timing belt snapped at 90mph....... HELP!!!!

ASSISTANCE Stock Engine-Bay Components
1

bear with me, i’m only on 2 hours of sleep in 2 days.

i hav’nt had the chance to look at it yet cause it just happened yesterday. i was coming home from NOPI back to the tampa area. 20 minutes into the drive and all of a sudden there’s no power coming from the engine at about 90mph. sure enough the timing belt was just laying on the cam gears, so i pulled it out through the cut-out on my valve cover that shows my gears and its snapped in half.

— what are the chances that my valves are bent or i have any other f*cked internals? can i tell just by taking off the valve cover?

— if i have to replace the head, will a b18b ('99 LS) head bolt on to my 92 LS?(i have one available) if it’ll fit, what do i need to change over? (distributer, ecu, harnesses, etc.???)

— any info at all would be much appreciated!!!

2

Many people will swear that you have destroyed the engine, but trust me when I say “DON’T PANIC”

Get a new timing belt and waterpump (change the waterpump while you are in there… Trust me).

Install the new belt and see what happens.

Then, if you DO have damage, you can figure out what to do.

3

I agree.

and do a search “b18b” with my name for swap info.

4

I would inspect for damage before putting a new t-belt and w-pump on on and starting it again. If your valves are bent there’s a chance it can slap against your pistons and cause even more damage. You mine as well pull the head off and inspect for damage since you’re halfway there by doing a t-belt install- and I’m not saying you’re motor’s definately f-ed up, just doesn’t make sense to me to not inspect for damage- why wouldn’t you :confused:

:bow:

5

thanks for the info guys. i think i’m just gonna go ahead and swap out the head. i’ve found some pretty cheap, plus it seems to be the best way to go. i was eventually gonna rebuild the engine anyway, so i might as well start now.

are you saying i should just change the waterpump now because the belt is off and it’ll be more of a pain in the @ss to do it later? how much do they normally cost??

6

Yes, Replace it

Waterpump is about 50.00

They have a habit of going out after changing the timing belt (Murphy’s law).

And if/when it does, you will have to go through the whole project of removing the timing belt again. :bang:

7

changing timing belt & water pump :: changing distributor cap & rotor.

Stupid school has me thinking of nothing but exams ugh!

8

i didn’t know right away if it was the timing belt because i did’nt hear anything. the car just lost engine power. because i did’nt hear a single thing, would that be a safe assumption that i did’nt destroy anything else? can i tell if the valves are bent just by taking off the valve cover and looking at them?

9

Same exact thing happened to me while going 80mph. Press the gas and nothing would happen, so I just coasted to the shoulder. The mechanic did a leak down test and told me my valves were bent. Took off the cylinder head and found most of my valves were bent. I doubt you’ll be able to tell for sure if your valves are bent just by removing the valve cover. Have a leak down check done and you’ll know that way.

10

so how much did it cost you to replace your valves? should i go through all of this or should i just swap out the head?

11

Originally posted by japanimated
so how much did it cost you to replace your valves? should i go through all of this or should i just swap out the head?

I know this is more than you want to know, but this is the total damage:

$55 to tow off the highway, to a nearby mechanic
$55 to have the mechanic tell me all my valves are bent
$240 to get it towed 120miles back to my house where I had the stock head
$700 JG pro series head destroyed
$100 in parts for head swap, did it myself
$340 for a new timing belt, done by a mechanic