Certified Used Car Shop

Your timing belt is something that you never see, and something you rarely think about, if ever, but it is something that can ruin your schedule, budget, and car experience, all in just a moment.  You have probably heard from your dad, your auto repair professional, and maybe even from a car repair radio show or two, that you have to change your timing belt.  Like so much other advice, it can get thrown in with other gems like “respect your elders” or “don’t chew with your mouth open”.  However, as you will see, the consequences of not heeding this advice can be quite devastating. 

Your car engine is a very complicated piece of equipment.  Using internal combustion, it pulls you down the road, while simultaneously powering every component you and I take for granted in our modern automobiles.  Today’s auto repair technicians are highly skilled and highly trained to be able to keep up with all of the changes constantly made to the modern engine.  One of the core functions is timing.  There are valves that open and close to allow fuel into the combustion chamber, and exhaust out of it, and these must open at the right time, or the wrong thing will come in and the wrong out, which would obviously mess everything up.  All you have to do is get that mix off just by a little bit, and it will have a big effect on how your engine runs.  The worst thing is if your timing belt breaks.  Any auto repair professional can tell you some horror stories that people have had to deal with in their lives with their timing belt breaking.  Depending upon the way the engine is made, it can bend all the valves, which results in really bad things.  Essentially, the timing belt connects the crankshaft with the two camshafts. If the belt breaks, then the crankshaft, the piston and the rod assembly will move with the valves still. If your engine is made like this, it will cause the piston to collide with the valves, damaging the pistons, valves, and the entire head in some cases. Nothing may get damaged, though. It all depends, again, on the type of engine you have.  There are interference and free-wheeling engines. A free-wheeling engines will have a space between the top of the piston and the bottom of the valve, so if the belt breaks, then the valve would not hit the piston.  But do you really want to take that chance that you MIGHT have the right kind of engine?  The best thing to do is to not take any chances, and have your timing belt changed at the recommended interval.  Your auto repair professional will know what that is, or you can contact your local manufacturer or consult your manual. 

Changing your timing belt is expensive, and you should budget for it.  It will not be cheap.  Because it usually involves the removal of other components of your engine, you should consider getting them replaced at that time (you are already paying for the labor to remove and replace them, why not buy a new one and have it put on?).  This will differ with every automobile, so again, consult your auto repair professional.

If you pay close attention to your auto maintenance needs, including your timing belt, your car or truck should run very well for many years to come.  It is only when we neglect our scheduled maintenance that it really comes back to bite us in costly repairs.