dmitch31
05-24-2007, 05:51 PM
Hello everyone. I'm in need of your help. Here's the deal...
I was recently sitting at a stoplight and when it turned green, I accelerated, and then the car just died. Had it towed home. From what I've read about my experience, everything points to the timing belt. So, I'm checking into that. Anyway, I've got the top timing belt cover off, and I've been turning the crank. There are 2 teeth missing on the belt, but it is still very tight and in place. So now, I'm wondering if it perhaps slipped.
So now, I'm trying to find TDC so I can see if the marks on the cam gear line up right. I've been turning the crank a bit, looking in the little window between bell housing and engine for the TDC mark (haven't found it yet - I'd still be at it, but my car is parked on the street and it's dark now). Anyway, I wound up taking the distributor cap off just to check out the orientation of the rotor. When I took off the cover, I noticed there was quite a bit (like say about 1/2 tsp) of finely ground metal ground so finely it was almost powder. I dumped that out of the distributor cap. The point here is that something inside the distributor has been wearing BADLY. I've never seen anything like this before, and it obviously points to either a current or future problem. Anybody have any guesses as to where all of these powdery metal grounds came from?
Thanks.
By the way, my car is a 1987 LXI - fuel injected, manual trans.
I was recently sitting at a stoplight and when it turned green, I accelerated, and then the car just died. Had it towed home. From what I've read about my experience, everything points to the timing belt. So, I'm checking into that. Anyway, I've got the top timing belt cover off, and I've been turning the crank. There are 2 teeth missing on the belt, but it is still very tight and in place. So now, I'm wondering if it perhaps slipped.
So now, I'm trying to find TDC so I can see if the marks on the cam gear line up right. I've been turning the crank a bit, looking in the little window between bell housing and engine for the TDC mark (haven't found it yet - I'd still be at it, but my car is parked on the street and it's dark now). Anyway, I wound up taking the distributor cap off just to check out the orientation of the rotor. When I took off the cover, I noticed there was quite a bit (like say about 1/2 tsp) of finely ground metal ground so finely it was almost powder. I dumped that out of the distributor cap. The point here is that something inside the distributor has been wearing BADLY. I've never seen anything like this before, and it obviously points to either a current or future problem. Anybody have any guesses as to where all of these powdery metal grounds came from?
Thanks.
By the way, my car is a 1987 LXI - fuel injected, manual trans.