2002 limited. 180k. 3.5 Rebuilt motor, We just bought the car and literally drove 20 miles and the thing just shut off at 70 MPH. There was a slight rattle, a little smoke from the hood and... nothing. It turns over, but doesn't catch. Absent the smoke I would say electronic or ignition issues, but why the smoke? Never smoked from tailpipe. Smelled like oil. Seems to turn over fine. Any advice would be greatly appreciated as we are stranded away from home. Thanks in advance!

 

ahh. Must be electrical. I hear once yot let the smoke out of electrics, theyre no good.

Blown head.

 

Haha. Blown head gasket or timing belt?

 

a prime example of broken english ........ "I hear once yot let the smoke out of electrics"

 

moron. Thats not broken english. Its a typo.
A prime example of poor comprehension.

 

Towed it to the mechanic today. It's definitely a broken timing belt, probably a failed tensioner. He's going to check compression and check to see if the valves hit the pistons and we have to do a top end rebuild.

So now the question is, is it going to be a $350 fix or is it going to be a $2,000 fix? What are the chances, this being an interference engine and all, that it didn't totally destroy the valves? Anyone ever throw a timing belt and have the top end still good? Kind of sucks as the top end was just rebuilt...

 

I kind of doubt it is a broken timing belt. If it was broken it would not "turn over". You'd hear all sorts of wrong noises. Perhaps it jumped a tooth or two with a broken tensioner. If it's off by two teeth it may still turn over OK without hitting the valves, but will not have proper compression and ignition timing. I'm still puzzled by the smoke issue. How much smoke are we talking about? Just a puff or billowing clouds? If it is just a puff, it may be related to timing belt jumping and air blowing out of the cylinder the through the intake valves.

 

Well we checked compression and two cylinders are leaking down. Looked in cylinders and valves are bent, but pistons are ok. No debris in cylinder thank goodness! Going to be a top end rebuild for sure... Now to find an extra $2k to pay for it. :/

 

Idk about your state lemon laws but I don't think i'd shell out any money for this thing. If you literally handed someone money, drove off, and 20 miles down the road the timing belt snapped I would have towed back to the house or small car lot that you bought it, hand them the title and repair estimate and demand my money back...if they don't offer either pay for the repair, or at least partially, or give your money back in full for the vehicle. I would take them to small claims court....regardless!

 

I so wish I would have bought from a dealer, but this was a private party and Arizona lemon law doesn't cover private party sales. The seller pretty much just left me hanging; my pregnant wife, toddler and I were stranded on i-17 late at night and he basically just said you're on your own. The car is still worth putting money in as everything else has been replaced, but there's a limit and I'm not sure 2k more is worth it.