Cam belt has gone on my car - not sure what to do

shaun_from_Africa

I think you have had 2 totally unrelated problems. That of the starter and then the cambelt.

I still don't think that this is the case.

The OP had a problem when they first started their car to move it. (the grinding noises).
Later that same day they then had a jump start for the car and drove it home.
At this point there couldn't have been any problem with the cambelt breaking or slipping or they would never have manage to drive 55 miles.

The next morning the car was towed to the garage, so if engine was running okay when the OP arrived at their house, when did the damage (pistons, something metal sounding, contact and bending) occur?
If the engine is damaged like this, it could only have happened after it arrived at the garage, in which case I would be asking why they started an engine after it had already had a problem that involved loud grinding and grating noises without doing a bit of investigation first.

somech

as others have said if the cambelts snapped the engine won't run eg no way you'd have driven it home.
the garage won't have have stripped the engine to diagnose it at worst they would have removed the cambelt cover.
even a half trained mechanic can diagnose a broken cambelt just by listening to the engine turning over.
go to the garage and collect the car you drove it home so it should still start. if the garage have stripped the engine without your permission you have every right to demand that the car be put back to the same condition as when it was taken there.

cyclonebri1

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

I still don't think that this is the case.

The OP had a problem when they first started their car to move it. (the grinding noises).
Later that same day they then had a jump start for the car and drove it home.
At this point there couldn't have been any problem with the cambelt breaking or slipping or they would never have manage to drive 55 miles.

The next morning the car was towed to the garage, so if engine was running okay when the OP arrived at their house, when did the damage (pistons, something metal sounding, contact and bending) occur?
If the engine is damaged like this, it could only have happened after it arrived at the garage, in which case I would be asking why they started an engine after it had already had a problem that involved loud grinding and grating noises without doing a bit of investigation first.

In essence that's what we agree on, but to sort out the starter they have to eventually start the car, and if it was driven in with the cambelt intact, which we all agree has to be the case, then although it proves it was fine when it got there, it did fail at the garage..

Now no gargae is going to accept liability for that,

trets77

Was the Breakdown Guy AA or RAC ? they know a slipped / Snapped Cambelt when they see one . might be worth getting back in touch with him to give his account to the garage .

i had a Peugeot 205 , and the Cambelt slipped while moving . Car would not start , AA man took all of 2 mins to Diagnose the problem . i got lucky the engine had stopped dead and the valves remained undamaged. one new cambelt and good to go .

if you had smashed your Valves , you would not be able to drive 55 cm let alone 55 miles .

if it is smashed Valves then you are looking at new engine or a complete rebuild . next time look at your service schedule and change the belt in good time . me personally i change the Belt and tensioners every 45K , even when my the schedule says 60K

Incyder

The cambelt may have snapped when they tried to start it in the garage.

The starter was the main problem, it sounds like the dog stuck in the teeth on the flywheel and didn't retract properly, that was the noise u heard.

If this happened again in the garage when they tried to start it, big damage could be done to the teeth where the two meet. If the starter caused the flywheel to stop dead, then perhaps the energy the engine had continued to force the cam/pistons/valves for a second or so and the belt snapped under the pressure.

Take someone who knows about engines to the garage with you, there will probably be an access hole in the cambelt cover you can shine a torch through and see if the belt is still in place, or just take the cam cover off, just a few bolts usually.

best of luck.

dagrowler

Yeah the guys who came out were AA. I'll have to find someone who knows what they're talking about. Being a girl is pretty annoying sometimes.

cyclonebri1

dagrowler wrote: »

Yeah the guys who came out were AA. I'll have to find someone who knows what they're talking about. Being a girl is pretty annoying sometimes.

I think you've had pretty much all the advice you can expect from here.
Take someone with a nous of mechs to the garage and all should be clear.

But does sound like you still need a new motor, sorry. If it is as suspected, don't even consider repair unless on a diy basis.

optimus_primera

Not all AA/RAC breakdown operatives know what they are doing ... the guy who came to my Disco when it died couldn't diagnose the problem, the recovery driver from company the RAC sent out to recover me, took one listen,shouted at me to switch it off,saying the big ends had gone ...... he was right .....

boobyd

Just to add this in, I had a 306, on starting it it made a grinding , god damn awful racket, drove it home, it still started etc.
The cause was the camshaft pulley, the guide the cam belt ran in had seperated from the main pulley, got new one fitted and belt, all ok, worth checking.

dodger1

dagrowler wrote: »

He started it and I drove it home (it wasn't making the scary noise at that point, once it started)

The car simply won't go anywhere with a broken cambelt.