My car just died the other day.?

Question

My husband was driving our Rover 416 the other day and it just cut out completely. My friend who is a mechanic looked at it and said the fan belt had gone but something else going wrong could cause this to break. What else is likely to be wrong and how much money am I looking at - I am skint at the moment.

Answer 1

Get the fan belt changed checking that all the driven pulleys are free,jump start the vehicle and take it for a long run.

Answer 2

A broken fan belt will not cause the engine to instantly die, a broken timing belt would. If the broken belt is a fan belt then I suppose the mechanic you spoke to must be thinking an accessory item froze up and the belt burned in half. This would be obvious and would not explain the sudden stop of the engine you described.

I think you should seek a second opinion from someone who will approach your problem more systematically.

Does the engine spin with the starter?

If so are the valves actuating when the engine spins?

Is there spark at the plugs?

Is there adequate fuel pressure at the engine?

Is there adequate compression in the cylinders?

My suspicion is that if you follow these steps in order you will locate the culprit system that has failed in addition to the fan belt problem.

Good luck!

Answer 3

the belts always tend to brake, replace the tensioner with the new belt or have your friend check the pullies. It should not be that expensive  for the parts, and labor o really dont know.

Answer 4

fan belts are cheap, make sure it is fitted properly and you should be ok.