Question1999 mitsubishi galant 4dr 2.4L
I wrote to you before regarding some work that had been done on my car to replace a crank shaft pulley and timing cover. well, I've learned that the car had started sputtering as if to shut off. After it was pulled off the road it stopped and never started again. I did have it towed back to the shop where it had initially had the work done on it. However, the repair shop person said I had been driving my car while it was running hot. Mind you, prior to the car stopping, it had been taken back to their shop, at which time my son was told, "If the service engine light haven't come on, don't worry about it." Well the repair shop person called me and said the gasket heads were blown and he could give a good price on fixing the problem. I had the car taken to another shop, where I was showed the original timing belt, which the first shop had never changed. Now my engine is gone. What happened. I never had white smoke coming from my tail pipe, the hot-cool gauge never floated on the "H", steam never came from under the hood, the car never just cut off on me while driving or stopped. Besides the belt being off and me having to struggle to turn the wheel, I don't know what could've went wrong. Please give me an answer.
AnswerAnita,
You're right... if your head gasket blew, there would be no mistaking it. Your temperature gauge would quickly go to into the red, and there would be signifigant white smoke and steam coming from your tail pipe and from under your hood.
It was very wise of you to take your car to another mechanic for a second opinion. In my first reply to you, I had mentioned your timing belt may have been installed improperly. The belt that the first mechanic most likely changed was the power steering belt, not the timing belt. All the belts in your car a very close to each other. If one belt snaps off, if can cause damage to other belts and components in your engine bay. The breaking of the power steering belt could have damaged the timing belt.
If the timing belt is damaged or even just slips, that will cause your timing to be off. What that means is that your pistons will fire at the wrong time. Also, your valves control the air that enters and exits your engine. Being that many Japanese cars use "interference" engines, that means that the pistons and valves occupy the same space. But the timing belt's job is to keep the valves and pistons from smacking into each other. When your timing belt slips or breaks, there is nothing left to keep your pistons and valve from hitting each other. Over time, that will bend the valves, warp the pistons heads, cause lose of compression, and eventually you'll have the inability to start or run your engine.
If that's the case, you'll need a head rebuild. Which would intale replacing your valves (there are 16 of them), and possibily replacing your pistons. It's hard to give you a total cost estimate, but it would most likely be around $1500 for all the parts and labor. But sounds like the second mechanic you brought your car to knows more what he's doing than the original mechanic.
Good luck!
