car just broke down

[97 DSM Gs-T]

ok so i was driving home from a car meet tonight and out of no where my car makes a horrible sound and shuts off. so i was able to roll into a spot on the side of the road and park it. i think the trans may have blown. i was just driving at 50mph in 5th gear then the car made the sound that happens when your not in gear all the way and it makes the grinding sound. after this the car shut off. so im on the side of the road trying to start the car and all i get is the starter trying to start the car but wont turn over and start. does anyone know what happend. FYI i dont beat on my car or mistreat it. srry if this is in the wrong spot.

 

[OneBad2L]

Are you able to look at your timing belt, make sure it's is still on and well? Check if your oil is still full and looking good.
And can you still shift into the gears?

 

[97 DSM Gs-T]

no i couldnt see the timing belt. i just got home. im gonna go pick it up in the mourning. i hate leaving my baby all alone on the side of the road

after the car made the sound it wouldnt shift into 5th gear. i tried to down shift but the car shut off to soon. when the car is off itll shift into all gears except 5th. this is why im thinkin trans is gone.

problem found. timing belt decided to shred itself.

 

[OneBad2L]

At least your rpms should have been pretty low if you were 50mph in 5th but, the trying to downshift and restart it multiple times afterwards probably hurt you a lot more. At best you lost near every valve but, end up real lucky on the pistons and can salvage them with a little grinding and polishing.

The car I have had one snap doing 30 in 3rd, knew what happened, left it shut down, and still lost 15 of the 16 valves but, at least the marks on the pistons were hardly noticeable and not to close to the skirt. Polished them up and they were good to go.

Good luck. And I'm now running a clear cam cover btw. I believe mine snapped because of a loose bolt that had fallen into the bottom of the timing cover and had been tearing at it for who knows how long before it finally let go. It's a good part to be able to keep an eye on.