Hi there I was driving yesterday when me battery light came on I slowed down then I lost power pulled in quickly then tried to start the engine again it wouldn't start so lifted bonnet up tried it again nothing a friend was passing so he slowed down we tried jump leads still nothing so he left .I then looked and could see the alternator belt had snapped got most of it out but bits where still in the pully then the police stopped they had a number for recovery company they came out got me to the local garage the mechanic said some of the belt had shredded and go into the timing belt so need to take timing belt of and strip down I said fine but he said he was busy doing another car so go for a walk so I did for a few hours came back and the boss a old guy came to me and said the timing has moved and thinks I might of damaged valves needs to get cyclider head of and get that sent away .I said why not just but a new alternater belt and timing belt on? Even though the timing belt is ok I looked at it myself.There was no noise of bangs from my engine when I pulled over is the garage trying to rip me off? I know somethings about cars but not everything done services myself etc..Any help would be great.

Just liked to add this is a octavia vrs 2010 model with 56000 miles on the clock.

Unfortunately while rare, it's not unheard-of for a failed auxiliary belt to cause the cam belt to slip. The fact the car lost power and wouldn't restart supports this, as normally a car will still run even with a broken auxiliary belt for as long as the battery lasts.

You may have been lucky and just suffered a timing slip with no damage. But at the very least you're going to need the Campbelt replacing....the original that suffered slip absolutely can't be reused.

Does the car have a full dealer service history? If so Skoda may contribute significantly to the repair costs.

Thank you for the message. No I serviced myself a few weeks ago I think the problem was caused by fuel filter leaking after I replaced it .I smelt diesel so diesel must of leaked onto the drive belt rubber which I have found out through this site it doesn't like diesel. But the boss at the garage said it wants head skimming and may of bent valves .I myself think he is trying to rip me off quoted £1600 + vat

I must add I have seen the timing belt which looks fine not snapped or teeth missing but there was shredded rubber of the drive belt in the timing belt casing..

Thank you for the message. No I serviced myself a few weeks ago I think the problem was caused by fuel filter leaking after I replaced it .I smelt diesel so diesel must of leaked onto the drive belt rubber which I have found out through this site it doesn't like diesel. But the boss at the garage said it wants head skimming and may of bent valves .I myself think he is trying to rip me off quoted £1600 + vat

Turns out to be an expensive home service then.

Get second opinion at least would be my suggestion.

Replace both belts and if you can crank engine over slowly to feel any engine lock-up or massive resistance to continue..

You probably will have to remove the injectors to manually turn the engine over..?

Thank you guys serviced my own cars for years never had any problems until this fuel casing problem which looking on this site is a common problem with VW and Skoda so anyone out there be very careful changing a fuel filter. Decided to get take my car away from that garage been in touch with a mate who knows a good mechanic he is going to look at it for me.

Turns out to be an expensive home service then.

Unhelpful. The fuel filter housing on the Octavia can be tricky to work on. On more than one occasion I have heard of them leaking after 'professional' mechanics have put them back together. We live and learn.

Personally I would put a new cam belt on it, time it up, turn it over with a spanner a few times and if it seems OK try starting it. I think talking about getting the head off/skimming it etc is premature.

Thanks Kenny, Yes we live and learn the problem with the fuel filter is it's a tiny thin seal and if you lift the top of with a screw driver you can bend it so it doesn't sit flush down when you put it back on.Yes I agree with you about the head of but as you may know yourself these garages can try to rip us off .He is a very smooth old con man me thinks drivers top of the range Merc which his customers pay for .