QUESTION: I want to find out how I can identify if a car’s engine is interference or noninterference from a layman’s point of view; that is, some signs or writings on the vehicle. Home delivery and ...

DEAR CAR TALK: You recently wrote about a guy whose timing belt broke, and who tried to restart his car but whose valves survived only through sheer good luck. In 1957, I had a new Ford six-cylinder, ...

An interference engine is one in which the valves and the pistons operate within the same space inside the cylinder. The timing belt or chain regulates the movement of these internal engine parts so ...

Q: If the timing belt breaks in an interference engine, it will self-destruct. What advantage is gained by this design that outweighs the risk of engine damage if or when the belt fails? — R. Fischer ...