Saturn has died! (at least for now)

[diamondlarry]

I got the cover off and found a real mess. The chain guides had self destructed, one of the bolts is completely missing, half of one chain guide is missing, the timing chain is broken, the chain tensioner came apart, and three teeth are gone off of the crank gear. All of the missing parts are most likely in the oil pan. It sounds like I could get a new car for what it would take to fix this one.

[95metro]

Yeowch! That sucks man. New car vs. Big repair = dilemma.

[Matt Timion]

Originally Posted by diamondlarry

I got the cover off and found a real mess. The chain guides had self destructed, one of the bolts is completely missing, half of one chain guide is missing, the timing chain is broken, the chain tensioner came apart, and three teeth are gone off of the crank gear. All of the missing parts are most likely in the oil pan. It sounds like I could get a new car for what it would take to fix this one.

Time to get a Civic VX...

or a Swift Clone

Seriously though, that really isn't a good thing. Last year I was driving to Las Vegas with my wife and two nieces in the car when the car just died. I blew the head gasket because my coolant hose was leaking. It ended up costing me over $800 (plus hotel room and rental car) to fix. I could have just purchased another 89 civic for that much and driven home. Then again today I could buy the parts myself and just replace it in a few hours time.

Can you get another engine for cheap and just swap them out?

[diamondlarry]

Can you get another engine for cheap and just swap them out?

I'm not sure. I have been hearing that it would cost $1500-$1800 to do that. I would have to have it done since my engine swapping skills/tools are probably not good enough to get it done in the next 2 weeks. I'm going to start cruising Ebay.

[Gary Palmer]

Diamondlarry: Doe's it look like the tensioner failed or does it look more like the chain got stretched or something? It sounds like something you could fix, but you would need to put in replacement guide rails, new tensioner and the chain. How much would it cost you for parts and is it something you think you might be up to? I had a Pinto Station wagon once, that had a V6. It used a nylon/plastic timing gear, which shattered. I figured I'd just replace it, but on that car they didn't make anything to be worked on in the car. I'd of been better off to have terminated it out of my existence. Good Luck!

[SVOboy]

Mehbe you should buy dan's del sol,

[diamondlarry]

Originally Posted by SVOboy

Mehbe you should buy dan's del sol,

He already offered it to me. The problem is, I can't buy it for the same reason he's getting rid of it; not enough seats.

[SVOboy]

Yeah, the car's not good looking enough to be allowed to be a 2 seater.

[JanGeo]

Timing chain strikes again! Sorry about that bad news there buddy. Chain tensioners are tricky things.
I snapped a timing belt on my Morini 500 one time, bent valves.

[diamondlarry]

Originally Posted by JanGeo

Timing chain strikes again! Sorry about that bad news there buddy. Chain tensioners are tricky things.
I snapped a timing belt on my Morini 500 one time, bent valves.

At least I lucked out with the head/valves. After doing some more inspection tonight, I noticed that one of the chain guide bolts took a chunk of the block with it when it fell out.