She's died - help!

[Dobbs]

Hi folks,

Last evening my MK4 2.2 died while driving to the B & B

Sudden loss of power and then the engine died with a bit of an oily smell. Pulled off the road and tried to restart without an luck. She turns over but does not sound right at all and will not start. There are several warning lights on the dash - the 'cat' one and the oil one.

What would be the first steps in diagnosing the problem?

My big concern is that I don't know when the cam belt was last changed... Ok, ok, I should have had it done but let's not go there for now.

If it is a cambelt failure, what will it also have taken out - valves? the head?? If so would it be more cost effective to get a 2nd hand head or have the existing one refurbished?

One bit of other info that might be relevant - a couple of weekends ago she was very reluctant to start and sounded like she was running on 2 cylinders (and there was that oily smell) but after 30-odd seconds the revs came back and she was fine since then.

Are there any good mobile mechanics in the Oxford area (or club members) that some one can recommend if I'm not able to find out what the problem is?

Help, please!

Dobbs.

[3rd gen steve]

Hey, sorry to hear of your bad luck. It doesnt sound like timing belt failure as that would go without warning. Possible ignition failure although that wouldnt explain the oily smell but that may just be a coincidence.
Was there enough oil and water in the car?

Hopefully its not to serious and someone close by can help.

3rd gen steve.

[CrunchyAdams82]

Sounds to me like your belt may have started to jump between worn teeth a few weeks back, throwing the timing out of whack - hence the 'two cylinder running', then jumped back in to it's correct position. Same thing happened to me a few years back on my Sierra. Then it finally gave up a short while after. I'm guessing that's whats happened now. Just a guess though. You need to have a look at your belt & see if it's shredded or snapped. It will be very obvious if it has.

If indeed it is the cambelt, sometimes it's nothing more than a few bent valves. Other times, especially if you have continued to try & turn it over, the damage is more detrimental. It is then sometimes more economical to get a cheap replacement engine. You wont know the extent of the damage till you get the rocker cover off & have a look tbh.

If it's the cambelt that is..

I hope it's something simple though. Best of luck.

[h10ndr]

Could it be a failed oil seal in the distributor letting oil in? That gives an oily smell when that starts burning...also makes starting difficult, but will clear itself....

That's the best case scenario I think...anything else will be ££

[paul bristol uk]

Were you vtecing it at the time. If you were and the cambelt has gone it will be bent valves if not you will probabley get away with a new cambelt. I hope its more simple than that though!

[mart609]

Most common fault like this is the dizzy.
If its turning over, but not firing up. Sounds like thats what it is.

[Dobbs]

Hey folks,

Thanks for the commiseration and the replies.

I was not in VTEC mode at the time, so if it is the cambelt hopefully it'll not have damaged the head - thanks for the info.

I'll check the dizzy and see if there's anything obvious there - thanks for that one.

I guess that to check the cambelt the best way would be to remove the rocker cover - is it just a case of undoing the 4 (5?) bolts on the top?

Thanks again folks,

Dobbs.

[4thgenphil]

just nuts mate, careful thought the studs are easy to snap

you will also have to disconnect the dizzy and earth leads

[h10ndr]

...or remove the distributor cap - and turn the engine over with a socket on the crank pulley (through the access hole in the inner wing / or a 19mm spanner on the ps pump) either way you will see the rotor arm move / or not as the distributor is driven off the exhaust cam ). So if the belt has snapped - no drive to exhaust cam or distributor.

[wurlycorner]

If the cambelt's snapped it should also turn over really really quickly on the starter motor?