Catastrophic engine failure???

J

JNR

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So, I'm taking my two Pontiac friends to lunch and while I'm talking about how great a car the Mark VIII has been for me, how reliable, great engine, a little history on the DOHC, etc. - I kick it a few times, hit a bad dip in the road, the lowered car bottoms out hard, tires scrub - and then I hear something that's not supposed to be there.

It sounds like a ticking sound, like something's hitting a fan, or the sound a kid's bicycle makes when he puts a card against the spokes. Hmmm. When we get to the restaurant, we pop the hood and restart the car and all hell seems to break loose deep in the engine, metal-on-metal action and then it dies and won't start. Now, it just feels like the engine is locked solid.

Before I begin a complete auto autopsy, anyone care to venture a guess as to what happenened?

This engine had 189,000 miles, never rebuilt. I'm guessing that it jumped timing.

This has been the greatest, most reliable car that I've ever owned, so I'm bummed. But before I even think about getting another I would like to know what happened and what I can do to prevent such a failure.

Follow up from New old guy in introduction, today...
 
There's no way... unless the road jutted upwards, but it would have hit the k member if anything. Before I fixed my airride, I used to ride around with the front end down, never scraped once, and I am surrounded by sub-par roads.
 
It would take a helluva hit, but what if the "bell housing" part of the transmission got deformed and pressed up against the flywheel? That would tend to put the brakes on things pretty quick.

And if the oil pan got hit, what are the chances of the oil pickup tube or windage deflectors getting pushed up into the crank?

Is there any oil left in there?
 
The oil is full with no sign of leaking. There's a possibility that the bottoming out has nothing to do with what happened to the engine, if that's where the problem turns out to be. If the engine jumped timing, wouldn't it have done damage right away, not wait until I drove another five miles or so? The oil pickup crossed my mind as well.

The dip did turn upwards, but at the time I thought that it was only the tires that had scrubbed and maybe the front spoiler looking part under the nose. As usual, it smelled of burnt rubber afterwards for a minute. I did not think the pavement had hit the crossmember and I don't see any visible damage underneath the car.
 
So the engine isn't even turning over? If the car is in a place that you can tinker with it and you're authentically concerned that you've got a failure on your hands, drain the oil and have a look for metal bits.

Starter could've quit too. I had one go a few years ago in a Jimmy Johns parking lot with no warning at all.
 
Take the belt off and see if you can rotate the crank, breaker bar will do.
 
miles

at 200,000 anything could of happened - might of just been a kwinkidinky.
i'm surprised they go 200,000 on cam chains and guides anyway...

13fourteen.jpg
 
OK, I just drained the oil and filtered it through a white rag: It looks fine with not a single metal shaving or anything.

I'm suspecting the starter, so I'll pull it and bench test it. I'll try the breaker bar thing after the starter is out, just in case the starter is stuck in the engaged position.

What a relief if it turns out not to be engine related!
 
Good to hear that your oil is clear, but just because you didn't throw a rod doesn't mean it's not engine related..

I agree with some of the previous posters, 200k is a lot of cycles for chains, tensioners and guides.

Good luck with the starter bench test!
 
Could the starter have tried to turn while drIving? Doesn't that horrendously screw sheet when your going down the road and turn key to start.

Know on c130 it's a engine shut down condition when starter valve light illuminates.
 
Pieces of 8 said:
Sounds like ya spoke a little soon to ya poncho buds.
Just sayin...
Click to expand...

Yathink? Last time this happened, again, I'm going on about how the '55 in the TA has never left me stranded and that same evening - boom! - water pump decides to quit. Bad karma or something... I swear that if the engine isn't toast I'll keep my big trap shut!
 
I did not know that Lasers "Car ADD" was contagious. He seems to have just passed it to you or he has not been posting his flips.
 
Honestly, I don't see any damage just the major rub of tire rubber against the plastic inner fender liners. I'll try to pull and test the starter tomorrow. Thanks for everyone's best wishes and speculations. I'll post the results as they come in.
 
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