Fun on the Highway
 

The car bucks, RPMS double. WTF?! Flashers on, but it seems to be doing okay, so I move to the left lane of the highway to do the a-hole and pass by everyone through the construction. Power steering goes, dash lites all come on. I cross my fingers that I can get the car to roll past the guardrail so there's room for me to pull over. Score. The truckers are beeping and waving, some people are scowling...I'll give them a break, it was early. Forty five minutes later, when I can't feel my hands, the tow truck shows up. Guy says it sounds like the serpentine belt (who knew the Jiffy Lube guys had a clue?) and we go to the garage. My mechanic says it should be done in 15 minutes. But it's not the serpentine belt...it may be the timing belt and won't be done by at least the end of the day. Aren't those things stupidly expensive? So now I'm stuck home all day. I need to get a ride to my INTERVIEW and get over to a friend's for dinner tonite. Couldn't it happen on a day when I had nothing to do? Maybe when I was hung over and wanted to sleep the afternoon away? Maybe on a day when I found a couple hundred dollars on the sidewalk so that I could pay for the repairs?!?

Cars are Evil :devil2:

They always know A) when you are broke and B) when you desperately need to get somewhere.

The Troubles
 

Sorry to hear about the timing chain. Gonna run a few bucks BB. Just think i could have happened on the way fishing though.

If it was the timing belt, it's usually less than a deuce for most Japanese cars. Unless your engine is one of those that'll have valve damage if the belt goes.

You should replace a timing belt every 60,000 miles.

My wife had a honda Prelude...Interference Motor. She lost the timing belt / Cheaper and more reliable to buy a new motor than fix the bent valves rebuild head. Sold the car and bought a Subaru

Well, I have a Ford with 120K miles, so I guess I got double the life out of the thing, and hopefully the belts are even cheaper than those on foreign cars.

Dude said it booked as a 3-hour job, and that he'd stay late to finish it for me if he could start it before 4. Such a nice man. I heart my mechanic. :love:

You sure it doesn't have a Mazda engine? ;)

Some Ford engines have timing belts too, more and more these days.

BB - while you may have gotten 120K before the timing belt, manufacturers tend to recommend replacing the T-belt at 60K or 90K depending on who built it. Having a timing belt fail means that it is probably well past when it should have been replaced. Hopefully you didn't have any valve / piston contact - that is bad...

If I remember corectly, Toyota and Mazda engines typically freewheel and have sufficient clearance between the valves. Hondas and Nissans don't freewheel. Once those valves kiss the pistons, it's all over but the new motor...

mechanic
 

Bassbabe does your mechanic fish?

Ooh, I don't know, but good idea! He should have seen the rods in my backseat by now. I'll trade him a couple fishing trips for a new timing belt. Although most men are pretty skeevy, no matter how cool they seem, so fishing alone with the man may not be the best plan.

What is with everyone's doom and gloom? Personally, I hope my car will be fine. I've just graduated to remembering to get an oil change every 3K miles...is there a cheat sheet somewhere that tells you everything you need to replace and how often?

I need an oil change and new front brakes now, but it's not as if I'll have the cash once the big bend-over for the timing belt is through. Man!

Just looked it up, and I believe that the Zetec engine in my car is non-interference, so I haven't mashed any valves or whatever. Hooray!!!

There should have been a maitenance manual that came with your car. If not, see if you can get one from your dealer as it will tell you the maintenance, aside from oil change, it needs every 10,000 miles.

Here's some general rules.

Oil and filter--3000 miles. 7500 if you're doing strictly highway driving. I would suggest every 2000 if you do a lot of beach driving or serious off-roading.

Tranny (automatic)--every 30,000. Transfer case at the same interval if you have a 4x4.

I would suugest flushing the cooling system every 50,000 and a fresh coolant fill.

Serpentine belt---every 30,000. Carry a spare. They're not that hard to put on, and AAA will do it for you if you have a spare on board.

Timing belt---every 60,000. Especially if your engine is a valve-bender.

Electric fuel pumps can die without warning. I suggest replacing one at 100,000 as good PM.

If it aint broke then dont fix it...Then again I have a company car...Thankfully :bl:

Been there done that and it trash the motor. Didn't cost me a cent because the belt broke before it was going to be changed. So Issiu ate the whole thing including the rental car for the three week it too to get a short block. ThomT

Score one for you! Mine costed a bit less than $400, as the pulley was shattered when the belt broke. But now my cruise control doesn't work, and that is an ESSENTIAL part of my car. Growl.