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Car Engine Timing Belt Problems

Answer:   A compression check of the engine should be done. When the timing belt broke, it may have bent a valve or two If ok then recheck the belt timing.

Question:   2001 Nissan Sentra, mileage: 77,000. I purchased a used Nissan Stanza about a year ago. The car is no longer running and I was told by a mechanic that it needs a new timing belt. What happened was the car had been bucking a little and then just stopped running as I was on my way home. No noise, nothing. It was as if the car just turned itself off. Here is my question. Does this car have two timing belts? Second question. My son looked at the car too and he doesn't think the timing belt is the problem. He thinks that it could be the flywheel, whatever that is. I am a single parent, student, and work. I don't have a lot of money but need my car desperately. I was told that when the timing belt goes the engine goes because valves are usually bent. If this is the case and this is what happened to my car, is there a way to tell if the valves have been bent without spending hoards of money just to find out if the care is useless?

Answer:   There is only one timing belt and the symptoms you described would lead us to believe that indeed your timing belt failed. There is a reasonably good chance that if the timing belt failed the valves were not damaged. It would be extremely rare for the flywheel to cause the problem you described.

Question: 1998 Honda Civic, mileage: 108,000.  I am changing the timing belt for my Honda. I already have all that I will need. I would like to know what the marks are and in what position they have to be in. And I'd like to know how to do it without books.

Answer:   First put the engine on top dead center and mark the pulleys. Then just loosen the old belt and slip the new one on.  Be careful not to move any of the pulleys, reassemble to recheck.

Question: 1999 Dodge Caravan, mileage: 130,000. My faithful Caravan failed the other night. She started and let me go a few feet before stalling and failing to restart. I suspected the timing belt gave up, but when I pulled the top cover, the belt appears intact, and under tension. When I crank the engine, the belt is not turning. Is it possible that the belt has failed and jammed? Or, am I on the wrong track?

Answer:   You are on the right track - the timing belt has failed. The belt is still under tension because the teeth on the inside belt have been stripped off. Rarely does the belt break when it fails.

Question: 2002 Hyundai Elantra, miles: 78,000  My brothers Elantra quit running, when we pulled off the upper timing belt cover, we could see the timing belt, when he turned the car over we could see that the belt was not moving, the belt was not loose and did not appear to be broken (at least not from the view that we had from the upper timing belt cover). Does this sound as though the timing belt has broken, and if so I have read, that if these Hyundai motors do break a timing belt, that the piston will hit the valves causing severe engine damage. Do you think that may be what we're looking at, and if so can you tell me approximately how much we are looking at to do the necessary repairs?

Answer:   The timing belt has failed. What you are seeing are the results of the teeth shearing off of the inside of the belt. The valves may or may not be bent. Try replacing the belt and doing a compressions check. If the compression check is okay, the valves are not bent. If they are bent, the valve will need to be repaired.

Question: 1998 Toyota 4Runner, mileage: 151,000. Took my 4Runner to the Toyota dealer to change the timing belt. It was changed before at 65k it now has 151k. They ran into a problem. There is a pulley, which is bolted onto the crankshaft. They turn the bolt 3 times and said it should have broken free and been able to hand turn. The said that they can try to cut the bolt off and remove the pulley to see what's going on behind there. But, they said I would most likely need a new engine bottom. Roughly $3-5k job. Does this sound right?

Answer: It sounds as if the threads that hold the bolt to the bottom pulley on the crankshaft are stripped. When the belt was changed at 65,000 miles it may have been over-tightened, which could damage the threads. What we would do is remove the radiator and the grill to gain clear access to the front of the engine. Then we'd remove the bolt in question. If it broke off, we would drill it out and tap the end of the crankshaft. If the threads were damaged beyond repair, we would drill and tap it out to the next size larger. This would cost considerably less that $3000.00, more like a couple hundred dollars.

Question: 1999 Ford Escort, mileage: 169,000. I had my timing belt/water pump/tensioner replaced 2 months ago as preventative maintenance. My problem is the engine was mouse-quiet before, now it makes a growling, whirring type noise now when accelerating or letting off the accelerator to shift (manual trans.). I took it back to the shop and they said it was fine, that some belts and designs make noise; mine was quiet compared to some. They also indicated they set the tensioner to specs, whatever that means. I have done my homework on this lately, as I am getting nowhere with the shop, and I can't afford to have it done over somewhere else. My understanding is that you loosen tensioner bolt, pry back tensioner, then re-tighten. Put new belt on, loosen bolt, let tensioner snap against new belt, then tighten, no provision for manual adjustment as far as I can tell. They said they routinely 'assist' tensioner to put a little extra tension on belt. I had the whole thing apart, but couldn't seem to get lower part of timing cover to release from engine, otherwise would have done it over myself. Is this normal for the belt to make noise? It is even kind raucous sounding at idle. Eric.

Answer:  It sounds like they over-tightened the timing belt. At this point, we would recommend putting on a new belt and properly tension the belt.

Question: 2002 Dodge Neon, mileage: 64,000. Engine is running rough and at times, producing very little power. I took it to an authorized service dealer for diagnosis. They said the "upstream oxygen sensor" has failed and needs to be replaced. That sounded fine to me. Next, citing the mileage of the car, the tech earnestly mentioned that the timing belt should be replaced. I understand the implications of a failed timing belt but I was rather surprised that it would need replacing at only 64,000 miles. Any thoughts?

Answer:   In your owner's manual, it will tell you the mileage that is suggested for maintenance of various components on your car. 64,000 miles is about right for a timing belt.

Question: 1999 Nissan Sentra, mileage: 105,300. I'm planning to have my timing belt replaced in about 3 weeks on this vehicle. While that is being replaced I would like to kill two birds with one stone and replace any pumps that would need to be replaced soon (according to mileage life expectancy) maybe oil or water pump? Thanks!

Answer:   It would be good preventative maintenance to replace the water pump, radiator hoses and drive belts.

Question: 1989 Mitsubishi Montero mileage: 80,000. Hi, I recently had my timing belt replaced. Then less than 2 weeks later my engine dies going down the highway (also the same day as the mechanic smogged it and the same day I took it in to him complaining of excessive engine noise and vibration. He said after looking at the vehicle and test-driving it, nothing appeared to be wrong). I had the car (94 Gallant with 2.4 16 valve single ohc) towed to the mechanic. Mechanic found the motor had zero compression and the valves appeared to be bent (he showed me the loose rocker arms and pried on the valves till the rocker arms no longer wobbled I never got to see the head). After he removed the head, there were visible marks on the pistons from two of the valves on each cylinder. My question is what caused this? The car is still at the dealer and he is working on it. He hasn't told what caused the damage. Lay people that have had a similar situation have told me that the timing belt has jumped.... Help!

Answer:   Zero compression and marks on the pistons from the valves, would only indicate one thing, that the new timing belt somehow came loose allowing the belt to jump resulting in bent valves.

Question: 2001 Ford Escort, mileage: 79,000.  I was told I had to change the timing belt by my mechanic.  The book says no on the 1.9 engine, who do I believe in?

Answer: It is a mileage as well as a time factor when to change the timing belt.  Under the circumstances, your car being a 2001, your mechanic is right.  Timing belts get old and thus become brittle and prone to crack.

Question: 2002 Dodge Caravan, miles: 102,000. I'm getting conflicting information...  The Gates replacement belt web page and several messages on various bulletin boards say the six cylinder, 3.0 liter Dodge Caravan engine is a non-interference engine while several other postings and the Alldata repair manual say that it is an interference engine.   I lost my timing belt while driving about 60 mph and tried to start the vehicle several times before I realized what had happened.   The van is a with 102,000 miles on the original engine (as far as I know.)  I don't want to put a lot of money into repairing it.  What are the chances the valves are OK?

Answer: Our sources identify your engine as a non-interference type.  However, we have found that occasionally the valves still get bent when the timing belt brakes.   In order to determine if the valves are bent, put a timing belt on and do a compression check.

Question: 2000 Mercedes C230, mileage: 123,000.  Hi guys, this web page is awesome!  I have a couple of questions regarding maintenance.  I believe my engine uses a timing chain and not a belt.  In any case, at what mileage would you recommend changing the chain (or belt)?  Also, it seems like some days, my car runs very strong but then once in awhile it feels very sluggish.   I know the honeycomb in my catalytic converter is damaged/loose.  Could this be related to the power loss or is it something else?  If the car needed a tune-up, I would think it would run poorly all of the time.  This problem seems to be more sporadic.  Thank You,

Answer: As a general rule, timing belts should be change at approximately 60,000 miles.  Timing chains have a longer life and are normally changed during an engine overhaul.  Your car has a timing chain.  As to your sluggish problem, if the catalytic converter is damaged, the exhaust is likely being restricted. Or the mass air flow meter needs replacing.

Question: 1999 Ford Escort, mileage: 120,000.  I recently bought this car as a second car to travel to work.  The previous owner recommended the timing belt be changed at this time.   My mechanic said this car did not have a timing belt.  Please explain.

Answer: Yes, it has a timing belt and it should be changed to prevent engine operation failure.

MORE: Timing belt questions

Repair Topics / Engine Timing Belt-1 / Engine Timing Belt-2 / Engine Timing Belt-3 / Engine Timing Belt-4

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