Hi everyone,

I have a problem with my car which could be repairable of a lot more severe. I hope someone can give me some good advise. First off I should mention I do not know a great deal about the workings of an engine.

Here is the story....

I was driving my Volvo the other day when all of a sudden it jumped out of gear and the engine immediately stalled. A thought it may just have been a simple stall so I tried starting it. It turned over really slow (as if the battery was nearly flat) and did not start.

When the AA man came out and had a look at it he found that the aux/fan belt had shredded and got caught up in the timing which apparantly has caused the timing to be out. He removed all bits of rubber which were caught up around the timing area and belt and it turned over fine but didnt start.

He said it may now just need re-timing and a new fan belt. But damage may have been caused when this happened which is more serious e.g. bent valves etc.

What i need to know is how I can diagnose to what extent the damage has been caused of whether I simply need it re timed without incurring major charges from a garage.

Any opinion is greatly welcomed.

Thanks

Oliver

you need to strip the timing covers of and inspect to see if the timing belt damaged, if not refit the belt in the right place (retime the engine) and see if it runs. May be that you will have to purchase a new belt/tensioner if damaged to time engine then find out that further work will be required.