Paid $500 to a trusted mechanic. Ordered an AISIN timing belt kit and a Bando drive belt for around $250 (including tax and shipping).
Get the Aisin (OEM supplier) Timing belt and water pump w/ hydraulic tensioner kit (TKT021) from RockAuto (good price, authentic Aisin).
I used to be a Toyota parts guy, we used aisin kits for all our timing belt jobs on all the UZ V8s, all of them are the same layout.
AISIN TKT-021 kit has everything you need for timing belt/water pump. The water pump is driven by the timing belt, so always replace it when doing the belt.
Re the timing belt, if that has not been done I would get to that immediately. At 350K km it is a ticking time bomb. Use, specify, or supply the Aisin TKH-002 timing belt kit. It is OEM quality
I’ve used dozens of the Aisin TKH002 kits- they come with koyo bearings, a decent tensioner, and a Mitsuboshi timing belt, all very similar to the oem Honda parts. I think the only major difference is the Honda water pumps are usually made by Yamada and the aisin ones are made by aisin… I can’t say I’ve ever had failures with them
Aisin timing belt kit is a few hundred bucks and very nice quality parts.
Pretty much all the newer Ford 4 and 3 cyl crap-box engines have what's called a wet belt for the timing. It's inside the engine as opposed to external like any sane normal or any moderately intelligent person would engineer.
Because of this, they require a VERY specific grade of oil, usually 0w-20 or 5w-20 full synthetic. If the wrong oil is used the belt will start to degrade and shred itself, this then starts plugging the oil pump pickup with rubber debris and starves the engine for oil. Or it just outright shreds and snaps, like yours did.
Bare in mind that this car uses a "wet belt" timing belt, where the timing belt runs inside the engine within the oil. This means that unless oil changes are carried out frequently, small parts of the belt break off and clock up the oil pickups, starving the engine and killing it.
Regardless of servicing etc, that wet belt is still deteriorating as it is soaked in the hot engine oil.
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If choosing timing belt across many manufacturers, check the part ranking. If your choice is down to two brands, the PartReview part comparisons help.
We compare timing belt across these categories:
In March 2026 on PartReview, timing belt AISIN were overall better than OEM FORD.
In March 2026 on PartReview, timing belt AISIN were overall more popular than OEM FORD.
By vote balance, timing belt AISIN surpassed OEM FORD:
By number of reviews, timing belt AISIN surpassed OEM FORD:
In March 2026, according to PartReview, timing belt AISIN led more car-specific ratings than OEM FORD:
AISIN are chosen by owners of cars such as: Subaru Legacy, and others.
Timing belt OEM FORD have not yet taken leading positions in car-specific ratings. You can help by adding a review and specifying your car.
If this comparison didn’t fully answer your question, there are many others on PartReview.
For example, comparisons of timing belt AISIN with: Gates, OEM Volkswagen, OEM Honda, OEM Toyota, Continental, Mitsuboshi, Contitech, OEM Subaru, DAYCO, OEM Volvo.
Also available: comparisons of timing belt OEM FORD with: Gates, OEM Volkswagen, OEM Honda, OEM Toyota, Continental, Mitsuboshi, Contitech, OEM Subaru, DAYCO, OEM Volvo.
You can also see who is better among other timing belt manufacturers: AISIN or Gates, Gates or OEM Volkswagen, Gates or OEM Honda, OEM Toyota or Gates, Continental or Gates.
