i own a 97 elantra and was going about 15mph when the timing belt busted. i know its an interference engine, however when i removed the shroud the cam was sitting in perfect position with the word up directly on top...Could this possibly mean that i may not need a valve job done to my elantra? any input would be greatly appreciated thanx in advance and hope to hear something soon

sorry but it's almost certain to have caused damage, the only way to be sure is to fit a new belt (making sure all the timing marks are correctly positioned) and then do a compression check

I've had a timing belt tensioner break on me in my ford going down the road about 50 mph and all it did was jump time real bad it took me about 3 hours to re-time it, so you may be in luck.

This post has been edited by 96lantra: Jun 21 2008, 11:39 PM

Pull the valve cover and see if any of the valves are stuck down. How many miles on this belt?

Being as the cams turn, then the fact that it says "up" doesn't matter. It just happened to stop in that position. The chances of you have internal damage is high. However, the only way to tell for sure is to put another belt on it and then do some checking. The damage could be as simple as a few bent valves, or could turn out to be something more serious.

The only way putting another belt on it and trying to spin it will help you is if you have NO damage. If you have stuck/bent valves this will cause more damage. Pull the valve cover (five mins if you are slow) and look. If you ran this til the belt broke you probably need to reseal the valve cover anyway.