timing belt broke/skipped teeth

[str8andnarrwpath]

on the way home........bad bad noise(crunch munch crunch). automaticaly i think t-belt,it was overdue to be replaced. it wont fire just turns over and over. i am certain although i havent dug in the motor to check. my question is new heads or whole motor? is there serious damage to the pistons? short of pulling it all apart,whats the easiest way to find out? what is the best way to go about this? how much will a motor or heads cost me? i am pissed and not thinking straight.....can anyone help me out.

 

thanks

-mike

[morpheus]

Depends on the mileage of the motor.

 

Since you were driving it when it broke, most likely there is piston/valve contact.

 

New (or rebuilt) heads and a new belt would certanly fix it, but if the bottom end has a lot of mileage on it, you might not be doing yourself any favours.

 

You might want to look for a low mileage used motor and just swap the whole thing.

[88pathoffroad]

Pull the distributor cap and crank the engine a little to see if the rotor turns. If it turns the belt is still on.