my cam belt snaped on my 2.5 diesal lwb transit.i was traveling at 50 mph went to change gear and there was a shudder and ignition lights came on brakes stopped working but engine did not cut straight away.tried to start it and engine was turning over twice as fast but not fireing up then i realized cam belt had gone.how much damage have i done?and how can i repair it?

George Holmes, January 2008

Generally the worst thing this does to the engine is bend the push rods, sometimes you can straighten them. As John says below you will of course need a new cambelt and tensioner but you don't really need to remove half the things he has listed.

MrMPuk, January 2008

According to Autodata this is a 'freewheeling' engine, therefore if you are lucky there may be no damage. You need to put a new timing belt on and give it a try. Unfortunately this means taking off the radiator grille and radiator, alternator belt, viscous coupled fan, and the cooling fan pulley before you can take the timing cover off. Takes a while but it isn't such a bad job. Check out the Autodata website for more info.

John, January 2008