timing belt

[animalpc1]

has anyone ever had their timing belt break and it caude catastrofic damage to their motor? was wondering if it was better for me to replace or rebuild with better parts? looking at a cost comparison. according to subaru dealer, theyve never seen on like this before...the funny thing is it just died. no knock, bang, thump, or anything, but they are trying to tell me that it is locked up without tearing it apart. sounds like i broke a timing belt and jammed a piston up with a valve or 2 or 8... hope someone else has had this problem and are still in the same car. dont want to loose it, hoping i can afford repairs.

[Donkey]

There is no mystery,these are interference motors.....

[animalpc1]

never said was a mystery, im pissed that the dealer wants $720 to tell me i broke a timing belt and need to replace motor for another $2900, when i could tell that for free and probably rebuild with performance parts for less than $1000. i was just hoping there was somebody out there who has had a simmilar situation. makes me feel better when same sorry luck situations happen to other people, especially when it turns out ok.

[Donkey]

when i could tell that for free and probably rebuild with performance parts for less than $1000.

Well if you could have diagnosed it yourself then why did you take it to the dealership? I think your underestimating if you thing you can do a rebuild for $1000 especially if there is head damage.Maybe buy a used long block for $1000 if your lucky.

[animalpc1]

i didnt join this forum for critiscism just have a hard time explaining things. took it to a dealer because nothing happened to tell me i blew my motor or anything catastrofic. it just simply died... first thing i thought was fuel or electrical problem. i can rebuild for under $1000, ive already checked. its good to know people. im not saying i can build a race motor for that, but can get it back to norm. not all wrx owners have money to blow on our cars, but some of us do know how to do things right without breaking the bank. anyway, not trying to sound offensive or sarcastic, just having a bad day/week. hope you dont have to go through with anything like this, your car looks pretty cool if thats it in the pic. would like to know what mods you have. only had mine for a year, last owner tore it up appearently.

[GuamKid]

i didnt join this forum for critiscism just have a hard time explaining things. took it to a dealer because nothing happened to tell me i blew my motor or anything catastrofic. it just simply died... first thing i thought was fuel or electrical problem. i can rebuild for under $1000, ive already checked. its good to know people. im not saying i can build a race motor for that, but can get it back to norm. not all wrx owners have money to blow on our cars, but some of us do know how to do things right without breaking the bank. anyway, not trying to sound offensive or sarcastic, just having a bad day/week. hope you dont have to go through with anything like this, your car looks pretty cool if thats it in the pic. would like to know what mods you have. only had mine for a year, last owner tore it up appearently.

Yup! There's another one of a timing belt victims, my timing belt broke too so I tore down my engine and found that I had only 3bent valves, at $132 bucks a piece its not to bad if you can fix it yourself.

[animalpc1]

thanks, but unfortunately i found my timing belt not to be broken. pulling the oilpan this weekend to see how many broken parts i find. sounds like im rebuilding entire motor. now is the time for upgrades.

[Donkey]

Nobody tried doing a compression/leakdown test first or use a bore scope? I don't just have money to "blow on my car". I have been working on cars for 20 years and 80% of my parts are used and I do all my own installations. I wasn't trying to attack you or criticize but it just didn't sound like you have a lot of experience diagnosing engine problems. For the future this might help:

Impreza Manuals | ken-gilbert.com

[animalpc1]

i dont have alot of experience or money. all i have right now is the words from a certified master subaru mechanic that sounds even more confused then me. i dont have time or money just to fix. checking things one thing at a time. ofcourse they want $700 to tear it down to diagnose, but im waiting for my friend to get back in town so we can get it to his shop and work on it ourselves for free, atleast the labor. sounds like i live in the wrong state to have subaru problems, if i owned a dodge truck it would be fixed already!

[brfatal]

i dont have alot of experience or money. all i have right now is the words from a certified master subaru mechanic that sounds even more confused then me. i dont have time or money just to fix. checking things one thing at a time. ofcourse they want $700 to tear it down to diagnose, but im waiting for my friend to get back in town so we can get it to his shop and work on it ourselves for free, atleast the labor. sounds like i live in the wrong state to have subaru problems, if i owned a dodge truck it would be fixed already!

Just remember: $700 to tear down = $700 to reinstall it. That's not including the rebuild. If you could, I'd take it somewhere else as Subaru dealers are extortionists when it comes to engine replacement.