timing belt

[Cookerpebble]

has anybody ever had the timing belt on their car give up. ours just has and wondering if its one of those teeth suckingly expensive repairs or just a run of the mill expensive?

[hobbes1962]

Mine did on an old Citroen I had.

I bought a new timing belt from Autoparts and got a guy I know to fit it for me that way it was pretty cheap to fix.

[squidge]

Apparently it depends what damage it has done and whether its bent some thingies - mine went on an old astra and i just bought a new car.

[theone]

You might be lucky and just need a new belt.

You might be unlucky and need a thousand pound engine rebuild.

[Tugmistress]

How fast were you going at the time? what gear? and did you try to restart the engine?

as said above you may just need the timing belt and timing setting up again or the pistons and or valves may be bent in which case it gets a tad dearer!

[EDDIE]

It depends on whether your car is a safe engine or not.If its a safe engine it means your valves wont hit the pistons if the belt breaks so its not so bad if its not a safe engine your valves will hit the piston and bend and that will be an expensive repair.And then the other thing is well if you have new car with sensors all over the engine it might need to be setup on the computer again.
The only way you will no if its a safe engine if you remove the timing cover and turn the camshaft pully full revolution if it does the engine is safe and if doesnt then its not.
The worst thing with timing belts if you dont change them when your supposed to there is a high chance it will break and if any oil goes on the rubber it will damage the belt

[johno]

has anybody ever had the timing belt on their car give up. ours just has and wondering if its one of those teeth suckingly expensive repairs or just a run of the mill expensive?
depends mainly on what car it is [engine] did it snap on start up and did you keep cranking it or worse was it then towed. either way it could be expensive. a replacement engine may possibly be the cheaper option.
then again you may be lucky and get away with a new belt.

[ashaw1]

If it has gone completely you are in for a huge repair bill i'm afraid. We had one go on a Vauhall Vectra but luckily Vauxhall paid the £1500.00 bill because they had changed the guidance on changing it without notifying anyone. The timing belt synchronises the engine pistons when it fails they fly out of place wrecking parts of the engine. Good luck!

[Dog-eared]

Basically, if the engine made lots of tapping or tinkling noises when the belt bust or when you tried to start it ,you've bent the valves.
A cylinder head off job & new valves, hopefully the pistons arent holed.
Replace timing belts as per the car specifications. Its cheaper.

[johno]

Basically, if the engine made lots of tapping or tinkling noises when the belt bust or when you tried to start it ,you've bent the valves.
A cylinder head off job & new valves, hopefully the pistons arent holed.
Replace timing belts as per the car specifications. Its cheaper.
thats very true, but i had a belt break on car with only 2,7000 miles on the clock. luckily only 1 bent valve.