Hi,

My daughter has a 2002 Protege5 with 118,000 miles on it. She called me and said the car died. It lost power slowly and then died. She recalled seeing some smoke which I thought might have been from overheating because the engine compartment was still quite hot by the time I got there. She also recalled smelling something like rubber burning I hoped it was just the timing belt knowing (i think) this car is a non-interference engine.

Upon getting the car towed home here is what I found. Only 25-35psi compression in all cylinders. I opened things up and immediately noticed the cams were in a position that could not be right. They definitely had slipped there was NO way to align the (I)ntake and (E)xhaust marks on the cam sprockets. So I happily told my daughter she was lucky it wasn't a cracked head or head gasket, and probably just a timing belt.

Replaced Timing Belt, Water Pump, Seals, Timing Belt Idler and Tensioner.

After re-assembly, the car would not start it sounded better like there was some compression but nowhere near good enough to start. I pulled the valve cover and inspected the cam sprockets to see if they slipped again. They did not. Here are pictures of how everything looks. I believe this should be right... note that cylinder one maxes out at 60psi compression. Need some expert advice as I am completely at a loss for what to do.

I lines up with E and are parallel to top of head.



Crank in a 10 degrees BTDC position.



Cam lobes look right for cylinder one. Intake just closed and Exhaust about to open.



Any help greatly appreciated. I am so depressed after finding I wasted my entire day yesterday.

Regards,
Rich

 

how full is your antifreeze resevoir? cause everything up there looks good im woundering if your leaking antifreeze and your car over heated and thats where the smoke came from

 

did you daughter happen to mention that the temp guage was pegged??
the yellow mark on the crank pulley needs to be at the "T" mark on the timing covers
you may be off one tooth at the crank, but that engine will still run 1 or 2 teeth out of time
did the alternator belt break?? did the radiator crack??
the FS engine is very durable, overheating and lack of lubrication are the only way to kill it.
pull the plugs, make sure the cooling system is full and pressure test it. if you see coolant
in the cyls, the head is likely warped (the gasket is multi layered steel) if it got REALLY
hot, shop for an engine.

sorry, JMO

 

How far off were E and I when the crankshaft gearwas rotated to TDC? For every two revolutions of the crankshaft gear, E aligns with I only once. The picture of the timing belt seems to indicate there isn't tension on the belt. Pictures can be misleading though....

The head looks remarkably clean, I wish my engine looked as good.

 

i would say to pull tension on the timing belt again and turn the engine a couple of times to see where the timing ends up. could have thrown out the cam positioning sensor also.

 

You could also be 180* (360*?)off, if you assumed TDC incorrectly (intake stroke instead of compression.)

 

just another thought.
when installing the timing belt be sure to use the notch in the crank pulley (for the timing belt) and line it up with the arrow on the oil pump
dont trust the marks on the balancer (the rubber may allow the outer pulley to slip)
there is excess slack in the belt, make sure the tensioner spring isnt dammaged by overstretching.
any updates?? rbianco3??