What does your car’s cambelt actually do?

A cambelt, or timing belt, is a toothed belt under the hood of the car that connects the engine crankshaft to the camshaft. What does this mean? It’s a needed part because it aligns the camshaft to the crankshaft position. This allows the valves to open and close at an accurate time in relation to the movement of the pistons.

Having a cambelt in bad condition, or not having one at all, can severely affect your car and engine performance. An important thing to remember about your car’s engine is whether it is ‘interference’or ‘non-interference’. This difference is key.

A cambelt is all about timing

In an interference engine, there is very, very little space between the pistons and valves. This means if your timing belt is essential to synchronising the two. If the belt is in bad condition due to not being replaced and it slips or breaks while in use, it could send a piston flying into another part of the engine, such as an open valve. If this were to happen, it would be the same as if your engine just self-destructed. This would cripple your car’s motor, and turn your engine into useless metal junk. Not only would you need to replace your cambelt now, but also the vast majority of parts under your hood.

A non-interference engine has much more space between the two, in comparison to an interference engine. That’s not saying that were a timing belt to break in a non-interference engine, it wouldn’t matter. It would still greatly damage your engine, but it wouldn’t cripple or destroy your engine.

Therefore, we recommend talking to the team at A Grade Automotive to learn what type your engine is and determine the true importance of your cambelt. Our team can inspect your timing belt and advise if any repairs or replacements are necessary.