my horrible engine noise(soundclips)

[welly_59]

my car has gone majorly tits-up today and i havent got a clue what could be wrong! i'll start from the beginning...........

I had left my car in work for the last few days as i had been able to get lifts back and for. I decided to take the car home today so i could have a look at my bearings tomorrow morning. When i tried to start the car it wouldnt run properly. At first it would turn over, start but then die in a few seconds. If i kept my foot on the gas then it stayed started for a bit longer. After attempting this for about 10 mintues the car started. But now it wouldnt go into gear! i turned the engine off and it still wouldnt go in. After giving the lever a good push it went into gear but felt really stiff when i was changing(gears went back to normal after bout a mile of driving though!?!?)

I proceeded to drive home(total journey bout 5miles), i had to keep my foot on the accelerator while stopping at lights and junctions otherwsie the car would cut out. After driving about 4 miles the car stalled on me and i could not restart it, i pulled the car over to the side of the road and had a quick look in the enginebay. My expansion tank was going crazy! bubbling, steaming, shaking and generally going mental! the water in there was just a 'tiny' bit too hot lol.

I turned the ignition on to check the temp gauge and it was about 2/3rds of the way up at the most.

Any ideas on whats happened to my car?!?

Maybe the noise i've been hearing was the waterpump failing? Had to keep accelerater down as it was having a braking effect on the timing belt?!? and now its fucked the water in the engine couldnt cool down? but surely then my tempo guage would go right up?!?

help!!

[Marksman]

Howdy Welly.

Hate to say it but the HG may well be suspect too. If there's water geting into one or more of the cylinders then that would explain the hard to start syndrome, and yet let it run (ish) at higher RPM or with foot flat down. Had the same problem win my first SC on the way home from purchase. After it cooled down it would start and run OK but as soon as it got over a certain temp the expansion bottle would go crazy and leaked steam would cause ignition issues :-(

Maybe your noise was the water pump on the way out, and running it in that state has blown the HG?

Hope I'm wrong,

Owen.

[welly_59]

lol thanks for cheering me up owen!

thats what i suspect as well mate, but im no good at diagnosing these things!

Problem is i havent got the money or space to investigate it properly!

[Marksman]

lol thanks for cheering me up owen!

Glad to be of service!

thats what i suspect as well mate, but im no good at diagnosing these things!

Problem is i havent got the money or space to investigate it properly!

Well if you happen to be passing this way I'd be happy to lend you a compression tester. (I'll even swap it for an engine stand if you like:D )

If things are looking bad then it may well be cheaper to swap in a bare engine rather than fix yours :-(

Cheers,

Owen.

[welly_59]

sorry i'm taking ages with ur stand mate! i'll sort myself out and bring over sharpish.

[Marksman]

No worries mate. Thinking about it you might need it before I do anyway :whistle:

Owen.

[adamh]

ah welly, re: page 3/4, have you checked your cam side bearings inclusove of the water pump properly?. mark up cam belt with tippex or paint or something, take off cam-belt, and check the pulleys. feel and lsiten for any lumps grinding, play in your water pump pulley. should be dead smooth.

[Sparky]

If it is the water pump then you have had the same thing happen to you as had happened to me.

Pump failed dumping all coolant onto road and air - Replaced the water pump. then 132 km later engine turned into a banana after the HG blew itself to pieces. most of the damage was done the first time around. The temp gauge in the car would jump from normal operating temp to off the scale hot in a matter of 1-2 seconds and then go back to normal. If you wern't watching it all the time you might never notice. (which is what happened to me)

So a rebuilt 3sge is going in - wish it was a 3vz. :)