General engine stopped. doesnt start

[clock34]

today a noise started in my engine, started off like a tapping then progressed to a whiring and grinding. then suddenly stopped.

all this on my way home from work.

about 5 minites after it stopped i pulled up and turned engine off. my freind jokingly said i bet it wont start now, and it did. so i walked off.

came back 5 min later and it started and the split second it begain to rev a loud squeek happened and the engine stopped.

now it doesnt turn over propperly. sometimes it turnes once every 6-7seconds with key in on possition, sometimes it does it once and stopps.

my freind rocked my car with it in gear when he stopped i turned the key and it started and stopped instantly as before. (he said rocking was to try and disengage starter motor as he thought it could beceased on or something iunno;p.) but rocking worked twice then not at all haha

sorry about the life story its just im in work tomorro and would like to know if you have any ideas.

thanks in advance ... clock34

PS. its a sei sporting 1999 mk1

 

[arc]

any oil in it?

tapping, whiring, grinding and stopping sounds like terminal engine death due to oil starvation

does it turn freely on the starter and only stop turning after it fires up?

 

[fordcosworth]

same as above, that sounds very bad im afraid
tapping or knocking is the sign that its to late if its down to no oil
check to see if te engine turns over freely, did the engine gradually get worse (tapping/knocking)

 

[clock34]

oil checked before i went to work ironicly and checked when i got towed home and its just below max. and didnt look contaminated.

slowly got worse but not by much was pretty much same noise jsut got a little bit louder.

and then stoped completly for 5 mi nbefore it broke.

and how can i check if engine turns freely. istarter motor turns it some times but not fast. and i thought it was the battery at first but even jump leaded it did nothing and all my electrics work full power. so id say engine doesnt turn freely??

 

[arc]

is the noise from the top end of the engine? it could be the cam oil feed has block and the cam has run its bearings and damaged the cam lobes too.

remove the cam cover, its held on by 4 bolts - have a look at the cam, see if there is oil in there and if the cam looks damaged at all (scored or burnt).

if the cam seizes (never seen it on a FIRE unit before though) it can cause the valve timing to jump, hence it now not wanting to start.

if the starter is turning it slowly then i suspect the engine is not turning over freely.

if you jack up the car, remove the drivers side wheel, and wheel arch liner - and look at the pulley there - you should be able to bung a 13mm socket on there and turn the engine over by hand quite easily.

 

[fingers99]

An alternative theory is that the cambelt tensioner has died big time. But it could be almost anything.

 

[clock34]

hmm not looking good.

and as for the noise. i cant tell you. at first i thought it was the altinator as ive had the bearing in them go and it sounded VERY similar. and talkig about altinators the battery light flickered on then straight off again once when it did this the noise stopped then started again. but it cant be altinator as the car would start jump leaded?

will check engine turn over tomorro.

and yes the starter turns it slowely. mabee 3 out of10 tries, and doesnt turn it at all the rest

 

[canon]

Is it a loud deep knock? If so could be big end bearings, check the oil for debris.

 

[clock34]

knock? lol.

noise was quite high pitched imagen if you put sand in your oil on a bearing and span it around the gritty grinding noise. but i dont see how anything could have got in the oil. will check tomorro morning tho. and the noise made when it suddenly stopps i can only describe as the noise you would get if you stopped a spinning metal disk by forcing a metal bar into it hard as fook only lasted a fraction of a second though.

anyway i gotta sleep. will check back in morning

 

[rallycinq]

Sounds like a tensioner problem to me, whip the belt cover off and check if the belt is still there.

Cheers

D

 

[arc]

hmm.. i was thinking that, but discounted it because of the engine struggling to turn over.. but thinking about it - if the cam wasn't spinning then of course the engine would struggle to turn over as the compression has nowhere to escape to *slaps himself in the head*

 

[clock34]

ok cool. am going to look at cambelt tensioner tomorro after i get out of work will let you kno

 

[rallycinq]

Check the belt first. Alternatively, take the plugs out and see if it spins over faster.

Cheers

D

 

[allanhelen]

It Could also be the alternator bearings that have given up the ghost at a push, so you could try starting it without the alternator drive belt, if it hasn't been charginging properly it could be there is not enough juice left to spin the engine properly

 

[Ralf S.]

I think you have a cam-belt or tensioner failure.

Until you worked out what the problem is, I wouldn't turn the engine over any more, or even try to. It's not suddenly going to start working.

Somethings's knacked and you have to find out what it is, or you may just do more damage.


Ralf S.

 

[clock34]

hi, spent hours takin it apart yesterday and have figured out a post earlier was right, the altinator has not been charging correctly and the flat battery wouldnt start the car. when it did start them few times and stopped it worked out that the altinator beraing has collapsed and the fan thingy on the end is coliding with the altinator casing. stopping the altinator, and without power the engine stops.

getting altinator later today, will let u kno if this indeeed does fix the problem. thanks for all your help

 

[clock34]

yup engine fixed and running sweet as a baby. thanks for all your help guys