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Maple Valley Auto Repair

Working hours:
Mon - Fri: 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Give Us a Call:(425) 310-4499
Text Us:(425) 390-8006

What Happens When Your Timing Belt Breaks?

Have you ever had a driving experience where you are driving unsuspectingly on the highway and then suddenly your car comes to a dead stop? Well, you are not alone. Most people have had this experience at least once in their driving lifetime. And in most cases the timing belt is the issue behind the inconvenience.

So, what exactly happens when your timing belt breaks?

The Timing Belt Explained

A timing belt is a continuous loop made of rubber designed as cutting ridges. It is purposely designed to get intertwined with the teeth of the camshaft, whose role is to control the valves, and the crankshaft connecting to the pistons hence keeping them in perfect sync with each other. A timing belt thus, serves the crucial role of regulating the time taken to open and close the valve during the up and down of the pistons.

The Significance of the Timing Belt

You see, the valves and the pistons are strategically located on a collision path. Timing is, therefore, a crucial activity failure to which, the valves and the pistons may be at the risk of colliding with each other. The nature of the engine to continually turn on multiple revolutions per minute makes timing even more necessary because anything could go wrong al of a sudden.

Belt Breaks, Internal Collision Occurs, What now?

A significant amount of damage occurs when the valves and the pistons collide. Usually, it is the valves that experience the worst of the destruction manifested by bending once stroke by the piston. This is not to say that the piston and the cylinder walls are off the damage-equation. Generally, if a collision occurs the engine will be damaged extensively. Thankfully, you can easily avoid this trouble by paying attention to your vehicle to learn when to replace the timing belt.

In Conclusion

Your car's timing belt has an extremely vital role. Its damage may result in an entire engine rebuild which can be extremely costly. Which is why you should strictly follow your manufacturers recommendations on the required time to replace your timing belt. We strongly advice switching it at 60,000 to 100000 mileage.

If you need timing belt replacement, we invite you to bring your vehicle into our auto repair shop today!

23933 SE 264th St. Ste. A Maple Valley, WA 98038 (425) 310-1100
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