Tick-tick-tick BLAH...

[dikdiamond]

Well I was driving up state route 250 and hear a tick-tick noise...like something hittting something else,or better yet slapping on something...I'm only going about 70 mph or so...thinking it's someone elses car I get back into the right lane only to see my oil pressure at 0...then as I'm pulling off the road(at a high rate of speed) EVERY idiot light comes on,and she dies before I can shut her off. I tried to turn her over a few minutes later and nothing,nada. Popped the hood,and the timing belt looked like it was rubbing the inside of the cover,and half off. Two months ago I had this car into a shop to change the timing belt ,tensioner and pulley,hydraulic tensioner and some other minor things...now this 2 months later? I haven't looked at it since I had it towed home 'cause I'm too pissed right now...could the balance shaft belt cause this? I didn't see any oil puddles and I still had oil when I checked the dipstick. Damn it I didn't want to have to get her rebuilt now,even though money won't be too much a problem but still

 

[HIGHPSI4]

If you are trying to start the car and the engine turns over very fast and freely then the noise you were hearing was the valves. You may have bent some of them. If the engine is locked up then you spun a bearing. Of course I have seen a connecting rod break lose and leave the piston @ TDC. The connecting rod traveled up and down the bore until it wore through the cyclinder wall and lost coolent.

 

[dikdiamond]

I was thinking that it is the valves,from what I've read on the forums. Yes it does turn over freely. Man this sucks,time for a rebuild eh

EDIT:mods maybe can you rename this thread to something more descriptive,to help with future searches...i've cooled down a bit and wrote that title as i was angry

 

[HIGHPSI4]

Well, if your car is running down the road and you have no oil pressure then you may have other damage. As soon as the valves are bent the cyclinders will no longer compress air and thus will not fire. That will shut down the engine and nothing turns over. The fact that the engine is running with no oil pressure is another problem.

 

[dikdiamond]

Well when I saw that the oil pressure was down is right when I went to the berm of the road,and then it died. And I couldn't hear much engine wise,the stereo was on. Mainly I could hear the timing belt smacking off the cover. Perhaps the line from the oil sending unit popped off,it has done it before but not for a while. Could the oil pump have crapped out too,and if so would that be one of the symptoms? I never ran this car hard,not boosting every stoplight or excessive abuse. I checked the oil regularly,everything I could on a routine basis...however it is the things that you can't check routinely that get you huh? So any suggestions to course of action? Complete swap out of motor or rebuild with bored pistons/better cams,etc. Anyones input would be great besides HIGHPSI4

 

[kenamond]

Though they anointed me a wiseman, I've never done a t-belt change before ...but...doesn't the t-belt drive the oil pump? If so, could he have jumped a few teeth as the timing belt was failing (tick tick tick) then the t-belt broke and dropped oil pressure?

 

[EagleTalonTim]

If you got the timing belt done at a shop, I would go back to them and tell them what is up. I used to turn wrenches a few years ago and did a timing belt on a car that was just replaced 1 month prior. As I tore it down, I found a bolt that must have been dropped into the timing cover. Over time it must have freed itself from where it was stuck then caught up in the belt. Not sure if you want to take the car back to them because they could tear it down and find that it was their fault and tell you it was not and hide the evidence.

Good luck! You will need it

 

[speedy13]

Unless you become one of those PITA customers and haunt them till they tear it down in front of you. I'm sorry to hear about your situation. You should definatly talk to the shop before even touching ANYTHING on the car. If you touch anything, bye, bye warranty. If they're a respectable shop, they'll bite the bullet. Unfortunatly, If you say your oil psi was 0, then you will definatly have to tear down the head and the oil pan to see what the damage is and go from there. If money is not an issue, I would serioiusly consider this to be rebuild time, If money is an issue, you can always put in a junker motor, at your own risk of course. Go talk to the shop owner/manager and see what they say. good luck.

 

[toyotaturbo]

When this shop replaced your timing belt, did they replace the balance shaft belt? If not, when we the last time it was replaced? I suspect that the balance shaft belt backed off/broke (hence the slapping noise) and killed your brand new timing belt. It is a common practice (as far as I've seen) for a shop to replace a timing belt when paid to do so......If a balance shaft belt is not asked for, then they will not attempt to replace it. Also, most won't cover the rebuild under warranty based on the fact that the balance shaft belt should have been replaced along with the timing belt. Once you rebuild, get those balance shafts removed!

 

[dikdiamond]

When this shop replaced your timing belt, did they replace the balance shaft belt? If not, when we the last time it was replaced

That's a good question,as i've had the car for a year and haven't had it done. Hindsight is always 20/20 too. Wish I would have had it done 2 months ago,thought never occurred to me until a few weeks after it was out of the shop. As speedy13 suggested i'm not going to touch anything until i find out a warranty,if any is honored...and bye-bye balance shaft even if it's not it! One of the mechanics is into DSM's and that's why i went there. Word of mouth heard the shop was pretty good,and labor didn't eat up my bank account. Until i talk to them i'll give them benefit of the doubt.

Average cost of a rebuild? If I get upgraded cams/pistons/valves i realize the price can get up there. I'm wanting to do that but not break the bank...i don't have a lot of bills right now and i make decent money...i could have 3 grand to put into upgrades in about 6 weeks of work but if i can keep the costs down that would be great.

Thanks for all the kind words,as much as this sucks ass it's nice to find some sympathy from peers instead of "You shoulda bought a Ford"

 

[Eclipse98_RS]

Lol, you should never buy a Ford. That sucks man. Let us know how much everything will cost as I might be building my Eclipse up in the future and want to know how much that will be.

 

[toyotaturbo]

People say, "You should have bought a Ford"??? Who wants a Rustang? FORD? 4 letter F words are not allowed to be used in my household.

 

[speedy13]

yeah man. Friends don't let friends drive fords.. But damm, those mustangs sure are nice...good luck with your rebuild, keep us posted.

 

[motomattxxx]

Start saving now.

 

[diddy456]

Also if your timing was off, if they didn't line it up properly, it could have caused it to bend the valves also. To me it sounds like that. I had also the same thing happen to me, even though it wasn't in a DSM, in a Legend, I had the timing belt replaced and it wasn't lined up properly(off a few teeth). I was in the same boat, just driving down the road and and all of a sudden the car just died. It turned over but never started. Had it checked out and bent vavles. Hope that helps.

-Shane

 

[boostnhard]

Lucky you if money wont be a problem. Think of it as UPGRADE time, hey money aint a thing, right?

 

[dikdiamond]

It won't get looked at until Monday,gonna get it towed tomorrow. I was thinking it was valves too,from other threads I have read. Definetly time for upgrades! No g/f,small amount of bills and I can put whatever I want into my DSM,just need time to make the money of course Any suggestions on what I should have done? I eventually want another car to drive to work,and I don't plan to ever take it to the track or Autocross or anything...just like to have fun in it and cruise but I would like to get 350hp someday,or more...suggestions anyone? I was looking at Bushur's site and found this https://secure.buschurracing.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=22_34_119&products_id=152&osCsid=d997f8a4fb7a02af445682f05e267c50
This too from CI Motorsportshttp://www.ci-motorsports.net/store/product.php?productid=477&cat=2116&page=1

 

[dikdiamond]

Umm yeah...after doing more research last night I'm thinking against the links I posted above. I've been reading on this forum that a mostly stock rebuild can give me the horsepower(or potential horsepower)I want,correct? I'm adding oil pump and water pump to the list. How would say just an upgrade of cams for low end power work out? Or cams and a .10 bore? Ahh there are so many options!

 

[dikdiamond]

So I'm looking at $1300 for a rebuild from my mechanic,should be done next week. After much consideration I'm going with stock internals,maybe upgrade the cams later but not now...main reason being cash flow...when I opened my mouth about having money to spend and not being a problem,my overtime stopped...going from 58 hrs a week back to 40 sucks ass. Bad karma or what? Glad I had money in the bank to begin with to get it done with,and picked up a Ford F-150 for $230 for my second vehicle ...362,000 miles and counting