Rav 4 D4D 2003 Plate

[alexr]

Hi Guys I'm deperately seeking some advice please on my daughters 2003 rav4 d4d 5 door 2ltr,I get a phone call from daughter on Sunday morning " Dad Iv'e broken down on the slip road just near yours ,can you help me ',so go out with disco and tow rope ,find car on slip rd of of A12 ,get out and ask 'what happened " told funny noise like a car overtaking me and lost all power,pop bonnet and see loads of oil over timing belt cover and a glint of camshaft pully through slit in cover !,push open slit further and can see pully,push with finger and it wobbles !! first thought is bolt that holds pully on has sheared and pully has spun off the end of camshaft and done in camshaft seal hence all the oil.second thjought is " oh **** have the valves met the pistons ?????? ok we now tow it into the guy that does her servicing and leave him a note telling all,get a call today telling me not pully dropped off but camshaft sheared off behind pully !!! tells me its a 10 to 1 that valves have met pistons and engine is scrap ! ok guys in light of this, advice please as she doen't really want to scrap £2600 of car,advice MUCH appreciated

[gjnorthall]

It's not unknown for camshafts to seize - usually due to lubrication issues. Usually this would rip the teeth off the cam-belt and it is unusual for the camshaft to snap. Really, the head would need to be removed to ascertain the damage - only some valves will be bent but there is a possibility of piston damage. Even in the best case scenario - this will be an expensive repair I'm afraid. The question in these situations is whether the money you'd "save" by scrapping the car would buy you anything decent. If the car is otherwise good, it may well be worth repairing. However you would initially need to spend some money to ascertain what exactly needs to be done so you can make an informed decision.