in short, i was driving my 2000 dodge caravan V6 3.0L when a strip of the serpentine belt peeled off, it was a strip the entire length of the belt and it all got sucked up behind the crankshaft pulley and it just stalled out on me. I replaced the serpentine belt before i knew the rest of the other belt was sucked up in the crankshaft pulley (which its still stuck in there) and the car will not start at all, sent it to a shop to see whats going on and they said they arent sure either yet. they said it seems to build up compression after cranking a minute and then it loses it. Before they try to replace the timing belt i really need to know for sure if it is a interference engine or not for sure since i seem to be getting mixed responses. Gates.c om doesnt have it listed as an interference but autozone says it is, and the shop its at says its not listed as interference and i get mixed results from various forums. Problem is i have enough money to either fix timing or buy a crappy used car but not enough to fix smashed valves or whatever. ANY help would be much appreciated, thank you very much oh and there doesnt seem to be any sensors or wiring or anything in that area that the belt could have damaged

 

What you can do, is set timing marks and install a new timing belt and start the engine. If it runs fine, then put the covers back on.

 

yeah but the problem with that is that i cant do it myself and will have to use pretty much the last of my money to have them do it, and if it turns out to be that the valves and stuff is shot then i have no money to fix it or get beater to put around in. Would be nice if my little haynes manual would specify if its interface or not.

 

3.0L ENGINE
DESCRIPTION
The 3.0 Liter (181 cu. in.) 60° V-6 engine is a single overhead camshaft (per bank) design 3.0L Engine . The engine does have free-wheeling valve train.

The firing order is 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6. The cylinders are numbered from the front of the engine to the rear. The front cylinder bank is numbered 2, 4, and 6. The rear cylinder bank is numbered 1, 3, and 5.

The engine identification number is located on the rear of the cylinder block just below the cylinder head Engine Identification .

 

Thank you! you were dead on Master Tech, it was free-wheeling. Also i found out why i had the problem in the first place. When the strip of belt peeled off and got sucked behind the crankshaft pulley, some of it got sucked into where the timing belt is and was wrapped up around the crankshaft sprocket and cought between the sprocket and the timing belt so the sprocket was just spinning, giving me no compression except when it would occassionally catch a good spot.