Engine died while doing 70MPH

[sboppana]

I still don't believe its dead. Story is while doing 70mph on interstate my friends 1998 CAMRY V6 XLE which has 150xxx miles motor went silent and engine check light turned ON, electrical system is working fine. towed it to nearest toyota and they said we charge $6k to diagnose the problem because the engine has jammed(locked).!!!WTF!!!

He did got timing belt changed at 143k miles at toyota dealer and regular oil change. It didn't give any symptoms of getting failed. BUT he didn't get the water pump changed with timing belt because dealer didn't recommend it to get changed after looking at it.

When I turn the key the starter motor tries to crank but no use, so the starter is good.

There r 2 things to say
1. temperature guage doesn't work, but if this disaster was caused due to over heat i should see atleast some smoke from the engine compartment.

2. It has been 4.5k miles after an oil change. the oil level and color were ok.

this local mechanic is offering $400 to buy this car or asking $2000 to repair it(buy a motor and swap it in and gives 6 month warranty). People I need some information where can i get motor for 1998 CAMRY V6 XLE america built and how much can i pay a mechanic to swap the motor!!

Does any one has any idea/comment or experienced it before!!

thanks

[93celicaconv]

Well, if possible, you sure should get a 2nd opinion on something of this magnitude before making a decision. Or you should do some of your own analysis.

Has anyone actually put a wrench on the crankshaft pulley bolt and try to turn over the engine slowly by hand?

At the very minimum, I would try this to see if you engine is really locked up / seized. If it is, then you probably need to be looking for a replacement engine. If it turns by hand, there are other reasons for what happened that need to be resolved, but its not a seized engine.

PS: Get the temperature gauge fixed. Its there for a good reason. You are driving really blind without having proper engine information coming your way.

[cruisn76]

If the engine is indeed seized, did it come to an abrupt stop on the freeway when it died? Or were you able to coast to the shoulder?

That alone can tell you if the engine seized or not. (I think)

[Nervous]

Originally Posted by cruisn76

If the engine is indeed seized, did it come to an abrupt stop on the freeway when it died? Or were you able to coast to the shoulder?

That alone can tell you if the engine seized or not. (I think)

Not really true for automatic transmissions with no dry friction between engine and wheels.....
I am second on trying to rotate crankshaft clockwise manually (put transmission on neutral first; if can, remove all spark plugs too).

[BamZipPow]

Don't fergit to git and post up the piccies!

I'd have that service writer put that quote in writing...just so we have something else to laugh at.

[sboppana]

Originally Posted by 93celicaconv

Well, if possible, you sure should get a 2nd opinion on something of this magnitude before making a decision. Or you should do some of your own analysis.

Has anyone actually put a wrench on the crankshaft pulley bolt and try to turn over the engine slowly by hand?

At the very minimum, I would try this to see if you engine is really locked up / seized. If it is, then you probably need to be looking for a replacement engine. If it turns by hand, there are other reasons for what happened that need to be resolved, but its not a seized engine.

PS: Get the temperature gauge fixed. Its there for a good reason. You are driving really blind without having proper engine information coming your way.

Well i tried doing that... didn't work so probably might have seized!!!

the temperature guage works fine from cool to quarter point that is middle of cool and operating temperature... strange

thanks though

[sboppana]

Originally Posted by cruisn76

If the engine is indeed seized, did it come to an abrupt stop on the freeway when it died? Or were you able to coast to the shoulder?

That alone can tell you if the engine seized or not. (I think)

No it didn't come to an abrupt stop... I was able to manage to pull over hardly.

[93celicaconv]

Originally Posted by sboppana

Well i tried doing that... didn't work so probably might have seized!!!

the temperature guage works fine from cool to quarter point that is middle of cool and operating temperature... strange

thanks though

OK, in your 1st post though, you said the temperature gague did not work. But if I'm interpretting your response now, it just doesn't reach the mid-range of the gauge, stays on the cold side?

If so, that could explain what happened to your engine, if it ran that way for a prolonged time period. Engine oil collects contaminates and tries to keep them is suspension. The oil filter will take out some of the larger particles, but the oil keeps the rest suspended. Running engine coolant too cold (because of a bad themostat) can cool the oil in the head and in other areas too much, causing some of the suspended particles to drop out and form sludge. Sludge in the head area will cause poor flow and poor heat removal. Sludge in the oil pan will clog up the pickup screen of the oil pump when a chunk of it breaks loose, and can stop oil flow, which will seize an engine real fast.

I guess that is the word of warning to anyone driving a car with the temperature always running much lower than normal - if yo don't repair it rather quickly - you will ultimately destroy an engine. Don't know if this is what happened to you, but if I interpret what you said properly, I can see how this situation can develop into a seized engine.

[projektvertx]

Originally Posted by 93celicaconv

OK, in your 1st post though, you said the temperature gague did not work. But if I'm interpretting your response now, it just doesn't reach the mid-range of the gauge, stays on the cold side?

If so, that could explain what happened to your engine, if it ran that way for a prolonged time period. Engine oil collects contaminates and tries to keep them is suspension. The oil filter will take out some of the larger particles, but the oil keeps the rest suspended. Running engine coolant too cold (because of a bad themostat) can cool the oil in the head and in other areas too much, causing some of the suspended particles to drop out and form sludge. Sludge in the head area will cause poor flow and poor heat removal. Sludge in the oil pan will clog up the pickup screen of the oil pump when a chunk of it breaks loose, and can stop oil flow, which will seize an engine real fast.

I guess that is the word of warning to anyone driving a car with the temperature always running much lower than normal - if yo don't repair it rather quickly - you will ultimately destroy an engine. Don't know if this is what happened to you, but if I interpret what you said properly, I can see how this situation can develop into a seized engine.

Well, I'll first start off by offering my condolences to the owner, that sucks!!

At 93celicaconv, in the broader spectrum, this case set aside, that is applicable to pretty much any problem though don't you think? At least, that's my logic behind things, as soon as it glitches out fix it before something FAR worst happens....