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brokencar
New User
Oct 21, 2007, 1:09 AM
Post #1 of 6
(1466 views)
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My car is nearly 13 years old and has 200,000 KM on the clock. i baught it 1 week ago in a garage, and it started to make a rattling noise after i drove it only 4 or 5 times. I was driving on the motorway at around 100 KMph on the 5th gear, then there was a noise like something fell off the car and then it started to slow down. As it started to slow down the gear system didnt work at all, the car stopped and was smoking and there was oil on the road behind. Under the hood the cylinder or piston, i dont know what it was, had come out.
If anyone can tell me how this had happened it would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you in advance.
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Tom Greenleaf
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Oct 21, 2007, 2:26 AM
Post #2 of 6
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Re: what happened?
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Obviously it's game over for that engine. That could happen with a well worn engine, lack of oil pressure from any cause - frequently low on oil, or over revving the engine. Lots of things could cause this including an improper repair of the engine,
T
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Guest
Anonymous Poster
Oct 21, 2007, 5:23 AM
Post #3 of 6
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Re: what happened?
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Thank you Mr Greenleaf for your response to my question. I was wondering if you could help me further. Is it possible also that the engine broke because the car was being driven in the wrong gear?
Also can this type of thing happen just because the car was being driven badly one time or was it something that was waiting to happen over a longer time period?
Many thanks again.
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Tom Greenleaf
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Oct 21, 2007, 5:58 AM
Post #4 of 6
(1452 views)
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Re: what happened?
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Diving in the wrong gear either too fast or way too slow and lugging the engine could do this. What seems to have happened is this "threw a rod" which would be a connecting rod that literally went thru the engine block like a compound fracture.
When first noise is heard you have a chance at repair if you stop the engine right away. What you described is beyond repair and a whole engine would be the way out of this.
If you seek the cause of this one you need to know what has happened recently that may have caused this. I have heard of road debris damaging oil pans/filters and engine runs out of oil in seconds catching folks by surprise.
There is a silly 5 cent clip used to hold wrist pins on connecting rods that if it broke or was mis-installed would do this so if this engine has been apart things like that can happen. I was doing over an engine once with another and that's dangerous by itself and after engine was running fine and cleaning up the shop noticed one of those on the bench and FREAKED OUT and immediated went back all they way to install it. Dumb stuff like that can happen and take an uncertain amount of run time to make a problem.
Are you seeking re-course for damage to this or just wondering what could have happened?
T ----- Off line for the rest of today.....
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Guest
Anonymous Poster
Oct 21, 2007, 8:54 AM
Post #5 of 6
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Re: what happened?
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Thank you again Mr Greenleaf again you have been most helpful.
Iam asking these questions as I leant the car from a friend and after about 20 minutes of driving the events I explained took place and this friend is blaming me for what happened, saying i must have been driving badly and caused the engine to die. I feel this is not true as the engine must have been damaged before as if the car was perfectly tuned the engine would no have done this.
This friend knows somebody in a garage who says the car was in very good condition and that I should pay for a new engine, but i dont agree and dont believe it was my fault. So that is why I was asking someone for advice as to see what happened.
If there is anything else you can tell me please feel free as your help is very useful.
thank you very much.
Arnhem the Netherlands.
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Tom Greenleaf
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Oct 21, 2007, 4:52 PM
Post #6 of 6
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Re: what happened?
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This is particularly unwelcome as it involves friends. Right away it should be noted that the car is 13 years old and has about 124,000 miles = 200km on it. Don't know the type of car or engine and it doesn't really matter but you should include that. I think we have some language issues so I will try to use common American English which can differ from other English.
You don't think you are responsible for this problem but I do have some questions about you and your driving experience: Do you own a car of your own and have not had troubles for some time? Is this a manual shift transmission car or automatic? Automatics should shift into the proper gear that is safe for the engine at various speeds and loads on the engine. You can select a low gear instead of just normal drive and over rev them - meaning the engine is spining beyond it's safe range. That would be driver error. If the transmission allowed that error with the proper shift selection it would be a mechanical fault of the car and would need to be repaired.
If this is a manual shifted car the driver decides when to shift of course. If you have little or no experience with this it could be damaging to the engine.
Most engines that are well cared for can give a useful life of 150,000 miles and some will go much more than that. Not just tune-up but oil changing and other listed service items at intervals. If the car uses a rubber timing belt they are periodically replaced at about 60 to 70,000 miles or roughly every 100km. This car should be on it's third about now if it uses the rubber timing belt. Those belts can fail and the failure in some will cause engine damage that could be as extreme as you described. Even in that case it's not so likely that parts would break through the engine but hard to say.
There are some odd bad luck problems that can happen like a broken valve or valve spring that leads to damage and some of that can not be known in advance.
If the maintenance of the engine has been neglected it could show even now as sludge which is like over heating chocolat in a frying pan and gets thick and won't move as a liquid properly and will plug the little parts of an engine that move engine oil to needed parts and cause early failure. That could be seen now and if it has sludge like that you didn't cause it that quickly.
So now it's a matter of who is at fault. This is tough no matter what and unfortunate. As with most things it will help if both of you can behave reasonably. Could it be your fault? You have to tell me more. Bad Luck?? That can just happen to anything at any time. Has this car been through hell before you ever drove it? Who knows?
At best you MIGHT owe this person to put the car back in the same condition as when you first got it. That does not mean a brand new engine but one that is of the value and condition that one was in. A second uninvolved professional opinion on what remains of that engine is in order. This gets like investigating an aircraft crash as to what caused it.
I'll help where I can about the mechanical possibilites but can't solve this for you with any certainty,
T
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