when i was driving my lancer last night, i took off from a stop sign and went to shift into second gear. when i let out the clutch the car lurched forward violently two times then died. when i went to start it again, it didn't even try to turn over. i got it home and pulled the timing belt cover off, and noticed when i turn the key to start the engine, the belt doesn't move. the belt is tight, however. it has 99k and has never been changed since new. am i right in thinking its the timing belt, or is there something else it could be?

mods:

CAI, headers, piggyback

any help would greatly be appreciated.

thanks

 

If its not moving either the valves have decided to bend on ya dood or the have decided to sit nicely up against the pistons either way it doesnt sound good man.

 

Are you saying that when the engine turns over the timing belt doesnt move?

 

it moved MAYBE 1/2 inch.

 

you're going to need a better description of exactly what the car is doing, if you worked on anything recently before it died, when the car lurched did it make any odd mechanical noise, etc?

 

+1....I don't think it would be valves. If it were, the starter would still spin the flywheel, and he would have probably heard some real bad things in the engine bay. Sounds like a hydrolock without the water....unless you did suck water....


Need more info.

 

Actually the flywheel is attatched to the crank. So if the valves have bent or you bent a rod then when you try to start the car the flywheel WON'T move. It sounds like what happened to my lancer. The timing belt probably slipped cause it's old and the crank and cam got out of time and your rods probably bent. Take your timimg belt off and see if it looks like any of the teeth are chewed up and check your timing. I had to replace my engine because I put mine back in time and started it up a it threw a rod. But that was the issue. This might not be your problem but it sounds like it. Especially if your car was under a heavy load when it happened...(i.e if you were accelerating). Hope this helps

 

check the basics. Oil, coolant leaks, plugs, do comp test. im sure there is more but you can start with those. also when you get time you might want to change your timing belt and water pump if you havent.

 

thanks for all the help. about to have a look and see what i find. i'll keep you guys posted. and actually, i did suck water, but the minute i noticed it, i stopped the car and dumped the intake. then it ran fine. that was 1 day before all this, almost 2 days. we'll see.

 

Hmmm...you may have tweaked a rod, and driving on it made it worse...of course that is all speculation without actually looking. If you know your way around an engine....it's not that bad taking your head off to check. Compression test will probably tell too.

 

thanks. running short on time so i have to just take it in to the shop. seems like everything is pointing to the rod. when i started pulling it apart last night i didn't see anything other than the timing belt is missing a tooth. again, i ran out of time (darn day job!!) thanks for all the help, i'll keep you guys posted once again when the mechanic tells me what he finds.

thanks again

spencer

 

got the car back yesterday. it was indeed the timing belt. must have been binding on something because when i looked at it, it was tight. no other damage. he said that since i was only moving about 25mph it didn't do any other damage. however, had i been going >60 it would have surely done some damage.

the greatest news of alll...the price. after a flatbed wrecker charge, timing belt, and labor the grand total came to a whopping........$260!! i got out really cheap!

thanks for everyone's input

 

wow; thats f***'n cheap. glad to see you running again.

 

make sure to take out the spark plugs and ensure that theres no water in the cylinders. MAKE SURE there's no water you don't want to seize anything. Good to hear about the cost though.

 

definitely!! i guess it's time to get around to all that routine maintenance that i've been putting off. you never realize how much you miss your car until you're without it (and not by choice!)