onecrazyfoo4u

So my car died on my today while driving 65mph. Just shut off, so I pulled over to the side of the road. It turns over just fine, so the starter is good. The battery is good too, shows 13volts the whole time. I tried jump starting it anyways, still nothing. Electrical all works just fine. It just turns and turns over, but doesn't really sound healthy turning over. Fluids are all good, belts are all there and tight.



While getting towed home, I tried popping the clutch in 2nd gear around 10mph and again in 4th gear at 30mph. Nothing, it won't start. It makes a really bad grinding noise the whole time (like the clutch spinning/grinding on something), until I pull it out of gear (while being towed). I'm clueless, usually popping the clutch will start any manual car, unless something is mechanically broken.



What should be the first things to check out? Maybe check to see if the timing belt broke? See if the spark plugs are jacked up (even though they're only a month old NGK's)? What the heck else could it be?

Stocker

The absolute easiest fix if this is the problem, is to remove the crank position sensor and clean its mounting hole very well. Also check the wires to the sensor UNDER the plastic cover, as these tend to melt a bit due to the heat of the exhaust pipe.

onecrazyfoo4u

I sure hope it's something that easy! I'll go check it right now...I believe it's the one behind the exhaust manifold, next to the transmission.



I'm going to go check the spark plugs and timing belt right now to rule those out. What would be the symptoms if the timing belt broke? Would the engine still crank over if it had?

WytchDctr

I am with Stocker on this one, crank sensor would be my first guess.

2FastElantra

when my crank sensor was bad my car would start fine then after being warmed up for a little it would die. then I let it sit a little while it cooled it would cranks up run fine then die. Your sensor could have gone out all the way preventing it to start. A part store or if you can can get a code reader will read a bad sensor.



my advice try the sensor if it still wont start then check spark and fuel.

onecrazyfoo4u

Here's my updates after checking things tonight...not looking good.



Spark plugs are all good, still gapped to 0.043" and they do smell like fuel after trying to crank the engine. So it seems like it's getting spark/fuel just fine. I took both the crank and the camshaft position sensors out and cleaned them up. Also cleaned up the ground point for both of them. I swapped the locations of each (since they're the same sensor) and tried starting...nothing, still just turns over forever and never actually starts.



Then I pulled the timing cover off to check the belt. It appears to be in tact (I can't see the bottom pulleys/belt though) but the belt is super loose. Probably 1" of play forward and aft. It's so loose I could slide it off of the camshaft pulley up top. But it didn't seem to be broken; I tried tugging on it. So I marked the belt position with a marker then tried turning over the engine again twice. Each time, the timing belt would not move. I thought that the timing belt was supposed to move when you turn the key to try to start the engine? It seems to be totally siezed, will not budge.



So what does that mean? I'm guessing it can't be good...

2FastElantra

Good job on diagnosis.

How many miles on the engine?

Well that's ur problem. The timing belt probably didn't move because its to loose and the sprockets are not catching it. If its cranking then the cams and crank are turning. Worst case the engine was damaged when the timing belt became lose. This happen by the pistons and valves hitting bending the valves. This will create a loss of compression. It can happen but usually isn't the case in timing belt malfunction. Best case you will need to replace the timing belt. Not hard for any one that is mechanicaly inclined but it takes time and your timing marks have to be perfect. Good luck!

wheel_of_steel

You might have blown a timing belt tensioner dude, I hate to say it, but you'll probably have to get in there and do a timing belt job at the very least. Hopefully you won't have cooked the motor and that mechanical noise is just coming from the loose belt.

OTECTom

I would have said the same.



Good luck, let us know how it turns out.

majik

I support these ideas. I thought CKP and CPS at first, but now timing belt/tensioner.