Snapped timing belt. Don't lie to me. Tell me it'll all be fine. - Troubleshooting - VWDiesel.net The IDI, TDI, and mTDI source.

• Snapped timing belt. Don't lie to me. Tell me it'll all be fine. by lilbacon3 on 31 Aug, 2010 08:55
• Hello all.
  I'm new to this forum, pretty new to diesels, but not new to VWs.
  My timing belt snapped.  Here's the story and some photos:
  
  I've been living in Japan for over 4 months now.
  Before I left, however, some buddies and I had a 1.6D swapped into a formerly gas Rabbit and had it towed to my BMW-loving buddy's place in southern Michigan.
  He and another BMW guy said they'd work on it while I was in Japan if I gave them cash and free will to sell my spare parts for cash.
  
  WELL, to make a long story short, they got it running...poorly.
  It would run (terribly) with the advance cable engaged, then fall on its face when the advance cable was disengaged.
  They don't know much at all about diesels and tinkered with it.
  Eventually, they decided to take it onto the road.
  A few hundred feet later, supposedly while the engine was choking to death again, the timing belt snapped. 
  SO, my minty, <8k-mile VW Certified rebuilt 1.6D engine is likely damaged.
  
  Do you think there's a chance nothing happened to the valves?
  My friend said the belt snapped when the engine had nearly stopped...  For this reason, he thinks there's probably nothing wrong with it...   
  And, because I timed it, he sent the blame my way.
  
  About that...  When I bought the engine from a VW mechanic's barn, he said it had been sitting for a few years, but ran like a top with good compression before they pulled it out of a dasher that was rotting to death.
  Taking this as truth, I replaced the timing belt, carefully marking the belt and sprockets so that nothing would change position during the new belt installation.
  I tensioned it to the extremely accurate specs I have read about twisting the belt to "about a 45* angle" between the cam gear and pump gear.
  
  So, what do you guys think?
  Is the engine doomed?
  
  Pics!
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  :beer:
  
  -Chad in Japan
• #1 by rs899 on 31 Aug, 2010 09:30
• Best case is you probably bent some valves.  The car I acquired that had broken a belt wrecked a piston and rod and must have taken out some valves ( but I didn't see the head before it was rebuilt)
• #2 by theman53 on 31 Aug, 2010 13:31
• Let me know when you get home. I am less than 2 hours away from the lake and could possibly help you out. I would guess that the timing was off initially and there is some bent stuff. Or maybe it bent right away and after a little run the head of a valve came off and stopped everything. I would open it up and inspect. Good news is there is a guy in Tiffin that can do wonders with the heads and if it wasn't bad on the pistons you could probably come out with under 500.00 and back on the road with your own labor.
  
  Open and see.
• #3 by Vincent Waldon on 31 Aug, 2010 14:03
• Let's put it this way.. there is no spot the cam can rest where all the valves are closed... so something *always* hits something when a timing belt breaks.  The extent of the damage does however seem to vary a surprising amount... from bent valves to bent valves + damaged lifters to bent valves + damaged lifters + holed pistons.
  
  The folks that convince themselves that they've survived a broken timing belt without damage often have a valve head pop off "unexpectedly and from nowhere" some months down the road.  The tops of the pistons will tell you which valves to replace, for safety sake, and lifter damage, if it occurred, will be pretty obvious.  The pistons/rods etc almost always survive the pounding.
• #4 by Baron VonZeppelin on 31 Aug, 2010 15:41
• It will all be fine.
  Don't worry about it.
  
  Wait until you get back to the car, then worry.
  And have some monies saved up for repairs.
  
  I don't see how they made the new timing belt snap.
  Very strange. Was it purchased from an online store/website in NC ?
  
  Maybe they are just playing a bad joke on you.
  And it really started running great.
• #5 by lilbacon3 on 31 Aug, 2010 20:15
• Thank you all for the quick replies and information. 
  
  I'm still waiting to hear back from my friend.
  
  The car is sitting on my friend's property in southern Michigan (Temperance) and I'm in Japan.
  I'll be visiting home near Cleveland, OH for about 4 weeks next month.
  If I were in the states doing my regular routine, I'd have no problem fumbling around with the engine and car to try to get it in good running condition.  However, since my time at home is precious and I'd like to spend it with my family and friends, I don't want to spend much, if any, time troubleshooting, wrenching, and paying for parts.
  
  Because of the circumstances, I'm actually ready to let the car go.
  I don't think my buddy's parents are excited about having an old Rabbit as a lawn ornament.
  My parents have nowhere to store it.
  And I definitely can't squeeze it into my suitcase when I return.
  
  It's a big time bummer because I sunk nearly $1k into the car and engine in parts before leaving.
  
  I don't want to turn this into a 'for sale' thread, but if anybody's interested, shoot me an email at [email protected]
  
  :/
  ChadWeempWomp
• #6 by R.O.R-2.0 on 04 Sep, 2010 09:15
• heres a picture of a rod out of an engine that dropped a exhaust valve, not sure if the timing belt was the cause or not, this is how i obtained the engine.. replaced the rod/piston/rings and ran the engine..
  
  
  
  and heres the crown of that piston. WITH THE VALVE STILL STICKING OUT!
  
  
• #7 by lilbacon3 on 06 Sep, 2010 05:24
• Quote from: R.O.R-2.0 on 04 Sep, 2010 09:15

  heres a picture of a rod out of an engine that dropped a exhaust valve, not sure if the timing belt was the cause or not, this is how i obtained the engine.. replaced the rod/piston/rings and ran the engine..
  
  
  
  and heres the crown of that piston. WITH THE VALVE STILL STICKING OUT!
  
  
  

  
  Yeowza!
  Don't get your fingers caught in there!