It happened - Cam Belt broke, now what?

[jowillia]

1.9TD AFF motor
Cam belt broke at around 20km/h

What is the best advice -

Buy recon head and hope that there is not too much or any piston damage ?

Forget it, the motor is done, find a recon engine ?

I do not have the facilities to dismantle and check further what damage was done, so a decision needs to be made on best practices.

John

[Axios]

I'd go for new engine.

[yaman]

There's a third option, fit a second-hand engine... maybe
one with a intercooler :naughty:

Regards
Jim

[iwaters]

Sorry to hear that, think it is most car owners worst nightmare.

Buying a re-con head and hoping for the best is a bad move, you need to check if the pistons have been damaged or not. You might be lucky and it is only valve damage but you need to know for sure. You aren't going to know what the damage is until you take the old head off, if you aren't doing the work yourself then the investigation alone is going to cost you quite a bit.

Paying someone to re-build that engine is not going to be cost effective, so either a re-con engine or take your chances with a second hand engine from Ebay or a breakers. There are a few 1.9 engines for around the £375 mark. Plus cost of getting it ftted of course.

[Sam]

How many miles had the engine covered since the last belt change?

Who changed the last belt?