Cam belt blown - repair / sell advice

EdGasket

An engine won't stop dead either; the flywheel has a lot of momentum so you'll nearly always have damage. How much depends on how the camshaft was positioned when the belt stopped turning it; valves could be just half open if you're lucky or fully open damaging them, the guides, and possible the piston crown.

Bantex_2

EdGasket wrote: »

plus another £400 to change the cambelt? It has already been suggested before in this thread.

Changing cambelt on an engine that is not in the car is a half hour job.

BeenThroughItAll

cant_think_of_one wrote: »

Just as an update - spoke to my garage and he said not to expect change from £800. Minimum £500 if it's only one valve/minor damage.

He described it that one cylinder is losing compression so the others struggle to compensate it at idle hence the shaking but once revving, the engine better compensates for it. It's a 4 cylinder, 16 valve engine, he said one of the cylinders has lost the compression but could be 1-4 valves that are damaged but there is the potential of other damage.

You came asking for advice, and the best piece you've had so far is the one upon which you should act.

GET A SECOND OPINION.

patman99

I can't believe it. A garage that simply chucks-on a new belt when the old one snapped with the engine running is obviously one to avoid.

When a cambelt snaps on a running engine, a good mechanic would NEVER just replace it. They would know what damage is likely to have occured and would give you the option of repair or replace.

As for the bent valve. I purchased a Focus 1.8 Zetec back in 2011 that had what turned-out to be 1 bent valve. Apart from vibration at idle, the car ran well & passed 2 MOT's in the 2 years I owned it (covered 18k miles). I sold the car (with fault as described) and it is still in use without any repairs.

Quiet_Spark

EdGasket wrote: »

But a Rover V8 has twice as many cylinders to help smooth things out!

Makes no odds whether it's an 8 pot or a 4 pot. I've also seen Ford CVH and Zetec engines start and run with bent valves (obviously somewhat rough but they have run nonetheless), so spacey2012's claim that an engine won't run with bent valves is incorrect.

forgotmyname

Find an old school garage. What they can try is heating the valve and drawing it up and down the guide whilst twisting it. This will help straighten the valve.

No need to strip the head off etc. And costs a fraction of the price of replacing the valve or valves.

arcon5

EdGasket wrote: »

plus another £400 to change the cambelt? It has already been suggested before in this thread.

And so far is probably the cheapest option if you can find a reputable breakers yard and have the garage do some checks on it before installing it.

Changing cambelt on an engine not fitted is a 10-15 minute job! The biggest part of the cambelt change is removing the auxiliary belt and related components to get at it!

colino

"What they can try is heating the valve and drawing it up and down the guide whilst twisting it." Sometimes advice or observations on the internet can be just optimistic guesses, this is just 100% nonsense.

londonTiger

colino wrote: »

"What they can try is heating the valve and drawing it up and down the guide whilst twisting it." Sometimes advice or observations on the internet can be just optimistic guesses, this is just 100% nonsense.

to be honest, even if that fixes the valves. Can you truly trust this engine again? trust it to run reliably to it's expected service life? I reckon something will be amiss with it.

Dismantling an engine to get to the valuves takes time. Not a quick job so if you're going to be spending so much money on labour might as well spend it wisely and get a recycled engined in there.

A second hand engine seems like a sensible bet but it has to be from a trustworthy garage who will only source engines from other reputable scrappers who are happy to provide a warranty with the engine. Last thing you want is another engine that's just been resuscitated and just about clinging on.

I did not consider that the cambelt fitted on removed engine would be a quick 10 minute job. I suppose you can also reuse the cambelt parts that has just been fitted as well in order to save costs a bit more.