I just bought my 88 Nova a little over a month ago. It has it's original 45000, which is documented and I also checked carfax. My question has to do with the timing belt. I have heard most cars need them changed at 60,000 miles. I do not know if this has the original or not. I know this basically has a Toyota engine. By the way there were a few model engines in that year. I have the one with a carborator. I have heard this may have what is called a non interference engine. My understanding is if this is true that it means if the belt breaks nothing else will happen to the engine. I know with some engines if the belt breaks you can cause a lot of other damage to the engine when the belt goes. It is very expensive to replace this belt and I dob't have a lot of money and I definitely can't do it myself. So my questions are. Does this have a non interference engine? If it does am I correct in the fact that nothing else would happen to my engine if the belt did go? If not when is it recommended I get the belt changed as preventative maintenance?
Jul 27, 2008 at 11:11 AM