Timing belts are frequently replaced as maintenance. You should replace your timing belt as often as recommended by your car’s manufacturer.
This can be as often as every 30,000 miles. It can be as infrequent as every 100,000 miles, too. Consult your car’s owner’s manual about this, or let us look it up for you.
If you just bought a used car with more than 50,000 miles and the previous owner can’t prove when the timing belt was last replaced, you should have your timing belt replaced as maintenance.
If you don’t know when the last time your timing belt was replaced on your own vehicle but you know it’s been a while, you should replace your timing belt.
Don’t wait for something to go wrong to replace a timing belt. If a timing belt breaks while the engine is running that will be a much more expensive fix than replacing a rubber belt.
What is a timing belt and what does it do?
Well, a camshaft opens the valves in the engine. And, a crankshaft is connected to the connecting rods, which are driven by the pistons, which go up and down inside the cylinder.
The timing belt is the physical connection between the crankshaft and the camshafts.
If the timing belt breaks, the valves stop opening and closing at the right time.
And if the valves open at the wrong time they can contact the piston. This will at the very least break your engine’s valves. But it could be even worse.
If the timing belt breaks and the valves are still open when the piston comes up in the cylinder, it will bend them. And, repairing this is a very expensive job.
But sometimes the valves will just break the piston, which means you will need a new engine. This is an even more expensive job.
So, replace your timing belt as maintenance to avoid a very expensive repair.
We can rebuild or replace your engine if you need it, but you don’t want that. We’d rather just replace your timing belt before it breaks.