HELP PLEASE! I'm stuck in the wilderness with a dead fxj80

[blkprj80]

If the engine "bellied out" and came down on the crank position sensor or wiring, it might have damaged it.
There is no cam position sensor.

Look at the front edge of your oil pan. The wires are under a metal cover. Here's a pic of what it would look like with the engine upside-down.

 

[bryanb]

Broken timing chain

 

[NLXTACY]

Broken timing chain

Get the F*K out!!! Serious?

 

[Kentex Rick]

Wow! I've been following this since day 1. Never woulda thunk it!

 

[jfz80]

Wow. So they do break. Unbelievable.
Thanks for the follow up. And how hard was that hit ?

 

[NLXTACY]

I think there is only one other mention of a broken timing chain on MUD. Soo bizarre.

 

[NLXTACY]

Well I guess a trip there would have been fruitless. I don't carry a spare chain with me

 

[george_tlc]

Broken chain I would have thought would have made horrendous noises versus the motor quietly conking out. Following with horrendous noises when cranking.

Broken as in snapped and bits everywhere or ??

Picture time...

cheers,
george.

 

[SmokingRocks]

Broken timing chains can slump out of the way of the crank. Since it is a edit **non** interference engine it can easily sound and appear to be cranking normally.

One of our club members had his timing chain break, it took out a couple other items but it wasn't terrible.

 

[landtank]

I've always had the impression that an interference engine meant the pistons could contact the valves if not kept in time.

 

[george_tlc]

Yeah, I can see if the chain dropped down out of the way it would be rather silent. I presume in this case that an earlier suggestion to pop the distributor cap would have made it clear the rotor wasn't turning during cranking (with the chain no longer spinning things)...

NON-interference engine...

cheers,
george.

 

[bryanb]

Get the F*K out!!! Serious?

 

[superpainterjake]

I KNEW IT!

 

[NLXTACY]

I've always had the impression that an interference engine meant the pistons could contact the valves if not kept in time.

That would be exactly what an interference engine would be.

 

[69LC]

Huh... Last winter 200 miles after a head rebuild our cam chain sprockets disintegrated to give a similar effect. It sucks!

 

[george_tlc]

@bryanb

So, what's the condition of the slipper?

And, how big was that 'drop' your 80 sustained that caused the havoc?

cheers,
george.

 

[NLXTACY]

Never would have believed it if I didn't just see this pic. Crazy.

 

[bryanb]

@bryanb

So, what's the condition of the slipper?

And, how big was that 'drop' your 80 sustained that caused the havoc?

cheers,
george.

I didn't notice the slipper. I'll take a look soon.

If I had to guess, I would say the impact of the bump probably wasn't a factor. I would think it would be more relevant that I went from on the gas to off the gas quickly, on a timing chain with 175k.

 

[bryanb]

Never would have believed it if I didn't just see this pic. Crazy.

I suspect that a more experienced 80 owner might have detected the difference in the sound of the cranking engine and might have checked compression sooner. Once we checked and found zero compression, we pulled the valve cover looking for a broken cam or something. The timing chain looked perfect. We couldn't see anything broken, so we cranked the engine for a split second to watch the valve train rotate. Nothing moved! I was dumbfounded. So I pushed on the timing chain and it had no tension. Pulled it out.

I'm guessing I have a couple links in my oil pan.

 

[2KCruiser]

That's bizarre and very uncommon. Chances are you will find the culprit when you get in there. Doubt the chain just broke from normal wear at 175k.