to clutches that are usually behind built V8's. 8)

Thanks again, for the advice, it makes me feel a lot better.

[gdawgs]

On my first festiva, I changed out the clutch at 180,000 just because I thought it couldn't last much longer and might leave me stranded. There was about 1/3 of the clutch plate left so it would have easily have gone another 50,000 of more. My current festiva (91) still has the original timing belt with 125,000 and is in good shape. I do the same as recommended above. Just remove a few bolts from the cover, pull it over a bit and inspect. If you don't see any cracking keep on going.

Why would you remove the engine to replace the clutch? These things are easy to work on. When I did mine, we had the transaxle out in less than 30 minutes. Total time working on the car was about 2 hours(not including the time waiting around for the flywheel to be machined).