Hey guys if anyones on I'd love some help. I am new on this forum I know. I have a 2000 model 3.5L V6. As I was coming home bout an hour ago my revs just died. I was doing about 70km and the revs were dropping. Gave it a bit of a rev and it kept going. As I came to brake and got off the accelerator the revs just died and the car turned off. Oil and engine light came on. Wouldn't start but it tried to turn over. Battery is fine however I'm pretty sure there's no spark coming from the leads. Opened the oil cap and its kinda smokey and stuff. As it trys to fire when I turn the key, the car sounds real chunky and thick. I pushed it home as I was only on my corner 50m away. I dunno what to do atm as I do have work tomorrow and really need my car by 10am... Possibly one of the belts as the previous owner did mention he replaced some belts or something...

Any help is much appreciated.

bad fuel?

Nah got fuel. Good fuel too lol. Fill up from the same place every week. Engine light does come on though when I try to start it after a few seconds.

How old is the oil and what colour is/was it? Whats you alternator like?

Oil is approx 1800km old. Ummm. Not black thats for sure. Kinda hard to see with the light off my phone camera but it wasn't black. Alternator... seemed alright? I dunno I couldn't check anything properly; a) I'm not too good with magnas as I've only had this for a few months. b) it was too dark to see anything lol

Sounds like the fuel pump died... Either that or the ignition system, but its more likely the fuel pump...

Yeah, um mate i'm not the best with engines, so im really just having a few stabs in the dark. Hopefully a few of the guys that know more than me can jump in and help..

You 100% sure your battery is ok? Even if its new, i'd check it. The only other problems i could guess at are something more serious, but lets hope not.

Ah joy. If i get a video of the sound it makes when I try start it, will that help anyone?

Any problems with the alternator or charging system would have flashed the battery light on and kept it on until the battery died, this would become noticable as the lights would dim and such... Had this happen to me on the way to melbourne, you want to be looking at the fueling and ignition systems.

Fueling would be: Pump, injectors, all associated fuses and relays
Ignition would be: Dizzy, Ignition leads, and spark plugs (Starter is ruled as as it is turning over, just not firing)

Post the vid? Also when is the last time you filled up? Never rule out contaminated fuel!

Hmmmm. I'm running on a quater... I've had it very very low as I was busy busy busy for a week and made a last ditch for the servo. Never even had problems then. I will get the video now for you. Ah.

You said your oil light came on? and engine light? Did you actually check your dip stick not just open the cap. Maybe the plug on your alternator isnt in properly? car not charging? died?

You said your oil light came on? and engine light? Did you actually check your dip stick not just open the cap. Maybe the plug on your alternator isnt in properly? car not charging? died?

AFAIK it does this when it stalls?

Video up! http://s70.photobucket.com/albums/i110/Turtle57/?action=view&current=MOV00772.flv

Checked the dip stick, was a lil low but topped it up as I ran home which wasn't far to get oil lol

That sounds nasty.... its still turning over, always a good thing :) lol just like there is not spark signal.... i know its late, but pull one lead and plug out and try and turn car over in the dark you should see if its sparking or not....

Lol already did that :( No spark from it

then it might be your ignition module? coil pack? main dizzy lead?

Lol already did that :( No spark from it

There we have it then, I'd be looking at the ignition module, but it looks like you wont get it running tonight dude.

Alright guys haha. I do need it in approx.... 8 hours time but I can get around without it. I do work at a car shop (retail), sorta mechanically minded (for commodores though:( ). What do you guys reckon/recommend I replace and look at first?

Yeah sparky mate, closest one, get them to test your ignition module as thats the first point id look at too and work your way forward. All the best.

Thankyou muchly guys. Wish I had more experience in magnas lol :( Ahhh. I'm pretty sure each and every lead and plug is burnt out.

Carbon build up on your plugs, probably look burnt but will be fine.

EDIT: woops didn't read the whole thread :P


Yeah if you have no spark anywhere - it's unlikely all leads/plugs died at once so it's going to be something like the Crank Angle Sensor, the distributor or the ECU.

+1 for cas have u had ure timming belt done recently or any work on belts etc????

Okayyyy I found the culprit. It was the bolt that holds the timing belt gear in place. The previous owner said it had been changed not too long ago. Most likely when it was changed it was overtensioned? Well, I have half a bolt, and one chunk of a timing gear. Teensy tiny bit of a problem I'd say.

Pics:

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i110/Turtle57/DSC00773.jpg
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i110/Turtle57/DSC00774.jpg
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i110/Turtle57/DSC00776.jpg

Okayyyy I found the culprit. It was the bolt that holds the timing belt gear in place. The previous owner said it had been changed not too long ago. Most likely when it was changed it was overtensioned? Well, I have half a bolt, and one chunk of a timing gear. Teensy tiny bit of a problem I'd say.

Pics:

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i110/Turtle57/DSC00773.jpg
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i110/Turtle57/DSC00774.jpg
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i110/Turtle57/DSC00776.jpg

What's the bet that they turned the motor over using that bolt? Wow.

So guys thankyou for all your help and contributions. Just one last set of advice I need to know.

How to get a magna timed and fit a timing kit and what not. I need to remove the bolt so that's gonna be tricky and fun.

What's the best way to fit this kit and what is the best tension? Thanks everyone

My personal recommendation would to get the timing stuff fixed at a dealer/mechanic.. cost me $440 includes the "kit" which is on its own is around $240 I understand.. saves the chance of a mistake.

Not sure quite whats happened though but it didn't interfere in your engine and then break it did it? Don't quite understand all the ins & outs of the timing section of the engine hopefully someone else can provide advice there.

My personal recommendation would to get the timing stuff fixed at a dealer/mechanic.. cost me $440 includes the "kit" which is on its own is around $240 I understand.. saves the chance of a mistake.

Not sure quite whats happened though but it didn't interfere in your engine and then break it did it? Don't quite understand all the ins & outs of the timing section of the engine hopefully someone else can provide advice there.

Cooouuullllddddd need a new motor... if the belt has come of while the engine is running, the pistons may have hit the valves and that is bad im sure you know :P

i dont know for sure, but it could be the reason the motor sounded like that when it was trying to start???

The belt didn't actually come off at all. The timing gear was still in its right spot however the belt was just dragging and not gripping properly. I can get the timing belt and kit for much cheaper however I have to get the gear from the dealer or a wreckers. Me and my old man will do it in the next few days so I was just after some helpful info :)

well belt slipping/off/etc.. stil baaad.

yeah id be very sus if my motor even sliped one tooth

I did say that your car sounds baaaaddd by the video recorded, lol.... now we know why!

Hahaha I know. Sounded way chunky. I just turned the key a little bit and it sounded suprisingly much healthier when it was minus a timing gear lol. Internals are all fine and I shall begin replacement of parts tomorrow.

im fairly sure i have a set of gears you can have for $20+postage if that helps

Coil died if there is no spark

Coil died if there is no spark

there is no coil pack, its a distributor setup

Did pyalda not read any of the 4 pages of posts? lol

BJ31OS where abouts are you? Would save a trip to wrecking yards and a lot of hassle. Would be great :)

Hahaha I know. Sounded way chunky. I just turned the key a little bit and it sounded suprisingly much healthier when it was minus a timing gear lol. Internals are all fine and I shall begin replacement of parts tomorrow.

You turned the engine over with the belt off? :eeek: Sorry, but that's not supposed to be done! You will now have some bent valves in both heads. Get the manual and read up on this job - you are looking at reworking both heads and setting up a new cam belt.

When the bolt broke and jammed between the belt and gear it probably made the belt ju mp enough to take out some valves in the affected head, so don't feel too bad. And yes, the bolt was way overtightened for it to break like that. What else did the last mechanic/butcher stuff up?

That can cause that much damage? What about the night of the breakdown? I kept trying to start it as I had no clu what the problem was. Thought it was some ignition problem. First up I think I'll get those gears off the guy above if I could please :) new belt whatnot and see what happens from there. Might also get le repair manual

The bolt breaking and losing a chunk of the gear aren't enough in themselves to stop the engine, in fact if the cam belt had stayed in the correct place you would still have a running engine. The belt jumped a couple of teeth, valves hit the pistons, bent, and you now have no compression on a couple of cylinders. Thats why the engine stopped. Other things may be damaged if you have no spark. Have a look at the distributor drive gear. Just replacing the cam gear and bolt won't give you a running engine. Get the manual and start reading while you are waiting for the gears to arrive. I would pull the heads to see what other damage there is.

I'm with MadMax on this one. At least remove the rocker covers and take a look at the position of the valves in relation to the rocker arms / camshafts.
Might be cheaper to replace the motor. Where abouts are you located?

Okay guys sorry about all the delay. Been busy busy work, uni etc. Breakdown of this engine has already begun with removal of heads radiator etc. I have an engine ready to replace this one. Don't have too much time so we work on it bit by bit each day.