Dead Subi, timing issue or something else?

[cody.hockenberry]

So, my 98 outback legacy has been dead for nearly 3 weeks. I've had the car for about 5 months and a few things have gone out on it; coil pack, radiator and now this.

I was driving down the road at about 35 mph and I hit a pothole on the passenger side. My suspension is pretty much nonexistent so the car took a hard hit. I look down and my rpms are at 0. I turn the key to the off position and coast to a side road. Long story short I checked for fuel, spark and a list of other things and was completely stumped until I took the timing cover off and saw that my cam pulleys aren't in sync with each other and I have quite a bit of slack in the belt. My question is could hitting that pothole throw my timing off so much that it killed my car and prevented it from starting again?

 

 

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[BarManBean]

If your tensioner is borked and there is slack in the belt, I'm sure it's possible.

[Brighton96]

Sounds to me like you just need to redo the timing components, you may have to replace the tensioner but other than that, you should be able to just set the timing.

[Infosecdad]

Did you try starting it after it died? There is a good chance your valves have kissed your pistons. '98 is an interference engine (everything after '96), you can try to replace all the timing components on the front (belt, tensioner, idler pulleys) and pray. But, there is a good chance you'll need to pull the heads and check the valves and pistons for damage and replace as needed.

[Setnev]

Check your tensioner, if it travels more than 5 mm when the timing is set, then it is bad. But at any rate, reset the timing and perform a leakdown test. That is the best way to test if you have bent valves.