Does Timing = Toast?

[SeriouslyFubar]

My '94 3.5 L LHS died going down the road the other day. No warning whatsoever, just sudden loss of power. I pulled into a parking lot and when I opened the hood there was some smoke coming out of a bolt hole in the part just to the left of the alternator (no clue what it is). Trying to restart it gets just the starter, no engine turnover at all. I have heard that when the timing belt goes in these it toasts the engine. Is all hope lost or can it be fixed? Thanx

[AWP9521]

I have heard too, that the 3.5 is an "Interferance" Engine, meaning if the timing belt goes while the Engine was running (Usually because the water pump failed as it is driven by the Timing Belt and was probably the smoke you seen when opening the hood) and Valves are open in a cylinder the piston will contact the valves damaging them and possibly the Piston top. I have also heard that you could have gotten lucky and not damaged the engine at all when the belt let go. There is really no way on knowing if it got damaged or not unless you tear the heads off and take a look at the piston tops for gouges and the valves to see if any got bent. Or you can take a chance and replace the Water Pump, Timing Belt, and the Tensioner (94 Tensioner pulleys are plastic and are usually damaged when the belt goes, replacement ones are steel and a dealer item only and cost $100 or more) and pray that the engine doesn't make any weird noises when you start it up again.