jongolds

OK sorry to bother you guys yet again but yesterday I asked about a friends car that was in an accident in which she snapped the timing belt.
It turns out as you knowledgable folks told me that it is in fact an interference engine and she did in fact smash the valves. They're now estimating the engine damage at about $5k. My first though was that she should demand a new engine. She's already going to be hit with a large bill for her insurance (they should have jsut totalled the car from the beginning but the body shop gave a low ball estimate at first).

My thinking is that once the valves were hit, both they and the pistons need replacing and it is likely that the cylinder walls are also scored from debris. Have any of you had the belt break? If so what did you need to have done. I'm looking to get a checklist of things for her to make sure they replace. Also, what numbers should she be looking for on a compression test of the engine?
Thanks for any wisdom you guys can offer.

The Chef.

Happend in my old 1.8 back in 03. Engine is gone, total the car, get a new one.

jongolds

unfortunately, I don't think totalling it is any longer an option. The insurance company reccomended this body shop. The body shop then gave a low ball original estimate saying that it "might" go up once he got the hood off. Don't ask me how any one was willing to make a decision based on such a bs estimate but at any rate the decision was made based on the original estimate of around $10-$11k that it was not totalled. Now that's going to go up about another 50% but they are already on the hook for the work previously done so I don't think they'll total it now will they?

At any rate, she knows that she's getting screwed and gets annoyed when I bring it up so rather than upset her any more about it, I'm hoping to just help her make sure that the car is aadequately repaired to the condition that it should be. That said, cost is not an issue because it's the insurance company that was too dumb to total it in the first place that needs to pay for it so...what should be replaced...

HiTEC

You will probably get new heads rather than them having them machined and valve replacements.

I wouldn't worry too much about the new engine thing.

jongolds

You don't think the cylinder walls may be scored? What kind of numbers should I see off a compression test?

Also, can anyone with any insurance company experiences speak to the likelihood of still getting this thing totaled now that she's looking at a repair bill in excess of 75-80% of what her lease buy out was 5 months ago? Any chance that they will look at the total claim and still say yes it's totalled or will they just say sorry yes if we had known before it was oging to be this much we should have totalled it but since our adjuster screwed up you're stuck with it.

HiTEC

You can do a search and see what repairs they've had. I can't remember anybody getting a full engine replacement.

I couldn't see any damage to the cylinder walls, but maybe needing a couple pistons replaced.

Who's fault was the accident, your friends or another person? I'm just curious.

Accidents are no fun, that's for sure!

jongolds

I've seen a lot of posts complaining about the use of a belt rather than a chain but not too much about what was repaired. I'll keep looking.

By the way, for those people who wonder why they do use a belt rather than a chain, I really do think it's a noise issue more than a matter of cheaping out on the parts. A chain wouldn't be much more money in the original design but would probably cost quite a bit in lost sales from customers that like the quiet engine. When I drove my friends car you couldn't even tell the engine was running w/o checking the tach. I wish my Jeep ran as nicely. On the other hand I can replace my motor twice for what she's going to pay for this. It's a tradeoff. If people want cheap durable motors they're out there but if you want cutting edge technology and performance, it costs.

HiTEC

Belts have been pretty standard on my 4cyl and 6cyl engines for probably the past 10 years. It seems the 8cyl engines have always stuck with the chain for the most part.

jongolds

I wonder if a belt to handle a higher displacement motor might have to be large enough that it causes other design problems. A lot of the 8 cylinders are also going in to trucks where the tire noise is going to be louder than the chain anyway. That or cars where people are not terribly concerned about the engine being loud. By the time you're getting an 8 cylinder in a luxury/import you're talking about some pretty spendy cars.

Audi Junkie

Slap it together and sell. Skip the pistons, cylinder walls, just replace a few valves, voila'.