Did I Blow My Engine?

MedicPatriot · **Posted:** Sat Mar 16, 2013 12:05 am

Sorry, timing belt assembly was a term that I made up. What I meant was, the "stuff" you replace when doing a timing belt change.

geordi · **Posted:** Sat Mar 16, 2013 12:27 am

How many miles on the engine?

LMWatBullRun · **Posted:** Mon Mar 18, 2013 4:07 pm

MedicPatriot wrote:

naturist wrote:

Here's hoping the "real" mechanic to which it is being towed does right by you, AND that the predictions of doom prove premature.

And for what it's worth, a lot of engines these days use aluminum heads on cast iron blocks. They all share the characteristic of not tolerating overheating. They will all at least blow the head gasket in that event. Gone are the days when you could overheat an engine because both head and block were iron. So whatever you drive, if you start losing coolant, or overheating, you need to get the issue found and fixed as early in the cycle as possible lest the expense mount on you.

And I got a rebuilt head from Moparpartsonline.com last June for $800 after core charge refund. The head comes with valves installed, btw.

The problems I am most scared of are the ominous warnings from another mechanic who says even if they head is fixable, that everything else has probably warped inside in some way or another.

Naturist is giving good advice. I call BS on the scare tactics of " another mechanic". Aybody who says stuff like that is demonstrating their lack of competence and fear that said lack will be found out.

PM me for advice if you want it.

MedicPatriot · **Posted:** Mon Apr 08, 2013 5:44 pm

So I know it has been a while, but I did decide to have it toward to a mechanic other then dealer. He said he has it apart right now. He said the water pump did fail which caused my timing belt to jump. There was some valve damage. Head gasket was blown. Says the bores look okay.

should be interesting to see what happens...

MedicPatriot · **Posted:** Mon Apr 22, 2013 6:46 pm

I figured I would give you an update on the car for interests sake.

I just saw it pulled apart today in person. The guy said the water pump caused the timing belt to jump. I wish I would have had the "slow leak" (coolant disappearing) checked out right away, I was literally going to have it looked at a few days after it broke down...but hindsight is 20/20.

It doesn't look like there was any bad overheating damage. The head was not warped or cracked. They showed me the bores and they appeared to be perfect. He said the marks I saw were "cross hatches" and they were supposed to be there. I saw the rockers that obviously broke. The good thing was that the rockers saved the valves from any damage, which apparently was the designed weak point in this engine. So thus it appears that the timing belt stopped the engine, and not the engine cooking until shut off...thankfully.

I'm waiting for parts to come in before they can fix it, but I figured I would give you the scoop. I'm still thinking about selling this once it is fixed. It actually has been pretty reliable besides this (besides annoying Liberty electrical issues), and I really should have had it fixed long before a big repair had to be done...so a bit of that is to blame on myself. I like this diesel liberty a lot, but the justification for a sophisticated unsupported machine (thanks Chrysler) with rare parts is not there. It would be nice if I towed a trailer, but I just drive it because its cool and I like it. I think if I had a Honda or something, at least it would be cheap to fix if it broke down...especially when you are not the best "mechanic" like me.

Thanks for reading,
Nick

LMWatBullRun · **Posted:** Tue Apr 23, 2013 12:39 pm

If you are not going to drive it, think about the price you could get for it now as a parts jeep.

e010584 · **Posted:** Sat May 11, 2013 8:52 pm

I'm in a similar predicament, but my head is definitely cracked. Looking for a used head at the moment and not having any luck yet. Any suggestions?

geordi · **Posted:** Sat May 11, 2013 11:29 pm

Check with The VM Specialist (google it) and ask them. They ship from the UK, but can get you just about anything you need.

dkenny · **Posted:** Sat May 11, 2013 11:50 pm

hum..the water pump caused the engine to jump timing?

I know the water pump is driven by the water pump..but I'm not sure if its on the teeth side of the belt?

still..if its on the teeth side..what jambed the water pump? its driven by the timing belt not driving it..
the cam and the CP3 to apply a back load to the belt. but the pump?

just skeptcal of the answer not that the rockers are damaged.

how many miles on the timing belt?

-dkenny

geordi · **Posted:** Sun May 12, 2013 12:44 am

Teeth of the timing belt touch the water pump, injection pump, cam pulleys, and of course the crankshaft.
Backside of the belt (smooth side) touches the tensioner and (IIRC) 2 small idlers.

As to the water pump jamming anything else... I have heard where the water pump shaft has snapped, I suppose it is possible that the bearings could have bailed so much grease (first sign of failure) that they overheated and froze. Since the belt wraps the water pump pulley almost 180 degrees around, if the pulley did sieze, it might very well do bad things.

I would think this could be easily seen, the belt would be missing teeth at the crankshaft area. Why would this cause problems / damage? The belt freezing would also stop the cams, and they would instantly be impacted by the still-rotating crank. Time to pull the belt cover and very possibly the top for a rocker job.

LMWatBullRun · **Posted:** Sun May 12, 2013 3:31 pm

I suspect that this case was caused by rocker wear, but I have not inspected the corpus dilecti.

naturist · **Posted:** Sun May 12, 2013 5:49 pm

Well, @OP, I'm glad the predictions of utter doom proved exaggerated, and I guess this needs to be a lesson for us all: there are things about this vehicle (indeed, about all vehicles) that need to be dealt with earlier rather than later. In the case of this one, anything having to do with overheating symptoms or coolant loss is one of them.

MedicPatriot · **Posted:** Mon May 13, 2013 12:19 am

As of a few days ago, it is running.

It was not a cheap fix, but cheaper then a new motor.

On the plus side, it actually runs much stronger then before. With cleaning of carbon buildup and a loss of compression issue fixed (improperly replaced injector), you can definitely feel this thing drive much better then before.

Still might sell it in the near future, but I'm not sure. I love this thing, and I NEVER think I will find a car that is actually this fun to drive, but I'm not so mechanically inclined to fix things like this by myself.

Thanks for the advice along the way.

LMWatBullRun · **Posted:** Thu May 16, 2013 10:04 pm

Glad to hear it! Never too late to start learning how to do these things yourself, BTW.
Mt father taught himself auto mechanics at age 50, after a 'factory certified' mechanic did something moronic to his SAAB. He did everything except major overhauls himself.

Did I Blow My Engine?

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