timing belt tore...what to do

[bizkit8587]

Well as posted i stated the timing belt tore in my 93 talon. I was wondering what would be the best option get it fixed or move on? any one else run into this problem let me know what you did the estimate a mechanic gave me was minimum of 1000$ i only paid 1700 for my car and its only got 90700k on it. any opinions great

 

[rowlex]

did it tear or break? is their valve damage? If the car is junk anyway give it a shot at replacing it yourself. It is surprisingly easy.

If you do everything yourself it shouldnt cost you nearly as much, I recently purchased a 96 N/T with a snapped timing belt and bent valves. I went on ebay picked up a set of good valves for 62$, replaced them myself, took the head to a machine shop and had it re surfaced for 30$, new timing belt was like 70$, some misc. gaskets and other belts were probably 40-50$, I put it back together and it runs great.

 

[anubis]

do the work yourself, but not without the proper tools and manuals. if you can't do it yourelf and can't find someone else to do it for a good price, part it out or sell it as is.

it's hard to tell what your best option is without knowing the full extent of your damage. but here is what i'd do (assuming that you bent your valves and didn't damage your pistons):

the quickest, easiest, and cheapest way to go would be to buy a fully assembled, rebuilt head from ebay or the classifieds (but good luck in the classifieds as i have been trying to do the same thing for the past few weeks and gotten very little response from people selling rebuilt heads). i say this because if you bent your valves, you probably cracked some guides too. the time and money you would spend rebuilding your head yourself and having the head resurfaced at the local machine shop would be better spent on a head all ready to go. from there, all you have to do is swap the heads, replace the gaskets and belts (probably the water pump and auto tensioner while you're at it and install a balance shaft eliminator if you so desire) and away you go. once you find out how bad things are, let us know and i can give you some tips and shortcuts for doing this yourself.

-DeXteR-