How important is the timing belt of the car

There is a great difference between driving a car and knowing how to take care of it. Whether it is a matter of necessity or just pleasure, almost every one of us owns a car today. Even with their large presence in our lives, cars and their structure are still a mystery to most of us. We are not talking about horsepower, type of tires or different colors, but the actual structure of the car engine and different roles of its parts. Given this situation, it wouldn’t hurt if we discuss in detail some parts of a car and how they work. Hence, we have chosen to describe what the timing belt serves for in a car and when should we do timing belt replacement.

A timing belt is a rubber band or in some cases chain that is used to coordinate the work of crankshafts and camshafts in your car’s engine. Think of the timing belt as a part without which your car would work as a disoriented orchestra and which, if not in good condition, can cause a major damage to the engine. Yet, the role of timing belts has changed over time. In older car engines timing belts had only the synchronization role between crankshafts and camshafts, but today are used for other purposes like driving the water pump and shifting gears. This goes to show just how important this simple rubber band is in a internal combustion engine.

But when is the right time for timing belt replacement and how seriously should car owners address this problem? Studies show that 60,000 miles driven is when you should start worrying about timing belt cost and replacement. This job is best left to professionals due to warranty issues and the fact that you do need experience in repairing internal combustion engines to get things right. Also, reaching the timing belt in your engine means replacing other peripheral parts that are interconnected. So you really need to know the whole structure of a car engine – not something an average driver knows.

However, manufacturers do publish a timing belt replacement guide for all their cool car models as a way of improving customer service and providing detail information to their loyal customers. These guides are rich in important information on how to perform timing belt replacement but in the end, it is best to leave these tasks to professionals who do this for a living.