hey, love the board, i've searched for this topic with no luck. i'm just curious about any past stories or experiences. My water pump went bad, drove with it for 2 months bad(didnt know) showed no symptoms. finally he didnt want to start, my friend thought it was the timing belt. took it to a mechanic, the crankshaft doesnt turn, belt broke. hes changing everything inside the engine for 1350. decent price? heres exactly whats being changed, camshaft seal, timing belt, water pump, intake manifold gasket, exhaust gasket, grandshaft? seal, oil change, spark plugs. have anyone had their engine rebuilt? after its rebuilt should i be worried about anything else? besides that there hasnt been any major problems, its an 89 se w/148k miles, bought it for 2200. any advise???
thanks

 

If your timeing belt broke then you will have more damage than that. Our engines are interference engines. so if the timing belt breaks it won't freewheel, the valves collide with the pistons. If this happens then the valves will be bent and need replacement, among other things.

 

if the timing belt broke you will need a lot more parts and labor than what you have listed.

if the water pump and water pump belt have broken than obviuosly they will need to be replaced

at 148k the camshaft seal/gasket,front crankshaft seal, timing belt and intake manifold gasket may need to be replaced due to wear and tear not because the water pump broke.

do not let him mess with the exhaust manifold gaskets. the studs have a tendancy to break during the removal and re-installation of the exhaust manifold. if this happens it will cost big money ($800-1400) to fix them because of the labor involved. make it clear to the mechanic that you will not pay extra for such an accurance. if this job needs to be done make sure it is done by a "reputable" shop, people you can "trust."

see if you can get a second opinion on your car so you can compare the prices and ideas on what's wrong with the car. when you go to a second mechanic; do not "lead" him, just ask him what he/she thinks is wrong and how much to fix it.

 

how about if the timing belt didnt break, just the crankshaft stopped spinning.? the guy doing it works on maximas all the time. im getting it back tomorrow.

 

It's really too hard to tell what happened. If the belt is there and the crank doesn't turn, it could be that you spun a crank bearing or seized one of the piston rings to the block. If it's one of these problems(from running no coolant), then you will need way more than what you just described. Ie.. totally rebuilt engine.

Now a more cost effective solution in that case would be for your mechanic to find a low mileage used engine and install that. I think a good one would cost about $400-$700 and the install should run $300-$400.

But again it's too hard to tell what's wrong by your description.