I renewed the belts, waterpump and tensioners about 3 months ago yesterday when i started the car i heard a noise that sounded exactly what it was the alternator belt shredded and got under the timing belt and it jumped bending the valves. The garage that renewed the belts said there were stones inside the belt casing that caused the damage and was in no way their fault bearing in mind the belly pan was in place and we are talking about a handfull of 10-18mm stones not just one or two can anyone tell me how possible this is.
Thanks
John

 

unless there are any holes in the timing belt cover I don't see how they could get in there unless some one put them there?

 

Yup, you cant prove those stones were not in there, can you! Meanwhile, your mechanic is off the hook. Pretty tough to prove his negligence now, if he was negligent, butunless you took the car first to another and reputable mechanic for a diagnosis to what caused the failure, you are screwed![:@]

I would have the car looked at by another mechanic anyway and inspect everything very closely to see if there are signs of another reason for the belt failing. Maybe it was stones, but I would also agree that is unlikely unless of course you drive your car on back roads.