So my 2000 Legacy just died on me on the road. It made some squeaking noises (sounded like a drive belt having issues) which lasted a few minutes, then stopped. It ran normally and then died suddenly 40 miles later. For some reason, I tried to start it again before looking for the problem. Stupid move. It sort of started but died immediately.
I opened the hood and I could see the timing belt! I wish I'd taken a picture, it was quite something. The plastic cover on the front of the engine was worn through or cracked and at least 18" of timing belt is visible (not the whole width of the belt, but some of it). Scary. I got it towed to a mechanic for diagnosis - I've done quite a bit of work on the car but nothing as complicated as the timing belt.
So I just got a call and the mechanic said he turned over the engine manually and didn't hear any noises, said it sounded normal. He said that's an indication that I might've gotten lucky, but that the engine could still have been damaged. He didn't want to speculate on the probability either way. The car has 208,000 miles on it and the belt was last replaced at 120,000.
My options are:
1) Pay $600 to have them install a new timing belt, pulleys, etc. Possibly wasted money if the engine is toast.
2) Get the car towed to my house and do that myself. Same problem as above.
3) Abandon ship before I sink any more money into it
What do you all think? I didn't hear anything unusual as the car died (either time), and the mechanic didn't hear anything turning the engine over. Do those two things actually make a difference?
The frustrating thing is that I was planning on replacing the timing belt, water pump, pulleys, etc sometime in the next 5-10K miles . . .
