Anybody who read this post should check your cars and tell your relatives and friends and as a reminder: “Don’t let the car’s timing belt break especially while the engine is running”, otherwise you will know what happen. You don’t have to worry if you have got a new car, but your car will become an old car one day. So please be reminded.

I just got my car back from the workshop on last Friday. It has been through a major operation in the workshop for one week. It suffered from serious engine damage because its timing belt had broken while I was driving the previous Friday. It’s exactly one week “admitted” into the workshop.

The engine died half way near a traffic light. Nobody was helping to push the car to the road side. It caused a traffic jam for a while until my father, my brother and my brother’s friend came. I tried to start the engine many times, but it sounded different and couldn’t be started. I guessed that the timing belt has broken, but I wished it’s not.

My brother’s friend checked the car, we tried to push the car to start it, but the engine was producing a strange sound and still couldn’t be started. It sounded like something within was loose. It was changing its usual old man voice to a young lady voice. Then my father sent a mechanic to come and check. Within 5 minutes, he said that it was a big issue with the engine and was confirmed that the timing belt has broken. My car needed to be towed to the workshop because it couldn’t move by itself anymore.

My heart sank.

I have learned that experienced from a friend called Samuel Andy. He had the same experience 2 years ago. At that time, my car mileage meter was only 60k+ km. And not long ago, I told my father that I plan to change the timing belt. But… It was too late. IT WAS TOO LATE. I’m not sure when it’s the last time the timing belt was changed, because my car is a second hand car. And from the mileage meter, it is only 80k km+. My friends said that the timing belt can last for 100k km. But I planned to change it soon, why it happened so soon.

For those of you who don’t know what can be caused by a broken timing belt while the engine is running. Let me tell you. It can cause serious engine damage depend on your luck. Many parts may need to be replaced, such as the valves are bent, pistons and cylinder heads may be destroyed. The engine may need an overhaul. It all depends on how fast the engine was running when the timing belt breaks because the crankshaft is heavier and it’s still rotate by initial. Therefore the valves are bent and other parts are destroyed.

It happens all in a blink of an eye. Instead of only need to change the timing belt, the engine suffers from a serious damage. It’s cost me a lot more than the price for changing a timing belt.

After the mechanic had a detailed check on the car in the workshop, they said I’m not lucky. The engine needed to have a “General Overhaul”. Initially I plan to change a new fuel injection engine because the old engine is quite old, not efficient and I need to cleanup the plug quite frequently, whereas the new fuel injection engine can save fuel better, but it’s advised by my father that I don’t have to, because the engine still can be repaired and it’s quite troublesome to change the engine number on the green card at JPJ, therefore I just let the workshop overhaul the engine. 5 valves, water pipe and contact were replaced. The mechanic discovered that the clutch disk also got problem, and it was replaced too. Total up it cost RM 1200+ including towing. The mechanic told me the timing belt is for 60k not 100k; I forgot to ask him the unit is in km or mile. Anyway I am going to change it before it breaks again. I will write a big note and stick it inside the car to remind myself.

May be I may have got my dream car before its timing belt break again? But I will not give up this car, even if it can’t be repair anymore, I will keep it as a memory, because it’s follow me for more than 10 years already.