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My cam belt bust last night whilst travelling at 70mph, engine cut out, rolled to a halt. How much damage is likely? The car is '93 model, not worth a lot, I don't want to fork out £100 replacing belt if engine is going to need replacing. Any way of checking? There was no hint of a problem before it went, and no dodgy noises now. The starter just turns rapidly without catching. Advice please. Not a mechanic so keep it simple....
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Well I wouldn't try starting the engine again until you've further examined things. That could leave to further damage if you did crank the starter again. The only real way you'll tell if there's any damage or not is to whip the head off and inspect for any bent valves, and also the crowns of the pistons for signs of damage.
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We feel the need to know the engine type - petrol or diesel???
MG-Rover Problems? forums.mg-rover.org
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If it's a diesel- forget it. If it's petrol you could take the plugs out turn the crank so that all the pistons are halfway through their stroke , check by inserting long screwdriver into plugholes make sure the distance on each is roughly the same. Then turn the camshaft over by the pulley bolt, if it refuses to move over and above normal valve spring tension you can be almost sure that the valves have been bent. Other way is to fit new belt and see how it runs, you may be lucky
HTH
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Knowing which engine would be interesting but the trade bible classes all the 405 engines "Interference Types" where damage is most likely. This book has been proved to be over cautious before but is broadly spot on.
Unless you are able to check this out yourself any pro repair is quite possibly going to exceed the base trade value of the car.
Sorry,
MM
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Cheapest option may be a used-engine transplant - depends how much you love the car. I've never quite understood the logic of writing off a vehicle as soon as its book value becomes less than the cost of a repair, but that is what everyone seems to do. And judging by the 'Horrific repairs' thread, that may be happening to ever-younger cars.
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I now understand it's a petrol engined 405 - which probably isn't quite as terminal as an XUD engined oil burner...
Yep, a used engine transplant is probably the cheapest and quickest way out of this - there must be thousands of perfectly good 405 petrol engines around.
Otherwise, rip the head off and and a looksee inside.....
MG-Rover Problems? forums.mg-rover.org
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I've never quite understood the logic of writing off a vehicle as soon as its book value becomes less than the cost of a repair, <<<<
Try this example to see the logic:
your 1999 computer, cost £1200, breaks down.
cost of repair = £400.
value of parts if sold to www.cex.co.uk = £100
so if you sell the computer for parts, add the £400 repair cost, and you can buy a brand new PC for £500 with a higher spec.
The logic for replacing a vehicle is very similar, except that in that case you might only be able to afford a later year 2nd hand vehicle rather than brand new.
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We see this scenario a lot.....
MG-Rover Problems? forums.mg-rover.org
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MB - the factor missing from this example, which for PCs is more extreme even than for cars, is that if you 'upgrade' your equipment you are buying into increased depreciation, which would almost certainly remain small if you fix an old banger. Definitely true for a 1993 Pug 405. The logic we are discussing is the principle behind Bangernomics, which in its cheapest form consists of buying a decent example of a model which has reached its price nadir, keeping it going until it fails an MoT, then repeating the cycle.
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