URGENT HELP ! Cam belt slipped.

[jerseyben]

Hello Everyone,

Just when i thought everything was running fine and all i needed to do was fit some back lights the worst of the worst happens.

i go to move my sami from the back of the workshop to fit some rear lights and ....... engine suddenly stop after one minute of idling.

To be fair I didn't have any coolant in the rad so I first thought I had over heated it and seized it and started throwing tools everywhere and kicking the work shop door on the way out to the car to have a cool down before I broke something else.

I tried to move the engine by hand and it was relay stiff but then jumped slightly and then became stiff again. This made me think it may be something wrong with the Belt, after removing the belt housing i saw that the belt had been chewed at the bottom where I had been spinning it and in fact i was spinning the crank and the belt was staying still and grinding from tooth to tooth.

now this is where i am confused and lost as to what has happened to my engine as the crank turns so I'm guessing something in the head has gone wrong. but I did not risk moving the cam wheel in case i make any more damage.

any help explaining what might have happened would be very good.

Thanks,

Ben

[dan_2k_uk]

Sounds like the tensioner might have either failed or come loose to me.

Its a non-interference engine so turning it over wont do it any harm.

Did it make any noises as it stopped?

If your really worried you could pop the rocker cover off and have a look but my first port of call would be the tensioner if the belt is loose.

Dan

Probably bets ti get sone coolant in it though!!

[jerseyben]

i was reading that is was a non-interference engine but i had it skimmed when i re did the head gasket so was wondering if that could have made the valves hit when it all went wrong.

as for the noise it wasn't anything load but enough for me to think that didnt sound good.

there is defiantly something wrong in the head as the belt is giving a good grip before i put enough pressure on it to slip round.

i am going to head to she garage now and inspect the head for any signs of a valve hitting.

[Edweird]

It will have made weird noises as it blasted air backwards through the intake, but so long as the head's okay and nothing's properly seized, it should run again once you get a new belt on.

[Highlander]

It wouldn't have overheated after just a minute

i used to have an old Mk1 Fiesta years ago when I worked on a farm that i just used around the farm and fields

it used to do 2 miles every morning from my cottage up to the sheds and 2 miles back at night and it never even had a radiator fitted to it

[Edweird]

Have you ever seen scrapheap challenge. 9 times out of 10 those vehicles have no cooling, and they use them for racing most of the time.

[jerseyben]

Cheers guys for the replays

I stripped it back today in half the time it took me the first time. Bottom end is all good and not seized what has sized though is the cam :( after all my work of re seating the valves and valve seals the cam is seized solid. :( obviously didn't put enough lubrication on :( so anyone with replacement head lying around and would be kind enough to ship to jersey as this island has 1 sorry scrap yard with nothing more than starter motors and lights for the odd ford fiesta.

[ScottieJ]

If the cam has seized it must not be getting oil? Is there any chance you put the head gasket on wrong and blocked an oil passage? I've read that its easy to do?

[dan_2k_uk]

Just so you know I have a head I would be willing to post.

Was a little smokey last time the engine ran and I cant tell you whether that was caused by the valve stem seals or not.

The screws that hold the rocker retaining shafts in place have seized and I rounded a few so there is no easy way to service it.

Cheapest postage I found on a quick search was £30 so I think you might be better off having a good look at yours first.

If you have just worked on it have you had a good check to make sure nothing Is stuck inside. Would be easy for a valve collet to pop out and get trapped somewhere.

Dan

[jerseyben]

It's okay I think I have found a head, but thanks for the offer. What is weird as well is that on one of the rocker arms when I loosen off the nut and unscrew the adjustment shaft the top of the valve spring is still In contact with the rocker arm. And it was defiantly not like that when I put it in.... What I would like to do is hopefully free up this cam and get a replacement seeing as I had done all of the valve seals and re lapped the valves but unsure how to get the dam thing out haha.

As for the head gasket i am going to buy another new one anyway as I need another cam belt and another inlet gasket. Last time I got them off eBay and matched the engine codes but they where still a little bit different but I did check if all the wholes lined up ect and all seemed fine,

I think I might try and get them local this time so I can compare before I buy them haha. If I can find anyone that has them in stock.

As for things falling in the head I had the valve seals done by a garage as my mate is an apretice and needed some Experiance but was watched over by a pro and he is very throurough and would have left anything out.

Quick question, does the cam come out distrabutor cap side or the other way? Just to double check before I start hammering it the wrong way and bust it.

Many thanks

Ben .... Ps. Sorry of any wiered scentances as I am on the iPhone. And it has a mind of its own with spell check