Scott Holman wrote:
> The poor girl finally gave out yesterday morning on the way in to
> work.
>
> The car suddenly lost power, and on downshifting to 4th (going
> 110km/hr) the power declined even more. Heard a noise from below
> (catalytic area) and heard a pop, followed by a cloud of smoke out the
> back end. As I pulled off to the shoulder, the check engine light
> came on, and just as I shut off the car so did the oil light.
> Noticed a "burning smell" and got out for a look.
>
> Engine looked fine, but the catalytic convertor was Glowing red hot,
> followed by the pipe behind and even a bit of the resonator further
> back the exhaust.
>
> Got towed to a shop, and their best "guess" was that the belt had
> either broken or skipped.
>
> Since she had 410,000km on her, she was laid to rest.
>
> Does it sound like a timing belt failure (our tensioner failed to keep
> the belt on)?

If the belt had failed or come off, there would be a total loss of power
NOT a reduction. There would be no power assistance to the steering.
The tacometer would instantly fall to zero (0).

I wonder if a piston ring broke up and a piece of it worked up through
the piston crown? That would have led to oil getting pumped up and
exhausted for combustion in the catalyst chamber etc..


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