Q: Could someone tamper with your timing chain and cause it to break?

asked by on October 06, 2016

Recently had a vandalism situation, next day all of sudden the car stopped running. Upon having the car towed, was told maybe the timing belt or chain. Turn out it was chain. The car was running all along with no issues.

My car has 114000 miles.
My car has an automatic transmission.

Hi, thanks for writing in. Although vandalism could happen, but its highly unlikely due to the chain being fairly difficult to get to. The most common causes for the chain to fail is a chain that has stretched over time, a guide that has failed, or a pulley failure. I would recommend having an expert from YourMechanic come to your home or office to confirm a diagnosis on the issue and make or suggest the necessary repairs or replacements.

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