I turned the key & my $$$ flashed before my eyes.......!!!!!

I got the TR out of mothballs last week.......it spent the fall & winter covered and toasty warm and humidity controlled.......even re-did the ignition system..........caps, rotors, wires & plugs. So I rolled it out the door and WOW!!!....what a difference. It has Never, at least while I have owned it, ever run so smooth, with out a skip , jump or hop in the flat 12's voice. Went for a drive of about a 100 miles the other evening here in the Finger Lakes and with my new lady friend in the passenger seat, I ran it through the gears and up to about 135mph at times...........My lady friend at one point asked, What gear are you in?". I responded, "Second." She commented that, "The engine sounds almost musical!".......She's a keeper!!! She gets it!!.................

Next day I get in, start her up (the TR) and it is running so amazing, so responsive and smooth.....I am grinning ear to ear. I pull in to an auto parts place to pick up some parts for my elderly Mom's Civic......shoot the bull...........and turn on my heels towards my Black '87 TR...........I get in. I turn the key to on, fasten my seat belt and now that the brake light has flickered off it's time to start up the redhead and go about my day.................................It starts right up and there is a thrashing sound, rhythmic little banging/knocking sounds and there is noticeably only one bank of cylinders running.............****!!! I turn it off immediately and see my bank account plummet. I get a buddy to bring a rollback to the scene of the crime and off we go to take the TR home (see below)............. at this time, 24 hours later I have but to remove the 16 bolts that connect the sub-frame to the main chassis rails and the engine will be OUT.......................next I shall see what has actually happened........broken cam belt, or a busted cam, or a dropped valve, or a rod..................all I THINK I know is that there are valves to be replaced and pistons to be re-fitted, in other words I am expecting to take it ALL apart and see if I have a good enough credit score to fix it..............or should I just throw in the towel and part it out and buy that 355F1 I have had my eye on?.............I will post the injuries, fractures and contusions as they become apparent.........................And just to let you all know.......Carguy replaced the belts 4 years ago and 10K ago to the best of my knowledge..............so what caused this at idle to commit suicide? I shall keep those of you "informed"!!!

Stupid

PS I wonder if I there is "irony" here..........car busted......license plate "6SIXSICK".....SICK being the operative word!?!?
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Oh boy...Good luck, hope the damage isn't too bad....

 

I hope it is nothing major! Good luck there. BTW, the car looks great even on the flatbed!

 

good luck!

 

NNNOOOOOOOOO! Terrible to hear that Kerry. That's my greatest nightmare too. Are you sure the noise was metal banging around inside the engine and not a fan belt flopping around? Not running on all cylinders could just be the fuel pumps or something minor if the banging wasn't too bad. Maybe a pair of panties got caught up in the radiator fan?
I just said a prayer for you bro! Best of luck and keep us posted.

 

Keep us posted. I hope it's not serious.

 

I suspect and can only assume by your description you took the car out STONE cold from winter storage , and went and did 135mph in 2nd gear is your issue.

Its like asking Michael Phelps to stay home and watch tv for 5 months, and then expect him to match his world record with just doing a walk around the block. I think that may be the issue that is casuing your grief....im sorry to hear of this, and can only HOPE that by some chance its something minor.... good luck Kerry

 

Good luck! Sorry to hear, and I also hope its something simple...

Bo

 

Let us know what happened. Sounds like a timing belt jumped a bit or busted altogether causing some nasty valve contact. So sorry to hear it. I hope I am wrong.

 

Kerry, that's a sickening feeling especially after it had been running so good. From a big high to a deep low, in a matter of moments. I too hope its nothing serious, and I know you're on it now. Keep us posted.

 

I always wondered how many timing belts actually do fail. I'm sure there are hundreds of TR's out there with original 20 year old belts still running. I'm not convinced there is anything you can do about it, there is no guarantee that newer belts can't fail. I guess it's just luck of the draw unfortunately.

 

Bummer. Hope it isn't too serious.

John

 

Kerry,
I too wish you good luck in hoping it is nothing serious.

To answer GregTe's question: my belts are 22 years old (don't blame me, I just got it last year) and they look fine (not that you could tell if a belt was brittle or had a small fracture). However one of my belt tensioner bearings was so bad that I doubt I had another 500 miles left.

 

Kerry
Any update yet? Just curious how you got it up on the flat bed? Do you have one of those elusive tow rings or did you use a tow strap?

 

Hey, let's make some lemonaide....

Nobody here wants to see this car become a parts car, so why don't we all pitch in.

Kerry, you should set up a Paypal account that can collect donations to fix the car!

The deal would be this: For every $1000.00 a person donates they can then fly out
there anytime during the summer, appointment necessary of course, and their payment
would then buy them one full weekend's use of the TR! Mileage restrictions would apply.
Or any 3 day period during a week.

Bet you got some great roads out there.

Wes

 

The car did not go 135 in second gear, period.

 

That an the dreaded tranny issuse's are my worst nightmare!!!!!!!!!!!!.. I hope it all works out to be non of the above..Thoughts are with you bro

 

He never claimed he went 135mph in second...re-read the post carefully.

 

correct, i was referring to it going to 135mph jsut coming out of storage as being a possible isssue to the issue. This is just horrible....i dont think its a belt issue...

 

I read it carefully the first time. Big Red said he did and I referenced that quote. I never said the OP said it

 

Now that we have that cleared up I wish the best to the OP on the engine. It sounds bad but there are alot of things that it could be. I have seen a flywheel bolt back off and hit the bellhousing. The fact that is running on 6 cylinders is not good so you more than likely
have a belt slip or break. Its all speculation by anyone until its down.

 

Sh*t Kerry! Hope it's not what I think, man! Good luck!

 

You just went through it...... how is she running now.

 

Here's hoping for the best. Let us know what you find.

 

Dear Ferraristi,

Bawhahahaha.....that only happens to me.

Seriously....

**OUCH**

....really sorry to hear this Kerry. It's so rare that you hear of an TR internal engine issue or about a TR belt breaking.

We're all pulling for you and look forward to your thread on what you find.

At least you have the skills to pull the engine and go deep. For me, I have to go to Ferrari and let them bend me over and spank me like a naughty school girl...opps, too much info.

Good Luck and keep all of us posted.

....and yes, your TR looks really cool....even on the flatbed.

....I couldn't even tell the door trim wasn't OEM


Shamile

Freeze...Miami Vice !