So, on Thursday night I was pulling out of a driveway of a gas station and I felt a snap, then my car shut off and wouldn’t start back.

The engine tried to turn over but sounded very weak. So I called CAA and when they arrived the gentleman driving the truck seemed knowledgeable about cars and said he could tell if it was the timing belt by how it sounded when I tried to start it. So, I tried to start it and he concluded that it was the timing belt so I had it towed to a mechanic.

Today the called me back saying that “I need a new engine”. I was shocked and said how do I need a new engine, what happened? He then stated that “while running tests on the engine, it seized up, therefore there has to be something wrong inside the engine and I need to replace it.” I then asked him if indeed the timing belt had snapped and he said he doesn’t know because he hasn’t opened up the engine.

Now, something seems a little fishy here. I’ve heard of engines and valves being damaged when timing belts snap, but I was driving at less then 5 km/h when I heard the noise and it shut off. And, if the timing belt didn’t snap, could I just blow a motor like that?

Car is a 1997 Acura CL 2.2, has 208,000 km’s on the engine. I bought it used at around 200,000 km’s on it. Not sure if the timing belt was ever changed. (Now assuming it wasn’t)