A coworker was on her way into work today. She said that as she merged onto the freeway, the engine in her Nissan minivan died. Let's say it's around 1999 or 2000.
The mechanic told her today that the timing belt broke. He told her that the camshaft looked like it might have cracked. He still had more investigating to do before he could give her a full answer though.
What do you think the Nissan dealer will need to do? Do you think the valves and / or pistons are also kaput? What do you think they'll charge? (Is it time for her to look for a new car?)
Ouch. Those are interference motors for sure. I kinda doubt a cracked or broken camshaft, but anything's possible when the engine is buzzing along pretty good (over 4k or so). It's just about certain that it will need at least a few valves. The heads will need to come off for sure.
Most engines I have seen under similar circumstances did not need pistons, they usually just get a scuff mark or two. Of course, if the head broke off of a valve and lunched a piston, chances are there's block damage as well and I'd start looking for a boneyard motor or etc.
Yeah. She told me that she had just hit the transmission kickdown and the engine just started to rev up pretty good. Above 4,000 RPMs? Almost certainly.
It's a daily driver, so she kind of needs it. She does have a loaner though. Also, if I told her to look for a junk yard motor, she might not even know what I'm talking about. Time is a factor, but obviously, so is money (nobody wants to spend $4,000 for a dealer to put in a new engine!).
I'd start looking for a new car. Its not worth fixing.
I have a sweet Sable for sale.
If she gets lucky, they may only have to R&R the heads and replace/rework valves as neccessary. Unfortunately, one of the possibilities is broken/cracked valve guides. In that case, I'd not want to trust the heads.
Sometimes you can get an idea by pulling the intake and using a borescope in the intake ports. Since intake valves are bigger, they are more likely to get hit and bend. That might save her the cost of pulling the heads in the event that something catastrophic has happened.
Thanks. I will see what she says tomorow. Hopefully, I can give her some ideas to help her out then.
I believe it depends what engine it has as to whether it's interference or not. IIRC, the 3.3 in our '00 is non-interference.
