Please help me figure out this problem! Fuel?

[chris712vt]

Alright here's what happened: (95 talon 420A)

I had been drving down the highway back to school. Already traveled almost 260 miles and then my car literally shuts off as I'm driving down the road. Luckily I was within a couple miles of my apartment but I have no idea what happened. I restarted it, it started alright but chugged a little and at idle it was making a ticking sound. Then as soon as I gave it gas there was no power and it died. Started once more with same result then it wouldn't start anymore.

Oil is fine so I don't think it could have seized up, plus it wouldn't have started aain if it did right? It had enough gas, battery was fine. I've been advised to check my timing belt to see if it's alright, as well as a fuel or ignition problem. I've never taken off the timing cover but that should be easy. Assuming the belt is fine, how do I go about checking for fuel problems?

Please, do you have any ideas or advice for how to look for things that could have gone wrong? I'd rather not pay a shop to find the problem and fix it because I don't have a ton of money and I know a shop would stick me with a huge bill. I had electrical problems last week with the tail lights and now that that was all fixed my engine dies... what a week.

Thanks for any and all help!

 

[chris712vt]

checked timing belt... the belt is fine and the allignment marks on the cam gears are still together. took a video of trying to start it, it turned over but won't start. sounds horrible so I don't want to do it anymore, but I thought having a video might help you all figure out potential problems. I'll post the link to the video once it registers with youtube.

 

[Ceddy]

Where is the ticking coming from? Engine bay or dash area?
If relays are clicking under the dash you have a ecu/electricial problem.

 

[chris712vt]

i can't tell where the clicking's coming from because it won't start again. but i'm pretty sure it was under the valve cover before. I only got to hear it for like 10 seconds before it died, and that was from inside the car.

 

[chris712vt]

this is painful to listen to... but here's the vid:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmupv56pfys

 

[chrisfullwood]

i watched the video clip and im pretty sure im hearing metal scraping.

It might be worth pulling the oil pan and take a look at the bottom of the engine, also use a flashlight to look up the cylinders and see if you can see anything there.

cut open the oil filter, check for any signs of metal shavings and scrapings. its not easy to see them, but check as best you can, this could give you a big clue as to whats going on.

you say the oil is fine. im assuming you mean the oil level is fine? but oil pressure might be a different matter, if there is low oil pressure that will shut an engine down(assuming the ecu is programmed to shut them down based on oil pressure, which i dont actually know. but it is very common to have that feature, im sure if im wrong i will be corrected), specially at highway speeds it would cause lots of damage in the way of scraping, and scoring very quickly. you'd probably be lucky on the bottom end as the crank would at least be dipped in oil, but the cylinders/rings and pistons would probably be pretty well trashed.

my instinct though is that there might be something wrong with the oil pump. (kinda a hunch) and that has caused damage to the cylinders, i could be wrong obviously and it might be something simple, but given the sluggishness of the engine turning over, and the noise its making, there is definately some metal on metal contacting somewhere. if it we're me i would be looking at pulling the head off for a start to look at the cylinder walls. then go from there.
i hope i might have given you a few ideas of what might be going on.
i would say i definately think this is more than just a spark, or fuel problem
good luck.
stay cool.

 

[chris712vt]

thanks chris, looks like I've got a lot ahead of me. *sigh* I appreciate the help though!

 

[chrisfullwood]

no problem, if there is anything else i can help with feel free.
i hope you get it all figured out. i know these cars are a nightmare when they go funky like this.
only after that then can we really appreciate them.
i just now got mine running good enough. so i went and pulled donuts in the snow.
a small bit of satisfaction to tide me over till the next time it breaks down.