I was driving today and i gund it in 1st, at about 5000 rmp a huge crack sound happend, car shut off and pissed oil from the crank (front of engin). A piece of aluminum flew onto the ground..got some pics..is it my timing chain/cover???
Sure looks like it. Get a new cover and check your crank and balancer of damage, twist, fatigue, etc. Check your timing chain for breakage. If the chain is broke, check your pistons and valves for a piston strike.
In other words: That cover didn't jsut decide to come apart by itself. Something broke and took it out.
Its called a timing chain cover but most guys just call it a front cover.
The pics aren't that great but I would guess that you broke the timing chain and it slapped the bottom of the timing cover out. Same type of thing happened to my brother in laws jeep once.
Pull the front accessories and balancer and see what happened and make sure that there is no other damage. If it was the timing chain you need to check to make sure that you didn't bend any valves and check your pushrods as well.
Looks like you are going to have to tear into your engine to get some answers. I don't see any real performance mods in your sig. Maybe you will be upgrading the engine a bit now that you will be taking it apart.
Hard to tell by the pic, but it looks like the balancer is pointing upward at an angle. If it is then you broke your crank, and most likely your block. Chances are you bent valves and pushrods as well.
I agree with the other posters - that crank is probably toast. The part of the timing cover that was busted off holds the front main seal. So its not like there is anything directly contacting this piece. So something had to hit it to knock a piece loose. Only things it could be would be a busted crank swinging around or possibly a timing chain, but timing chain failures are pretty rare. Broken cranks on the other hand, happen occasionally. Can you get any better photos. Maybe pull off the belt and see if there is any slack in the crank?
i chenged my fleewheel last summer..its the stock ford one. i did the swap. i tryed to move the crank around..but no movment in any directions... im gonna take the front accesories off and take some better pics with a better camera... thanx
URSCRWD
But seriously, you need to just pull the engine and tear it down and go from there. This is one of thoses cases that can not be properly diagnosed over the internet. There are too many reasons it could break, with just as many side effects from the initial carnage.
ouch! looks like a new type of "cylinder on demand" device that splits the crank in two
15 grand, when did you get this car and is it from a dealer of some sort? you're in Montreal, I'm only 45 minutes from you. Lemieux sells rebuilt 306 blocks for 1300.. I just found myself a 302 block, going to pick it up this weekend (not far from montreal). If you get a used block for around 150 bucks, spend about 400 for machining and another 300 for pistons you can get away with a cheap "re-freshed" engine. E7 heads are dime a dozen, not worth rebuilding yours if your valves are all bent and such...