Timing belts almost never show visible warning signs before they snap, making visual inspection a dangerously unreliable method of gauging their condition. Interference engines — found in most modern ...

What Does the Timing Belt or Timing Chain Do? On a conventional piston engine — which is found in virtually all modern passenger cars — the up-and-down motion of the pistons turn the crankshaft, and ...

Timing belts themselves are relatively inexpensive but can easily cause thousands of dollars of damage if they break while the engine is running. Engines come in two configurations: Interference and ...

Justin Pritchard is a seasoned Sudbury, Ontario-based automotive journalist, producer, and technical writer. With a passion for cars and a talent for storytelling, he's established himself as a ...

DEAR CAR TALK: You recently wrote about a guy whose timing belt broke, and who tried to restart his car but whose valves survived only through sheer good luck. In 1957, I had a new Ford six-cylinder, ...

From what I can gather, the engine in your Barina is an interference design. That is, if the timing belt breaks, the pistons and valves (in the cylinder head) will, indeed, meet head on at speed, ...

An engine depends on perfect timing the same way a symphony depends on a conductor. Every valve opens at the exact moment it should, every piston moves in perfect rhythm, and everything stays ...

I drive a 2003 Jetta TDI Wagon with 125,000 kilometres on the odometer. The timing belt replacement interval is 160,000 but I had it replaced after 10 years/100,000 km. The only immediate benefit was ...

For years, small diesel engine manufacturers have been using overhead cam designs as a way to get the most out of a limited-displacement platform. Unfortunately, many small overhead cam mills utilize ...