Does the 2004 Honda Accord 4 cylinder have a timing belt or a timing chain? If it has a belt it is now 7 yrs old with only 30000 miles should I change it?

USA answers, always.
and 60k is most cars. (most cars they like to die at 100k miles)
and is not possible by any human to answer EOL , end of life.

that depends if its Honda belt, or Gates or some china carp
sold off fleabay.
and air temp, where you live, Climate, Pheonix. or Canada?

ok it seems this belt is the first ever to be changed out. Gates is the best.
my online links shows 5 engine options, 1.6L to 3L.
that begs the question #1 is my engine interference type,
if you go to the GATES (tm) ecatalog, you can see if it is or not. using engine type. option as your selection.
i pulled up the maintenance tab and it states, 105K miles.
but may vary by engine, and for sure if belt is 2nd time.
look up this info carefully.
and can vary with cars driven extensively in stop and go traffic.
hot , and long engine hours, but low miles.
i see no chain, on the 5 engines, alldata shows 5 belts.

105,000 miles best case USA.
168,000 meters 168K meters

urgent.? 2.3L is interference 105/60k (60k miles severe usage)
3L?
i look at Gates and bingo Interference.
so URGENT.
is it urgent.
easy answer?, if it looks bad, it is. get it out of there.
cracks, fraying, distortions of any kind.
only reality counts. (yours)

navigates. is the ecat.
http://navigates.gates.com/

if really paranoid, get a real Honda belt... 105k miles is magic.

This is going to depend on which engine you have. The 2005 Accord 4 cylinder has a timing chain and is maintenance free. The 6 cylinder model has a timing belt and should be changed every 90 to 100 thousand miles which you do not want to skip.

On Honda Accord between 2002 - 2010 all they came with was an 2.4L engine, all have timing chain in them, no timing belt

50K miles IS premature for a chain to break. They're pretty tough. Are you sure it's a chain? If it is a BELT, it could be old and broke due to age. They are a synthetic rubber and eventually they deteriorate over time.

You don't specifically state what kind of car your friend has, so I am presuming a 1998 Accord. That car should have a belt.

Either a belt or a chain can fail prematurely if the tensioning system fails. This will allow excessive slack in the chain or belt which will cause damage to the affected drive components. The tensioning systems can fail due to one or more of the following:

Lack of oil pressure, failed tensioning springs, failed pulley bearings, over-revving the engine for ridiculous periods of time, and failed plastic guide components.

Belts can also fail due to chemical contamination (oil or antifreeze leaking on the belt).

Finally - the water pump can fail which will derail the belt as the belt drives the water pump on many Honda 4 cylinder engines.

It depends on the engine. The 4 cylinder engine uses a timing chain, and is generally replaced every 150,000 miles (Honda doesn't give a specific interval) with the water pump (driven off of the timing chain) and timing gears. On the V6 engine, you have a regular rubber/steel belt, and it is supposed to be replaced every 105,000 miles, according to Honda. The water pump is driven off the belt as well, and should be inspected or replaced. (I recommend replacing the water pump anyway, just to save yourself any future trouble)

The picture states honda accord 2001 and going off this info there is a 2.3 petrol with a timing belt due every 72,000 miles every 8 years .

Theres a Accord type R with same info as 2.3

Or thers a 2.0 or 2.4 thats chain driven

Non of witch are 6 cylinders
hope this helps

Your vehicle is equipped with a timing belt. It is due for replacement at 105,000 miles(168,000km)

2003 and up Honda Accord with 4 cylinder engines do indeed have a chain and the V6 has a belt which must be replaced at 110,000 miles. Why? Ask Honda, they designed the engines.

It depends, 4cyl. is a chain, the 6cyl. is a belt and it is an interference engine. I have not done this one yet, but Hondas are never that easy.

your vehicle would actually have a timing belt on it not a chain. Honda recommends replacement at around 90k-105k (miles) along with water-pump ,tensioner and tensioner bearing, depending on climate and normal/severe driving conditions. they have had some issues with some of the hydraulic tensioners, 6 cylinder model, failing prematurely. Depending on the dealership ,and if you can show a record of adddiquate maintenance records (you have kept up on normal maintenance) and failure is not due to anything other than part failure, honda will most likely agree to a warranty of the part itself with you paying for labor cost due to fact of outside normal warranty specs.