i have a 95 saturn sc1 1.9l sohc recently the car was using coolant and i couldnt figure out where it was going today on my way home i found out the engine was overheating and spitting it from the overflow.on the way home it not only overheated but the engine started making a rattling noise almost like putting a chain a in a can and shaking it
as i got to the closest place i could to check it out.the resevoir boiled over the engine died and after letting it cool down it wouldnt start again the starter turns and so does the serpentine belt the rattling noise is now very minimal could my timing chain have broken or any other ideas as to what is wrong.any input is appreciated

Timing Chain Tensioner Timing Chain Timing Chain Guide


Hmmm? Best I could find was that this is a chain and an interferrence engine. Chain, tensioner and guide could make noise and perhaps the overheat. Would think it would have run terribly if it moved and soon not run at all if it really did get way off. Not sure how the oveerheating fits in. I'd pressure test it and see if head gasket is now part of the problem. If it did jump enough it's hard to say how much damage may have happened. I'd take a look under the cover before I cranked it over again and see it it's in alignment and tight,

T
Tom Greenleaf - MetroWest Boston - USA
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http://www.autoacsystems.com/tomgreenleaf/

last month my starter had gone out i sent it to a mechanic and when i got it back it was smoking and the engine was running very very rough which it had never done before i had to give it a complete tune up and change the oil and it ran ok for awhile but then the problems started with the coolant i asked the mechanic what he had done to it as he had the car 3 days the engine was running perfectly fine beforehand he swore up hill and down that he did nothing i spent a half hour arguing with him that i think he knocked my timing off his reply was that he didnt do anything but what i asked of him but i talked with others and they said the shop i went to is shady :( think i got the short end of the stick on this one

Notes on this......... I don't know this engine specifically - but also don't know why it took 3 days to replace a starter motor? Do we know that it was indeed a bad starter to begin with? When it instantly didn't run well and smoked when right before it was fine that is interesting?? What happened that you needed and what led up to needing the starter is a question.

If you are in battle with this shop and started off as combative this can only be a mess.

I can't really see a shop as crooked as one might even try to be doing something to screw up a timing chain as a way to get more work if that's what you were/are thinking. That could destroy the whole engine and at the age might render the car unreasonable to fix at all and wouldn't generate more work at all - I don't know.

If this is pure vandalism that's another issue alltogether.

We/I could be off on the wrong tangent with the timing chain being an issue at all - this doesn't all add up so easily for me right now.

Perhaps it's best to tow the car to a place that you do feel comfortable with and get it diagnosed,

T
Tom Greenleaf - MetroWest Boston - USA
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http://www.autoacsystems.com/tomgreenleaf/

the car had been running fine nothing wrong with it then the one morning it wouldnt start when you turned the key nothing the lights and all worked fine i replaced the battery in it at the time and it still didnt start the altenator and coil packs and voltage regulator had been replaced last year the car only started having these issues after the garage got ahold of it thank you by the way for trying to help me figure this out