98LudeSH

Hey guys and girls, a few days ago, my 98 Lude SH was running fine, no problem.. I go over to a friends house, and when i come back, i start to notice a weird noise comming from my engine bay... sounds kinda like what the engine makes when its really cold... but i dunno.. hard to describe it... anyways.. i try accelerating... no problem.. car revs and accelerates like normal... but im still worried.. I get home.. next day I come out try to start the car, and it starts twice, 3rd time it just keeps trying to catch... but doesnt. Sounded like the starter was fried, so I pull it out and take it to kragen... Starter is fried, barely turns, and it starts to smoke. So I get a new one from kragen, and put it in today. hook everything back up, try to start... starter just sounds like its spinning... car sorta sounds like its gonna start... but nothing.

My friend calls his brother in law over, who's a mechanic, and we pull out all the spark plugs, and do a compression test.. 120-120-120-90 then we pull off the valve cover... and first thing i notice is the timing belt is pretty loose... I can slide it around on the cam gears easily. He thinks the water pump and/or the timing belt is bad. says he'll replace everything for about 200-300$... including labor.. belt, water pump.. etc.... my question is tho.. is this what you guys think the problem is?

Summery:

Car: 98 Prelude SH
milage: 68792
abuse status: except for bouncing off a guard rail racing down a mountain, car has barely been abused.. barely raced... I take good care of my baby.
Starter :new (refurbed)
compression: 120-120-120-90
timing belt: fairly loose.. freely movable on the cam gears, but can't pull out.

theory... water pump and timing belt need to be replaced.


Evan

Thanks for any help you guys can provide..

Elkins911

hmmm.... im kinda confused. you said your starter was dead, and now its the timing belt and water pump?
first of all, when the water pump is bad... doesnt your car overheat ALOT. second.. if your timing belt is that bad, then get it replaced. it sounds like the cam timing is off anyways.

98LudeSH

originally i thought it was the starter.. so I replaced it, original starter was bad too... but after putting a new one in, car still doesnt start, my mechanic friend said he thinks its the timing belt and water pump, because the timing belt is pretty darn loose.

JBG's Ferio

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Elkins911 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">hmmm.... im kinda confused. you said your starter was dead, and now its the timing belt and water pump?
first of all, when the water pump is bad... doesnt your car overheat ALOT. second.. if your timing belt is that bad, then get it replaced. it sounds like the cam timing is off anyways.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yea, definitely sounds like a timing issue to me. I'd start with buying a new timing belt, get the car in time, and go from there.

Goinfasterthanu

at 70K?