Don’t wait too long to check your timing belt/timing chain

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s an all-too-familiar story from our clients:

Our good friend was driving along and his car suddenly stopped working. He coasted into a parking lot and gave us a call.

A car suddenly not working can be caused by several things: a fuel pump, an electrical issue, a plugged fuel filter, etc. It didn’t take long to realize he had a broken timing belt.

Broken timing belt on a Toyota Rav4 at The Shop Auto Repair Boise

Broken timing belt on a Toyota Rav4 at The Shop Auto Repair Boise

 

Our friend lucked out in this situation. There are two types of engines: interference and noninterference. His was a noninterference. If this happened on an interference engines, there would be furthur damage inside the engine between the pistons and valves. The repair (of either a rebuilt or new engine) would have cost over a thousand dollars. But because he had a noninterference engine, we were able to replace the timing belt with minimal work.

Car manufacturers include a timing belt repair in the scheduled list of tune ups and maintenance. We recommend you follow the recommended schedule of maintenance and replace your timing belt or chain before it breaks. It’s too risky to push it past, especially if you have an interference engine.

If you are concerned about your timing chain or unsure of when it needs to be replaced, give us a call. We can look up your car’s tune up schedule and also find out if it is an interference or noninterference engine.

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