92 camry 4cyl. timing belt broke

[ortho]

I recently was driving about 40 mph. when i heard a noise that sounded like a failing water pump,I slowed down but it was to late..I heard a popping noise and my engine cut off.timing belt busted i think.I'm thinking

it might have been the tensioner that failed.Before I tare into it I'm wondering if i bent the valves.some ppl say no others say yes I don't know.Someone told me theres a leak down tester to determine if the valves are bent.Has anyone ever used one,How does it work?I found a mechanic to do the labor for $175.. thats pretty cheap I think for the labor plus parts.water pump,belt,tentioner if needed.He says its a 50/50 chance

that the valves are bent.Any help is greatly appreciated.

[Leighcm]

Usually a broken timing belt is pretty disastrous, so the $175 is a pretty awesome price. Let him fix it...but plan on buying quite a few parts.

[Mark1957]

ortho, the falling water sound you heard was in fact the sound of an impending water pump failure. the cooling system depressurizes and the remaining fluid sloshes around. antifreeze/coolant is circulated through the system by the timing belt via a spindle connected to the water pump impeller. when the spindle bearing fails (out-of-round) the timing belt jumps a tooth or two and the cam and crank shafts are no longer synced (timing is off). it sounds like your bearing may have seized and the sound you heard was either the belt or the spindle shaft snapping. in any event, the 4 cyl. engine is a non-interference type motor so your valves are ok, but since your going to have to expose the right side of the engine anyway to replace the pump have your mechanic replace the two timing belt idler pulleys, crank and cam bearing seals, thermostat, and all three belts (timing, alternator, power steering). also, the water pump and water pump housing should be purchased as an assembly. it's easier to replace that way and there's a gasket between the housing and the block that may have been overtemped and replaced anyway. if you're attempting to do this your self, see my earlier post regarding the right way to identify the cam bearing cap timing mark.

[DFBonnett]

According to Gates, www.gates.com , you engine is non-interference and thus should have no valve damage. Their website has a pretty good write-up on the whole issue.

FWIW

YMMV