Timing Belt Snapped!!!

[NDARYD]

Hey all,

I have a 2004 Liberty GT and my timing belt has just snapped today. I was simply driving along the road at 50km/h when I noticed my engine switch off out of nowhere.

After doing a few checks, I decided to remove the timing belt cover to notice the belt has snapped.

It was changed only 20,000-30,000 km ago with the whole kit being done by my local mechanic.

I have two questions:

1. What could've resulted in the belt snapping after such little travel mileage since being changed?

2. Are they a clearance motor? So no damage should be sustained to the motor?

Thanks guys.

[Kekotic]

Hey mate, sorry to give you the bad news but....

viewtopic.php?f=10&t=13653&p=281907&hilit=Timing+belt#p282380

Get it inspected by a different mechanic to the one who installed it, see if they can fault the install. The guy who installed it may have screwed it up, in which case he should front the bill.

[NDARYD]

Thanks for the reply mate. I'll definately be taking it to Subaru first for them to inspect the fault and see whether or not they can determine the cause of it and then take it back to my original mechanic to fix it at his expense if it does end up being his fault.

Can anyone else confirm whether the motor is a clearance or non-clearance motor? As I'm finding a few conflicting statements online.

[chook]

Definatly not a clearance motor sorry bud, I had a similar issue with my GT when one if my timing pulleys seized and snapped, valves, pistons whole lot bucked bent and rooted.

[NDARYD]

Thanks for letting me know mate, looks like I'm going to have quite a case ahead of me now trying to find the cause of the fault.

[chook]

I do remember reading somewhere of a mechanic over tensioning the timing belt causing failure but you would be pretty hard pressed to prove it, was it a genuine belt? Are there any signs of chemical corrosion?
Unfortunatly it is going to cost a fair but to replace however there are some pretty cool options out there if you are willing, I replaced mine with the 2.5sti bottom end and retained the 2.0gt heads I went a rather expensive way but I've put 100k on it and is still going strong after quite a few mods. Matt from Kido seems to have some good ideas, you should start doing some future planning.

Chook.

[flySTi]

I can offer some solace, If you contact the belt manufacturer i.e. Gates? they will inspect the belt and if it failed they will rebuild your engine. Happened to me and they came through. Start by going screaming back to your "mechanic" and make his life hell until you're happy.
Good luck and don't shy away.

[Adrian2627]

I can offer some solace, If you contact the belt manufacturer i.e. Gates? they will inspect the belt and if it failed they will rebuild your engine. Happened to me and they came through. Start by going screaming back to your "mechanic" and make his life hell until you're happy.
Good luck and don't shy away.

And if you find out it was a faulty belt then good luck getting anything done by that mechanic again. Don't jump up and down until you know you have something to jump up and down about. People make mistakes, belts fail, and other factors could be involved like the pulley failure mentioned above. Get the facts first and direct your energy in the right direction.

[kiks]

$Imaginary Internet dollar 10 says the guide was on wrong.

Guide on wrong heats the belt up, belt heats the idlers, idler bearing collapses and belt snaps.

[flySTi]

"And if you find out it was a faulty belt then good luck getting anything done by that mechanic again. Don't jump up and down until you know you have something to jump up and down about. People make mistakes, belts fail, and other factors could be involved like the pulley failure mentioned above. Get the facts first and direct your energy in the right direction."

If this happened to one of my jobs,
1. I would want to know what happened
2. I would understand the anger
3. Not hesitate to escalate the claim. (the parts usually have a warranty)
4. Help prevent it from happening again. (good manufacturers take failures seriously and need to know)

if it turns out to be extremely bad luck then scream into a towel for an hour.

[Mat04]

Where abouts in Sydney you located? I know of a guy that could inspect it for you and tell you the reason why it snapped. He has delt with a few engine problems like this and has even gone as fair as fair trading with the mechanic being the cause.

[Adrian2627]

"And if you find out it was a faulty belt then good luck getting anything done by that mechanic again. Don't jump up and down until you know you have something to jump up and down about. People make mistakes, belts fail, and other factors could be involved like the pulley failure mentioned above. Get the facts first and direct your energy in the right direction."

If this happened to one of my jobs,
1. I would want to know what happened
2. I would understand the anger
3. Not hesitate to escalate the claim. (the parts usually have a warranty)
4. Help prevent it from happening again. (good manufacturers take failures seriously and need to know)

if it turns out to be extremely bad luck then scream into a towel for an hour.

For sure mate. I'm with you on following through and getting to the root of the problem but from dealing with this kind of stuff from both sides you'll get a lot further if you come armed with the right info first. You don't want to go jumping up and down blaming someone for shoddy work when it was something else that caused it.

[flySTi]

yeah true that, if your tech is confident enough to pursue the claim there is a good chance he will get the job of rebuilding the motor. All expenses paid. My fiends R33 snapped a belt and destroyed itself 3 months after being replaced at Nissan. They allowed the shop that it was towed to to rebuild the motor and then accepted the bill.

[kiahatsiu]

If it makes anyone feel better, I am the guy who had the tensioner bolt over tightened. I got no help from anyone and had to pay it all my self. Had some of our engineers look at the bolt, could tell what had happened to it and everything, the mechanic still had no case to answer. Cost me just under 6 k for two heads and 16v as I was overseas at the time, otherwise would have had it towed to A&M.

[NDARYD]

Thanks for the advice guys.

I will be getting the car towed back to my mechanic today but he doesn't return from holiday until next week I believe.

I rang Subaru and they told me it will cost $2000 to simply remove/inspect the motor to see what internal damage has been caused by the faulty timing belt and then they can quote me on the repairs required