QuestionQUESTION: I have a CHRY 2000 LHS, the engine won't turn. I smelled strong odor and some smoke before the car stop. could that be the water pump? Do I have to replace the timing belt also?
ANSWER: Hi Joe,
When you say it won't turn, do you mean it literally will not turn the crank shaft by means of the starter motor? or do you mean that it won't start although the starter motor will turn over the crankshaft? You need to determine which is true to begin with. If you feel that the engine crankshaft won't turn, then I would put a socket and breaker bar on the bolt at the front of the engine that holds the crankshaft pulley on and try to rotate the engine clockwise to see if it is frozen in place or not. If it is then you have serious damage to the engine. Otherwise is the problem that it won't start?
If the engine overheated due to something like the water pump or timing belt breaking that could cause other sorts of problems. The 2.7L engine only has timing chains which should not be broken, while the 3.2/3.5 has a timing belt and that can be worn if not broken so it is usually recommended to replace the belt if the water pump fails. Did you see any water leaking from the engine and if so from where? Was the smoke white (like steam from evaporating coolant) or blue or black (like from overheated/burning oil). Was the odor the smell of antifreeze of like oil burning? Did the temperature gauge read off scale high? Is there oil showing on the dipstick?
Is the oil clear, or does it appear milky? Is there and fluid leaking from the engine, what is it like, and where from?
These are the kinds of information that is needed to diagnose the problem. Also what was the manner in which the engine was operating when this happens. Any other recent history that is relevant? Which size engine do you have?
If you can answer many of the these questions for me I may be able to give you some ideas on what to do. Otherwise someone who can access the situation in person may be needed. Good luck on sorting this out. By the way, the 2.7L engine had some design problems with the lubrication system that resulted in a recall and some liability to Chrysler for repair, I am told, so that may be relevant as well. You can find reference to that by doing a Google search about Chrysler 2.7L engine.
Roland
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QUESTION: I have a 3.5L, the oil is clear, I don't see any fluid leaking.the smoke was at nite and I didn't see the color, the engine cranks, but won't start. The smell was more like antifreeze, but not sure.Oil is showing on the dipstick
ANSWER: Hi Joe,
About all you can do are these things: try to see if the car allow you to readout fault codes using the ignition switch:"on-off-on-off-on and leave on" doing that in 5 seconds or less elapsed time. Then watch the odometer window of the speedometer to see if the numbers shown chage to four-digit numbers, which are the fault codes that would be a clue as to why it won't start. Otherwise, the readout has to be done with a code reader that goes in a plug under the dash next to the steering wheel. You might have a helper try to crank the engine while you use a flashlight to look inside the oil filler hole to see whether you see signs of movement of the valve train. If you didn't that would mean that the timing belt broke and that would also have cause the water pump to not turn. But there may be too much metal in the way to see anything that normally moves.
When you turn the key to 'run', do you hear a hum coming from the fuel tank for about a second, which is the sound of the fuel pump? And then have a friend try the starter while you listen again by the fuel tank to see if you hear it start humming again. Other than removing one of the spark coil/spark plug units and testing for spark which is a little tricky, these are all the things I can think of to try under these circumstances. Let me know any observations that you make and maybe something will give us a clue. Do you recall what the engine functioning was like yesterday when it stopped (or did you turn if off); what was the chain of events before the engine died (or did you turn it off?).
Roland
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QUESTION: Thank you for your patience, I found the my timing belt busted.When the belt broke I was doing about 30mph, it's possible that I damage my valves, or there is some kind of safety feature that would avoid that. Thank you
AnswerHi Joe,
The engine is indeed "non-free wheeling" which means there is the likelihood of the pistons colliding with the valves. It depends upon the exact point where the valve train was positioned when the belt broke. I have to say I don't know what the odds are of avoiding the collision. Whoever open the valve covers may be able to access the situation. I personally don't have experience with this engine to give you odds. There is no specific safety feature of which I am aware.
I hope luck is on you side, Joe.
Roland
