I have a 99 Stratus 2.0 , 4 cyl. 5 speed that the timing belt tensioner bearing went out ; is there an easy way to check for bent valves ? The car has 435,000 miles and I don't want to invest a lot of repair time if the valves are bent

 

no easy way that i know of, only two things i know would be pull the head and check, or put the belt on and see if and how it runs

 

Put the new timing belt on. You don't have to put it entirely together, just the belt. Make sure everything is clear of the belt path and run a compression test.