Distributor not turning when cranking, no spark. (1 Viewer)

[AdamNorris]

Some advice needed,

Car cranks but no spark, took dizzy cap off and cranked but the rotor wasn’t spinning, took the distributor out and it spins freely out and the gears look undamged.

When the distributor is in I can’t turn it by hand.

Will take the valve cover off tomorrow but any suggestions as what could cause this?

96 1FZFE

 

[ppc]

Some advice needed,

Car cranks but no spark, took dizzy cap off and cranked but the rotor wasn’t spinning, took the distributor out and it spins freely out and the gears look undamged.

When the distributor is in I can’t turn it by hand.

Will take the valve cover off tomorrow but any suggestions as what could cause this?

96 1FZFE

Broken camshaft
Broken timing chain

 

[BILT4ME]

Some advice needed,

Car cranks but no spark, took dizzy cap off and cranked but the rotor wasn’t spinning, took the distributor out and it spins freely out and the gears look undamged.

When the distributor is in I can’t turn it by hand.

Will take the valve cover off tomorrow but any suggestions as what could cause this?

96 1FZFE

^^^^ What he said above. That's it.

You need to pull the valve cover for proper diagnosis.

Is this one you just bought or have been driving and it just quit?

Year, make and model since you're in London, please.

 

[AdamNorris]

^^^^ What he said above. That's it.

You need to pull the valve cover for proper diagnosis.

Is this one you just bought or have been driving and it just quit?

Year, make and model since you're in London, please.

96 1fzfe, I’ve just taken the cover off…. Cam gear has cracked in two pieces and chain has snapped…. It just didn’t fire up one morning, I’ve had the car for 3 years.

Any chance this is repairable with a timing chain kit and cam gear?

What would cause the gear to break apart?

 

[gnob]

you need to leak it down to see what, if anything, got damaged.

 

[Kernal]

Has there been any recent work done on the engine/head??

 

[BILT4ME]

96 1fzfe, I’ve just taken the cover off…. Cam gear has cracked in two pieces and chain has snapped…. It just didn’t fire up one morning, I’ve had the car for 3 years.

Any chance this is repairable with a timing chain kit and cam gear?

What would cause the gear to break apart?

If I was a betting man, I'd guess the slippers that keep the chain tight and guide came apart, got under the chain around one gear or the other and broke the cam gear because of it.

That was a heck of a strain on the camshaft as well. May consider having it crack checked before putting it back in. It would be between the first and second cam support bearings.

Yes, it can be repairable with chain kit and cam gear, assuming it didn't damage the crank gear. In order to pull the timing chain cover, you should either pull the head or both oil pans. The one guy that pulled both pans has said he will never do that again.

 

[AdamNorris]

Has there been any recent work done on the engine/head??

Had a headgasket and timing chain replaced approximately 20k miles ago but since then nothing. But a garage had done that not me.

 

[Kernal]

So the question for the experts, could the shop that replaced the HG 20,000 miles ago have caused this to happen (not replace the slippers?), or just bad luck??

Do the slippers look worn, broken??

 

[ppc]

The question should be why the timing chain was even replaced during the head gasket repair. What shop, what experience level of the mechanic and what manufacture/source/quality of parts.

 

[AdamNorris]

So it went in at 200k miles, whilst head was off it made sense to do the timing kit at the same time, especially as the car didn’t have a large amount of service history when I bought it.

I don’t know whether the timing chain was actually done however… as failure after 20k miles doesn’t sound right.

Is the 1fzfe a non interference engine? Any risk of piston/valve damage before I go any further

 

[BILT4ME]

So it went in at 200k miles, whilst head was off it made sense to do the timing kit at the same time, especially as the car didn’t have a large amount of service history when I bought it.

I don’t know whether the timing chain was actually done however… as failure after 20k miles doesn’t sound right.

Is the 1fzfe a non interference engine? Any risk of piston/valve damage before I go any further

Non interference. Should be OK from a piston/valve standpoint.

Could have failed if they didn't get something right, but I would have expected it would have shown up before 20K miles.

I doubt you have any recourse there.

However, if he failed to properly torque the bolts or forgot and left the indexing bolt in the cam and cracked the pulley....there could be something there.