Just as eusgen said above my answer. You may be able to hear them slapping against the pistons. But just starting it up to see if that happens could cause more damage if one or more are bent. You threw/broke a timing belt. It needs to be opened up and looked at to be safe.

 

tow it, that is really your best answer.

good luck

 

I bent my valves when my timing belt sheared some teeth off.
I couldn't even start the car, it just kept cranking.

 

Just found out most valves are done, no compression. Anyone know a very cheap source of heads? RRM's ported head is cheaper than mitsuparts...is that a direct bolt on or do i need other more costly parts? and can it run on stock engine...not looking for power boost, just the cheaper option.

 

You could buy rrm's, but if I were you I would check around junk yards for wrecked lancers that damage isn't motor related. Usually can get the entire engine for a few hundred or so or just the head itself for a 100. but getting rrm's would be nice say if at some point you did decide to boost your car. One thing since your already going to replace the head, might as well get yourself arp headbolts. good way to stay ahead of the game if you do decide to mod in the future.

 

cheapest route would be junk yard and get an entire motor. how many miles were on the car when the timing belt went?

 

118,000...the mechanic is offering me to basically drop the cost of the timing belt (650$) and keep the car. I have never seen my year lancer in a junkyard though

 

I would just get one from a junkyard or ebay. I think i paid $250 for a fully rebuilt head.

 

I don't know why you people think the RPM or speed at which the belt breaks would affect your chances of damage. Whether at 1 RPM or 6000 RPMS, the piston goes up just as far, and the valve comes down just as far. If the engine is out of time enough, they will ALWAYS collide. There is no time at which all the valves are closed, so it's not like the belt could miraculously break at that safe point of camshaft rotation either. At high RPMS the valves can "float", or stay open longer, potentially causing valve damage even with the engine in time (intact timing belt). This would only be possible with a downshift, as the normal rev limiter prevents this. When discussing valve damage due to a broken timing belt or stripped teeth, there is no "safer" RPM range. If the engine is out of time, simply turning the crankshaft with a wrench will bend valves. Ask me how i know (been there, done that).

Those who report broken timing belts with no valve damage aren't actually telling the full story. Theirs stripped a tooth or two, causing the engine to stall, but not throw off the timing enough to cause interference. A snapped belt will cause damage, every single time.

These timing belts are meant to last 60k miles, and that's when they should be changed. You should be glad you have a car that still has a belt instead of that insane chain setup they put on the new ones that basically makes any engine repair at all a major ordeal.