Walked through a junkyard last weekend and noticed how many cars had their timing belts snapped

I was at Pull-A-Part in Phoenix on Saturday looking for a radiator for my buddy's Civic. Must have seen a dozen engines where the timing cover was off and the belt was just hanging there broken. Makes me wonder how many of those cars got junked just because someone skipped a $300 maintenance job. Do you guys see timing belt failures more on certain engines or is it just neglect across the board?

2 comments

2 Comments

blair_martin3d ago

Those non-interference engines are the real survivors though.

jamesf413d ago

Honestly, I'd argue timing chains have come a long way too. Had a buddy's old Ford 4.6 that snapped a chain at 180k miles and that was a non-interference engine, still trashed the guides and cost him a pretty penny to fix. But I get what you mean, there's something satisfying about knowing a belt snap won't wreck your whole day. Just seems like both types have their own kind of luck involved.