My timing belt shredded over the weekend on my 2001 galant. The belt stayed on but it is all torn up and it apparently slipped time. I towed my car to a shop where the diagnosis was:

"Test found cylinders with no compression likely caused by damaged or broken timing belt. Will most likely need new engine due to extent of damage no other work performed, car was towed in and never started."

I talked to a mechanic friend of mine who said that I could just get the valves replaced instead of replacing the engine as a whole.

My question is what do you guys think I should do? Should I get the valves fixed, a new engine, or just go buy a new car? Also what is the estimated repair cost?

Just some info that might help determine whether or not a repair job is worth it:

My car is a 2001 Galant ES with 152,500 miles on it and is in good to fair condition. Also it will need new tires this year.

 

The valves are definitely damaged but when the timing belt fails it can cause damage to the pistons as well. The only way you can tell if the pistons are damaged is with a compression check and since the compression test is already bad due to the valves you could end up replacing the valves and belt only to find that the pistons are damaged and you'll have wasted a lot more money.

If it was me I'd cut my losses and sell/scrap the car but if you know the right people and really like the car you could find a donor car with a perfectly good engine and do a straight engine swap. You should ask garages for a quote to remove the engine from one car and install it in another to get an idea of the cost (or ask your friend to do it if he has the right equipment) and you could find a donor car for under £500 on ebay, have your friend check the engine condition before buying. It would almost certainly cost in excess of £1000 though so it depends how much you love your car. On the plus side you may be lucky and find a donor car thats been in an accident, buy it for scrap value (£200ish) with half your current mileage on the clock.

 

Found this engine on ebay the galant model is the same as yours eight generation but since its a few years earlier its possible it won't be a totally straight swap but it should be. None the less it will definitely fit even if it requires a bit of jiggery pokery. Thats a technical term.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MITSUBISHI...item3368f8845c

 

Thanks for the information! I think I am actually going to try to replace the cylinder head myself. If that doesn't work then I think I am going to go ahead and just buy a new car. I will let you know what happens.

 

Yeah thats great, good luck with it I really hope you have success. Please post a pic of the damaged parts compared to the replacement part because it will be very interesting to see how much damage is done. If you carry out the repair yourself it would be wise to have another compression check afterwards.

If you do end up buying a new car I sure hope its a galant!

 

I wanted to follow up. I was able to finally get my car running yesterday.

Here is the run down of what happened:

Basically one side of my timing belt tore off causing the belt to jump time and bend all the intake valves. I took my cylinder head to a machine shop where they replaced the bent valves and cleaned up the cylinder head. Once I put the engine all back together I was putting on the new timing belt and I noticed the crankshaft sensor was broken. I replaced that put on the new timing belt and when I tried to start the engine and it wouldn't start. I checked the wiring and made sure everything was plugged in and I checked compression and everything was fine. The only thing left to check was timing. Turns out the new crankshaft sensor was broken! That's when I realized the crankshaft trigger plate was bent. I replace the trigger plate and bought another sensor and put it all back together and the car started right up.

If you want more details of what I went through when trying to do this repair, here is a link to my posts on another forum.

Timing Belt Shredded, Cylinders No Compression - Mitsubishi-Forums.com

 

Not sure if you still remember but I ran into the same problem except the belt snapped right as I started it so no valve/piston damage. I got everything off and looking the the crankshaft reluctor ring its all bent, I see a pin to hold it in place but was wondering how you got the reluctor ring off. Any help would be greatly appreciated

 

I am not exactly sure what part you are talking about but if you are talking about the crankshaft sprocket, I had to do a lot of prying! I just used a flat head screwdriver and a hammer. I was careful not to do too much damage. I also sprayed WD40 on it and let it sit for a while. Also at this point I basically knew the trigger plate was bent so I used that for leverage. The trigger plate was completely destroyed by the time I was done with it. Once you get it off it slides back on pretty easy. This was one of those points in the process that I wanted to give up and go buy a new car. One of many! Hope this helps and good luck!