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Hi,

I've got a subaru 2.0 turbo legacy 2003. I've had the cambelt replaced around 190,000km. I have since driven approximately 3000km.

Today I have heard a shredding sound from the engine bay while driving along the motorway. I fortunately avoided a crash and was diligently towed 15km home (Thank you AA membership!)

I checked fluid levels etc when I got home 2 hours later. At the advice of the tow truck driver, I opened the inspection panel and sure enough, the cambelt had broken.

After some frantic searching online and calling some people I do know, it would seem that this event will mean the engine is almost certainly over.

I have my receipts still and have taken quite good care of the car with regular servicing. I do wonder however if this event perhaps is the cause of poor workmanship or faulty parts.

I'm not sure if I'm covered by any warranty etc by the workshop - but I did pay a lot of money to have this procedure completed at their shop. They are well-known and marketed as a subaru specialists workshop.

Also being quite worried about the imbalance of mechanical understanding - I'm wondering if it's worthwhile having a second workshop check how well the replacement was done?

Thank you for your time and response!

Hi there,
This is an unfortunate thing to happen, and yes these engines rarely survive a broken cam belt, it would most likely have bent valves. However it would still need to be confirmed.
Another factor will be, what was replaced with the cambelt?, at 190k this vehicle would most likely have needed a water pump, cam and crank oil seals, cambelt tensioner and idler pulleys to do a full job. It is possible for a bearing or tensioner to collapse or something fowled onto the belt causing premature wear, or even a foreign object passed through the covers causing the cambelt to break.
The workshop will be responsible to guarantee the work they carried out, but they must have first right of repair under the Consumer Guarantees Act.
It will also depend of the agreement of what was replaced or recommended when the job was being quoted.
If they don't want to know, then you can pay for a second opinion and then make a claim through a tribunal if you think they are responsible and are not willing to help you.

Hi,

Yes, with the cambelt, the water pump, cam and crank oil seals, cambelt tensioner and idler pulleys were all done according to the receipt.

I've just called another garage to get some more advice and he's pointing to over torqued tension being a common problem with these cars.

Thank you for the response! I'll be giving the garage a call this morning to discuss options.