2011 Kia Soul 2.0L Timing Belt broke, way to assess damage?

Joined
Feb 5, 2015
Messages
359
Location
Phoenix, Az
The above mentioned car just had the timing belt break, car has $185k on it, the belt had 90k. This is an interference engine, so there may well be valve or piston damage. Replacing the belt itself is going to run $1,100 even if there's no other damage.

My question is, is there a way to assess if the engine was damaged further? I'm not sure I want to put $1,100 into it, no way a remanufactured engine for even more money, but even if I sell the car as-is I'd like to be able to tell people it does or does not have valve/piston damage. The car is at a Pep Boys, wouldn't have been my choice but that's where they towed it when it broke down one evening (daughter's car).

I'm really disappointed with this, the belt was coming up on a replacement interval (Kia recommends 90k), but no way should it have just let go at 4yrs and BARELY 90k on it.

Any other options you guys can send my way? I'm all ears.
 
If it's an interference engine, the engine is toast
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Make sure your next car has a timing chain
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https://www.kiasoulforums.com/threads/change-your-timing-belt.25961/

This particular thread indicates piston damage--I'm guessing the valve snapped after being hit, and the debris damaged the piston. Back when I had my TDI though a number of people got lucky and no piston damage--but as a rule, a rebuilt/reman/whatever head was called for, as valves were bent. I think you're out at least a head.

Probably the least you could so is buy/borrow a borescope and go in through the sparkplugs to see what the carnage looks like. Pull all plugs. I'm guessing that the crank can be turned by hand, and I would check the cylinder walls for scoring. Piston damage and/or scored walls, and it's time for a new engine. If all is still attached, then maybe a new head.
 
I thought if a timing belt broke on an interference engine then damage was a 100% sure thing.. I know the tensioner breaking on the chain on the Cadillac Northstar 100% ruined it..
 
Pop the head and have a look see, I have seen them totally shot with cylinder damage and some that just needed a few valves with no piston/wall damage. No point in guessing have a look.
 
usually its not the belt the breaks but a pulley.. since they only replace the belt at the first interval.

the belt might go longer but a pulley(with 180k miles in your case) blows up and takes out the belt.

but onto your question.. you might well win the lottery and have no damage.. but the odds are not good.

but as Trav said it might be relatively minor to total pile of scrap.
 
My wife had a 2000 Kia Sportage that had the timing belt break. It was our fault because the manual said to change it at 60k. The mechanic tried to say i was an interference motor, but it wasn't. He thru a new belt on without doing anything else and it fire up and ran fine. It had about 104k on it when the original belt broke. I would check to be sure it's toast befre spending a ton of money on a old car with high miles on it.,,,
 
Take the valve cover off and rotate the cam to see if any valves don't come all the way up. If you see that, there's definitely a problem. If they all seem to work, you can do a leakdown test with no timing belt.
 
Not always.
I had 1 break in an old honda while at a red light.

No damage done.
New belt and water pump. I was back on the road.

The 91s were bullet proof.
 
Friends don't let friends get their cars serviced at Pep Boys. (Not even minor maintenance, let alone major repairs!)

Unfortunately the engine is probably toast but as others have said, inspect the damage - if very lucky maybe just some damaged valves.

Timing chains are much better, usually last the life of the car. (Mine has over 350K miles and is still good.)
 
I don't really have access to the car to do much work like pull the valve cover, bore scope, etc, so I'm kind of stuck. I'm just trying to help out my daughter in a jam. I talked to them, they're going to check it out with a bore scope and see if there's any signs of contact. If so, I doubt it's worth putting a reman head on it, but I'll look into that if that's the deal. If there's piston or cylinder damage, no way. If by some miracle nothing was damaged maybe new timing and serpentine belts and pulleys would be worth it just to get another 1-2 years out of it, but I'm not even 100% sure of that because she drives a lot of miles and I don't want her breaking down. Hence, just gathering my thoughts and getting some insight and opinions.
 
Call another shop and ask for cost to replace timing belt, that sounds way too steep to me.

My Camry's belt broke last August and my mechanic charged me $476.77 to replace it along with the idler bearings/pulley, new water pump, and new coolant.
 
A kia 2.0 is a very simple engine to do a timimg belt on. I did my Spectra a few years ago myself, did a complete kit, belt, tensioner, idler pulley and water pump. In my home garage with no left or fancy equipment, i had it done in a few hours taking my time.
I think $1100 is very steep.
I think you may be further ahead getting it out of pep boys and get to a reputable indy garage for a 2nd opinion.
 
Originally Posted by Nick1994
$1100 to replace the timing belt on a 4 cylinder? They're ripping you off.


What I was thinking .
 
Seen a few go on the Souls-not uncommon for higher mileage ones. Usually it happens more if they are beat on a bit..

Most likely ready for the junkyard....money better spent on something else.
 
I don't think the $1100 is right. Can't you replace the engine for about $1500? Anyway, I ended up finding this thread because I just bought a used 2011 with 87K miles. Is it true that they put a sticker somewhere when the timing belt gets replaced?
 
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