u/AwayAbbreviations711

Bought a 2008 Honda Ridgeline about 2 weeks ago with 142k miles for $5600 from a private seller. Before buying it I paid for a pre-purchase inspection and specifically asked about the timing belt because I knew it was important on these J35s. Shop basically told me it was a “good solid rig” and just recommended eventually doing the timing belt/water pump service.

Less than 150 miles later the truck died.

It happened at super low RPM and low speed, basically trying to park into a spot, engine died while we weren’t even moving. Engine cranks but wouldn’t start. Mobile mechanic found the timing belt had lost teeth from coolant contamination apparently coming from the water pump area.

First shop I took it to did a borescope and immediately said engine is toast because they saw what they think are valve marks on the pistons. They quoted me like $12k for a replacement engine which sounded insane. Said J35s are super expensive right now.
Since then I’ve talked to multiple Honda/JDM specialists and gotten WAY different opinions. A couple of them basically said:
low RPM timing failures sometimes survive on these
the marks in the borescope pics may just be normal piston valve reliefs
compression/leakdown testing matters way more than borescope pics alone
general repair shops tend to condemn engines fast instead of properly diagnosing
One Honda/JDM specialist wants to:
throw a temporary timing belt on it
line up timing correctly
run compression + leakdown tests
then decide whether it actually needs a full engine
He said there’s a realistic chance it only bent valves or maybe even survived entirely because it failed at such low RPM. He said $300 to do that.
Other option is just throwing in a JDM engine. I’m getting quotes around:
$1700-$2000 for a JDM J35
$1500-$3000 labor depending on shop
So right now I’m trying to figure out:
Is the “throw a belt on and compression test it” approach the smartest move?
How survivable are low RPM timing belt failures on J35s realistically?
Are these borescope marks actually obvious valve strikes or are people right that they look like normal relief cutouts?
If compression is bad on only a couple cylinders, would you rebuild heads or just swap engine?
Would you personally save this truck or cut losses?
Truck itself is actually really clean otherwise:
clean title
interior nice
transmission shifted good before failure
AWD worked
body decent
frame good
I’m just trying not to make another horrible financial decision after already getting burned once lol. Any input from Honda/J35 people would seriously help.

Bought a 2008 Honda Ridgeline AWD about 2 weeks ago with 142k miles for $5600 from a private seller. Before buying it I paid for a pre-purchase inspection and specifically asked about the timing belt because I knew it was important on these J35s. Shop basically told me it was a “good solid rig” and just recommended eventually doing the timing belt/water pump service.

Less than 150 miles later the truck died.

It happened at super low RPM and low speed, basically trying to park into a spot, engine died while we weren’t even moving. Engine cranks but wouldn’t start. Mobile mechanic found the timing belt had lost teeth from coolant contamination apparently coming from the water pump area.

First shop I took it to did a borescope and immediately said engine is toast because they saw what they think are valve marks on the pistons. They quoted me like $12k for a replacement engine which sounded insane. Said J35s are super expensive right now.
Since then I’ve talked to multiple Honda/JDM specialists and gotten WAY different opinions. A couple of them basically said:
low RPM timing failures sometimes survive on these
the marks in the borescope pics may just be normal piston valve reliefs
compression/leakdown testing matters way more than borescope pics alone
general repair shops tend to condemn engines fast instead of properly diagnosing
One Honda/JDM specialist wants to:
throw a temporary timing belt on it
line up timing correctly
run compression + leakdown tests
then decide whether it actually needs a full engine
He said there’s a realistic chance it only bent valves or maybe even survived entirely because it failed at such low RPM. He said $300 to do that.
Other option is just throwing in a JDM engine. I’m getting quotes around:
$1700-$2000 for a JDM J35
$1500-$3000 labor depending on shop
So right now I’m trying to figure out:
Is the “throw a belt on and compression test it” approach the smartest move?
How survivable are low RPM timing belt failures on J35s realistically?
Are these borescope marks actually obvious valve strikes or are people right that they look like normal relief cutouts?
If compression is bad on only a couple cylinders, would you rebuild heads or just swap engine?
Would you personally save this truck or cut losses?
Truck itself is actually really clean otherwise:
clean title
interior nice
transmission shifted good before failure
AWD worked
body decent
frame good
I’m just trying not to make another horrible financial decision after already getting burned once
Any input from Honda/J35 people would seriously help

Bought a 2008 Honda Ridgeline AWD about 2 weeks ago with 142k miles for $5600 from a private seller. Before buying it I paid for a pre-purchase inspection and specifically asked about the timing belt because I knew it was important on these J35s. Shop basically told me it was a “good solid rig” and just recommended eventually doing the timing belt/water pump service.

Less than 150 miles later the truck died.

It happened at super low RPM and low speed, basically trying to park into a spot, engine died while we weren’t even moving. Engine cranks but wouldn’t start. Mobile mechanic found the timing belt had lost teeth from coolant contamination apparently coming from the water pump area.

First shop I took it to did a borescope and immediately said engine is toast because they saw what they think are valve marks on the pistons. They quoted me like $12k for a replacement engine which sounded insane. Said J35s are super expensive right now.
Since then I’ve talked to multiple Honda/JDM specialists and gotten WAY different opinions. A couple of them basically said:
low RPM timing failures sometimes survive on these
the marks in the borescope pics may just be normal piston valve reliefs
compression/leakdown testing matters way more than borescope pics alone
general repair shops tend to condemn engines fast instead of properly diagnosing
One Honda/JDM specialist wants to:
throw a temporary timing belt on it
line up timing correctly
run compression + leakdown tests
then decide whether it actually needs a full engine
He said there’s a realistic chance it only bent valves or maybe even survived entirely because it failed at such low RPM. He said $300 to do that.
Other option is just throwing in a JDM engine. I’m getting quotes around:
$1700-$2000 for a JDM J35
$1500-$3000 labor depending on shop
So right now I’m trying to figure out:
Is the “throw a belt on and compression test it” approach the smartest move?
How survivable are low RPM timing belt failures on J35s realistically?
Are these borescope marks actually obvious valve strikes or are people right that they look like normal relief cutouts?
If compression is bad on only a couple cylinders, would you rebuild heads or just swap engine?
Would you personally save this truck or cut losses?
Truck itself is actually really clean otherwise:
clean title
interior nice
transmission shifted good before failure
AWD worked
body decent
frame good
I’m just trying not to make another horrible financial decision after already getting burned once lol. Any input from Honda/J35 people would seriously help.

I’m the one with the ridgeline I just bought, then less than 150 miles later the timing belt failed. 2008, 142k miles, $5600 down the drain. Private seller.

Shop said engine is toast. I guess I throw it up on marketplace and CL for like $3500 and hope and pray to recover any money back for selling with a dead engine.

Shop quoted me $12k (seems insane) saying that the j35 engines are super sought after and they couldn’t find one for less than 6k + 6k in labor

Fml

Edit: I really don’t know what I’m going to do yet, like is it worth putting another 2-4k in at all when I got burned so fast? Or cut my losses and sell it for as much as I can as use that as a down payment for a vehicle with a warranty or something. Decisions are not my forte clearly haha

Bought on last Tuesday, drive less than 150 miles, and died on Friday. Engine cut off while parking and mobile mechanic, who works on Hondas, said likely timing belt. Inspected timing belt, intact but no teeth to grip on to crankshaft. Suspected coolant leak, leading to possible bent valves. Fml. On its way to a real shop to get fully diagnosed and see how much :(

2008, 142k miles, bought for $5600. Had it inspected, they said yeah probably needs a timing belt eventually soon but looks like a good solid rig that’ll last. Previous owner said yes it was done (that was a lie). I’m a dummy for buying it