What Happens If Your Timing Belt Snaps?

What Happens If Your Timing Belt Snaps?

The most difficult aspect of your timing belt maintenance is that it will usually continue to give dependable service, with minimal attention, for several years.
But rubber is, of course, a perishable item, and the constant exposure to the high temperatures found in an engine, together with the speeds at which the belt has to constantly rotate, means the timing belt has to work really hard to keep everything running harmoniously.

If your timing belt snaps, there are two likely scenarios, which will depend on the type of engine timing configuration employed.
So-called ‘interference’ engines need the cam belt to prevent the valves and pistons inside your engine from smashing into each other at high speed. And of course, if they were to do this, it’s likely to result in the respective parts being smashed to pieces and distributing the resulting debris all over the inside of your engine, so unleashing all kinds of mayhem which can cause damage way beyond the individual components involved.

If your car has a non-interference engine, the pistons and valves are housed separately, so a snapped timing belt shouldn’t cause any damage to them, and a repair can be made simply by fitting a new belt. However, your car will still be immobilized if the belt snaps, which could result in you having to pay to have it towed to a garage if you don’t have the benefit of membership of a recovery service