200 Galant shut off while driving, timing belt?

[mikelbeck]

My wife was driving her 2000 Galant with the 2.4L SOHC this morning. She said there was a bang - she thought she ran something over - then the car started shaking, it lost power and finally shut off. She was able to coast into a gas station and that's where she left it.

She called me and said "it's broken, can you go check it out" so I did without knowing the details. I checked our as much as I could, made sure there was fuel in the car, the battery was ok, the serpentine belt was still there, etc. Tried to start it and it would crank but it almost sounds like it's skipping when it's cranking. It's not going any faster than normal but it definately doesn't sound normal.

Based on what she told me afterwards (bang, loss of power then shutting off) I'm thinking that the timing belt broke.

Any other thoughts or advice?

[reiketsutsukigami]

probably mightve just skipped a few teeth still sucks though cause its interference so your valves pistons get hurt when stuff like that happens try taking off the upper cover and lining up the timing marks or just check the belt if its in pieces then thats it XD.

[03-Galant-ES]

Probably the timing belt. If it did snap, then chances are your wifes car may be dead. Engine swap is possibility, have it checked out.

[mikelbeck]

probably mightve just skipped a few teeth still sucks though cause its interference so your valves pistons get hurt when stuff like that happens try taking off the upper cover and lining up the timing marks or just check the belt if its in pieces then thats it XD.

How big of a job is it on this motor? Is it just taking off the cover and swapping the belt or does it all need to come apart?

[03-Galant-ES]

Use the search button

https://www.thegalantcenter.org/showthread.php?t=16604&highlight=changing+timing+belt

[reiketsutsukigami]

well taking off the upper cover isnt to bad but thats only so you can see the belt as for changing the belt it takes me about 20mins to do my belts but it took me an hour and a half my very first time its not too hard.

[mikelbeck]

Use the search button

https://www.thegalantcenter.org/showthread.php?t=16604&highlight=changing+timing+belt

Looks like loads of fun.

Is there a easy way to check if the valves were smacking the pistons before I start with the timing belt or would I need to pull the head off?

[03-Galant-ES]

Im pretty sure head would have to come off.

[reiketsutsukigami]

yea you could try a comp test but if your belt skipped or snapped youll have to replace it first.

[SkylineG1]

If you broke the timing belt while you were driving, there will definately be damage to valves. You can rebuild th ehead or you can just swap a different engine.

[keith6110]

See if you can grab a head off of a junkyard engine. That will probably be the easiest fix along with the new timing belt kit. When you remove the head, check for piston damage. If you have piston damage you're talking more engine swap. So, it really depends on the damage the timing belt has done.

[mikelbeck]

Thanks. I got the car back home this afternoon, I won't have time to start tearing into the motor until this weekend. Good thing I've got a spare. ;-)

[mikelbeck]

I'm gonna take a shot in the dark here and assume that the lower timing belt cover can't be reused?

:081:

http://img35.imageshack.us/img35/9185/img20101023174859.th.jpg (http://img35.imageshack.us/i/img20101023174859.jpg/)

[mko]

it seems like the crank pulley is missing. did u take it off or this is how it was when you took the wheel off.

take the top timing belt cover and see if the timing belt is there or loose....

[mikelbeck]

LOL...yeah, I took off the crank pulley. I also pulled off the top timing cover and saw the timing belt there, I thought I was in good shape. Then I noticed it was a little slack and pulled on it and it came right out. It broke in half, I guess when it did it whacked the bottom cover.

[silversurfer]

your belt is broken i dont even see the pieces so its shot , yes you have to take the head off to see if the pistons sre damaged first if they are u need to replace the bottom end from a junk yard. might as well take the head to a shop and have it checked out if it checks out okay then have the hea dre surfaced should be around fifty bucks. if your valves are bent then youll have to get another head from a junk yard, and then if your pistons are damaged i would reccommend replacing the whole engine from a junk yard just replace the timing belts and gaskets then install the new motor including the head gasket and bolts . and stop trying to crank the car over you are probaly doing more damage to those pistons.

[reiketsutsukigami]

well if your head is dead i got one for sale for 45+shipping.... whats with all the snapped t-belts lately? are people not changing them or did a batch of faulty belts get sent out? geez.

[mikelbeck]

So.... After more than 6 months of this car being down I've finally got it back up and running. I was able to change the timing belt myself but somehow screwed it up and wound up smoking the oil pump. Then I handed it all over to a mechanic friend of mine and found a low mileage engine, had that shipped up here and swapped out the old engine for the new one. Today the car was done and he brought it back to me. The car is much quieter than it ever had been and even has more power. My wife is happy she doesn't have to drive the other car we have (Chevy Impala), the only down side is it's been so long so this car was on the road that the inspection expired. So tomorrow it's gonna be inspected and she'll be able to drive it again.

Glad this whole thing is done. :-)

[gnaunited]

Glad to hear it, it took me two months cause it took out intake valves. How much was the total bill?

[mikelbeck]

Glad to hear it, it took me two months cause it took out intake valves. How much was the total bill?

Ah, let's see... between the new engine, a whole crapload of parts and the cost for installation it was around $2000. But in the end I end up with an engine that has less than 40K miles on it in the 100k car and lots and lots of new parts.

I'm hoping this car can last another 5 years or so, so I figure it was a decent investment. My wife really loves the car so that was the deciding factor in doing all this work.