• Car died while driving uphill now won't start?
    21 replies, posted
I was approaching a rather large hill in my 2002 Mitsubishi Galant, so accelerated up to about 60, when i hit the base of the hill i was still accelerating and my RPM gauge went from 4,500 - 0, and the car died. i pulled off to the side of the road and tried to restart it. It sounded like it wanted to start but it wouldn't. It was kind of a high pitched sound. I'm not sure what the issue is but i'm really hoping it isn't transmission. Anybody have any ideas?
Put it in neutral and push it backwards down the hill praying it hits another car.
Fan belt slipped perhaps?
Did any dash lights turn on before it died?
sounds like you ran it dry. Refuel it and pray the pumps didn't go.
[QUOTE=Hoffa1337;45052094]sounds like you ran it dry. Refuel it and pray the pumps didn't go.[/QUOTE] Fuel is full, all the fluids are full. My best guess at this moment is a timing belt. It's at 179,000 and i doubt the previous owners changed it. and no, no dash lights.
There should be an inspection hole for the timing belt. Open that and try pulling it to see if it's loose
Yea. Galant = shitty Chrysler engine IIRC = broken timing belt almost 100% Timing belt needs to be done every 60,000 miles. Usually not done that often, though, so figure it got done maybe at 80,000-100,000. It's about time for it to explode. And if the timing belt was never done, at 180,000 it's more likely to break than to work.
[QUOTE=clutch2;45055945]Yea. Galant = shitty Chrysler engine IIRC = broken timing belt almost 100% Timing belt needs to be done every 60,000 miles. Usually not done that often, though, so figure it got done maybe at 80,000-100,000. It's about time for it to explode. And if the timing belt was never done, at 180,000 it's more likely to break than to work.[/QUOTE] Well as long as it didn't fuck up anything else when it happened, which it probably did. I've had this car for literally a month so im pretty fucking pissed
if you lose a timing belt at 4k rpm on the throttle you're probably fucked. are you sure the gas gauge works?
[QUOTE=c0nk3r;45059763]if you lose a timing belt at 4k rpm on the throttle you're probably fucked. are you sure the gas gauge works?[/QUOTE] This, this many times. I've heard so many stories of the fuel gauge failing so that you've actually just ran out of fuel while the gauge says you have more. Take a jerry can and add some fuel, see if it starts. Might take some cranking to get the fuel lines pressurized, but if you're certain it's not a fuel issue then don't crank it, might just fuck it up worse. If you blew a timing belt doing 4000 rpm, you would have noticed, trust me. It should make a loud as fuck bang and the rpm wouldn't just slowly fall, the engine would nearly instantly stall.
The fuel gauge in my black Cherokee worked until it was on half, then it was empty :v:
the fuel gauge in my e30 goes crazy above 20 liters, below it's empty. the light comes on when theres 5 liters left though.
Oh my god the fuel gauge works fine hahaha. i filled up 100 miles ago and usually get close to 300 on a tank. It is pretty inaccurate but i only went 100 miles on the tank. it isn't fuel. im 90% sure it's the timing belt, i guess the only info i need is the chances of this damaging any valves
Since it's a pretty recent car, the valves are most likely fucked. I'm like 95% sure.
Google says the '02 Galant engines were all interference so yeah if your timing belt went you're pretty much done.
could also be the fuel pump
[QUOTE=devin2724;45062349]Oh my god the fuel gauge works fine hahaha. i filled up 100 miles ago and usually get close to 300 on a tank. It is pretty inaccurate but i only went 100 miles on the tank. it isn't fuel. im 90% sure it's the timing belt, i guess the only info i need is the chances of this damaging any valves[/QUOTE] Have you or have you not trying putting some gas in the tank? You'd be amazed how many fuel issues you could have, all from a failed fuel pump to just having a broken fuel gauge. I know you say it's not that but honestly, just try adding some fuel. Or alternatively push the car while in neutral and listen if you can hear splashing coming from the tank. Not sure how that works in new cars but when I push the old merc around, it makes loud splashing noises from the tank from the fuel moving around.
Or look at the timing belt and make sure it's not fucked up? You'd know immediately if it is or isn't from a glance
the way most shops find out if your timing belt is fucked is by starting your car. not even joking
[QUOTE=c0nk3r;45066058]the way most shops find out if your timing belt is fucked is by starting your car. not even joking[/QUOTE] x2
[video=youtube;sL9HifANqwE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sL9HifANqwE[/video] Here's a good way to tell if the timing is fucked. It'll 'flutter', it won't have distinct compression noises that a normal car engine makes when it's cranking. Very obvious if you're used to how the car sounds when starting up!
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