Car Blew Up Mid Boat Build... Ideas?

Timing belt blew at full highway RPMs. The engine is obviously dead after that. It didn't even need to go to a mechanic.

I gave my wife an OBD code reader to keep in the car. She read out the camshaft error to me while on the side of the road and described what happened. Timing belt blown, which, in these engines, causes the pistons to impact the valves, always bending the valves and sometimes putting holes in pistons.

Anyway, we've been working very hard on this and so have all of you. Thank you very much for all the input. I bet someone else will find this thread very helpful too.

As of now, we did all the math and all the cars on the East Coast that fit the requirements run about $6000 to $7000 all in, for 24 months of service. Doesn't matter if I buy 06 used or 09 used. Same price. This is total cost of operation, minus gasoline, but including everything else (insurance, maintenance, registration, etc... etc...)

So, my wife stumbled on a lease for a brand new 2012 Civic. 27 month lease, $1000 down, $139/mo. Total cost around $6500 for 27 months of operation, full bumper to bumper warranty and the car is close to her so I don't need to travel up. Incredible!

So we are leasing that until the boat is ready for charters.

I really do appreciate everyone's input. Thank you all for making such helpful contributions to this thread. This is a great read of the current market for cars.

 

that tends to happen when any timing belt goes. Once things get out of sync its all over. Most of the gasoline engines I've ever had were like that, My diesel however I'm pretty sure would survive a timing chain break.

 

Yup. It all depends if it's an "interference engine" or not. That is, if the valves can contact the pistons when they are in the position closest to the pistons.

Some engines have no problem with this. Korean gasoline engines do.

Needless to say, I'm paying very close attention to my timing chain service interval (if any) on my straight 5 common rail turbo diesel Mercedes engine. Now THAT would be an expensive disaster. It would make leasing a new car seem like pocket change, I have a feeling...

 

Most of Nissan's engines are non-interference; it's one reason I like them. The only interference engine I ever owned was the Geo Metro. Or at least since it had a belt I assumed it was interference... I was religious about changing them on schedule.

 

Smokin deal on the Civic...

B by the very fact diesel is compression ignition it will be an interference engine.
The pistons are like 1 mm from the valves/head at compression.

 

Man, I sounded like an idiot in that quote above. I kept typing "cylinders" when I meant to say "pistons."

Has anyone else ever noticed their mind slipping a lot during a boat build? I feel like my timing belt is about to go in my brain.

I think it's just severe exhaustion. Can't sleep, must work, no rest, etc...

 

not with the IDI engine
I've got the IH 7.3 IDI so I'm pretty sure its bomb proof

 

Looking up,the rocker ratio is 1.5 to 1,and the cams lift about .26 so it's about .4" total lift.

Looking at pix online the valve reliefs don't look to be that much...are they?

At any rate,the cam drive should never break so it won't matter if it is or not.

 

I bet she's tickled pink. Well done.

 

thats a good deal cat, civics are great cars, now you don't have to stress about cars while trying to concentrate on your boat.

 

Good car, good price, smart choice, they're not as easy to work on as the cavalier but you got the maintenance package, which on a lease is good. That way they can't play with you when you go to return it.

Take the tires off it and replace them with something else. Then when you go to return it they can't complain about the tires. I think they allow you x amount of ware ( bound to have spelled that one wrong ) so you've to a few weeks or months, hopefully they put descent tires on it. Long story short, great choice.

Cheers and best of luck
now you can get your head back in the game.
B

 

I had a customer once who was mid getting screwed building a log home, I'd just been hired to try and straighten out the whole mess and his car blew up. Poor guy melted down completely. Right there in the middle of his half framed living room. I'd say you handled it like a champ.

way to be

B