Air cleaner blew up, won't start now. Oh god...

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LCtygrys

LCtygrys

10 Year 15 Year
Joined
May 2, 2007
Threads
21
Messages
92
Location
Pittsburgh, PA,
Driving on the highway 65 mph and started to lose power. I felt a rumble like I was drifting onto the rumble strips on the berm and then a loud boom that shook the car and the motor shut off. All eletricals work. No fluid under the car. Oil is up right and doesn't smell burned.
Air cleaner box was blown open and was spread around the engine compartment. The airbox on the front of the engine was split in half. The plastic cover over the whole engine was broken into pieces on the passenger side.
I tried to start it and it cranked but sounded odd so I stopped immediately. I had it towed to the shop.
I have no idea what this could be except maybe a timing belt failure or something. I know I will be without a car for a while though.
Anyone care to have a guess?

thanks,

Ben
 
2002 basic model 100, no mods. ~159 k miles on the clock. No recent engine service. Haven't done the timing belt yet. The car has never given me any issues worth mentioning. The only issues I have with it are the ABS system false triggering, the master window switch falling apart, and the piece of crap transponder keys that keep crumbling.

Cooling fan was fine and spun freely.
 
hkeller said:
Sounds like one hell of a backfire. Timing is off or something is spraying fuel at the wrong time and it ignited.
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This
 
Ok so just talked to the mechanic. He says so far the timing belt broke and the cover on the front is cracked and the sprocket is off. I am not familiar enough with the innards of this engine to say which one. He's going to look at it deeper next week when he has time. He isn't sure if the rest of the engine has been affected. Could anyone suggest red flags for him to look for? Yes one hell of a backfire is right!
On that note I might be looking for a reman engine. Any suggestions?

thanks again
 
A leak-down (dynamic compression) check should tell him what he needs to know.

Good luck.

Steve
 
He is continuing to diagnose and has found that the gear on the front of the cam is off and turned sideways. More to follow.
I found a reman engine at enginehaus in WA for 2950 plus shipping . Seems reasonable considering the age of my engine and what this repair might cost.
 
There has been more than one case on here where a broken timing belt did not require anything more than a new belt. However, the detonation leading to cracked timing cover and airbox seems like a first on here. Good luck and keep us posted.
 
Did you have any maintenance records such as 90,000 mile service or was it running the original belt?
 
I'm guessing from the comments that these V8s are not interference engines?
 
Toyota of Oxnard has a $350 special: http://www.toyotaofoxnard.com/specials/service.htm

I'm not affiliated, just searched google since I remember seeing a special locally about 2 years ago.

That is not including any parts, but a good place to start negotiating with your local dealer.
 
paflytyer said:
They are.....
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They are? Without searching through previous posts, I thought the collective MUD knowledge was non-interference?

To the OP, this sounds like something more catastrophic than a simple t-belt fail. Wondering if a bearing failed in a pulley and perhaps large metal bits jumped around until they caused something hard to break. Having a 'gear off sideways' is not a failure mode endemic of a t-belt failure.

Or maybe something failed in the top end causing a cam to seize and the resulting backfire blew apart the intake?
 
I was going to say the book says YES but 'mud lore says NO on the 2UZ being an interference motor. That is my recollection at least.

Definitely could manifest this way if one bank lost valve time due to a cam/cam-gear failure. POP!
 
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