Silent Shaft..............what Is It??????

[boost_or_bust]

i am very curious to know what the silent shaft on the belt side of the engine does......because my car broke and i was checking things out and realized that my timing was messed up. So i started to take all the the things off and when i took the lower engne cover off a destroyed belt came out.....now i was just wondering if this belt got caught in the timing belt could it have made the belt slip? and if so would it have caused my timing to get really messed up.....enough to not run at all? well im also wondering if anyone else has had this problem before and if they have any ideas or pointers...........................

Thanks
RYAN

 

[Defiant]

Search "balance shaft".