1997 850 2.4 Non Turbo BIG PROBLEMS

motodude4 · Post by **motodude4** » 04 Mar 2008, 20:05

ok heres the deal. My wife calls me and tells me her car has broken down. OH CRAP right? Well I get there and the thing wont start. IT smells like gasoline.

Ok, I ask her what happened. She tells me she was driving along and heard a TICK TICK TICK from the motor. Well it got louder and once she slowed down to come into town, It started blowing out white smoke. So she pulled over and killed it. Keep in mind that the water temp never went up and that the only warning she had was a blinky blinky check engine light (which is usually on because of the secondairy air induction problem we all seem to have) and a little missfire.

Well me and my father in law get there and I try turning it over. It turns over fine but doesnt start. So we check the oil and its full of oil, full of water, seems normal to some extent.So I go and try to start it again. It locks down. Wont turn over at all. I release the key and try again and it blows out a cloud of gasoline out the tailpipe. So as im turning it over trying to start it i push the gas pedal all the way down. Well it starts sputterin and eventually starts running.

Idles fine, No missire until you give it the gas and When you do give it the gas it blows out a cloud of white smoke. and it has a bad tick tick tick from the motor.

By the time we turned the engine off (about 30 seconds or so) there is a puddle of gasoline right underneath the tailpipe.

Was the car flooded?

We pull out each plug and 4 of them are fine, But the one in the middle is soaked in gasoline.

After further inspection there is gasoline in the crankcase as well.

The only thing we can think of is that an injector is stuck open. We pulled the wiring off of that particular injector and there was no noticeable change.

I then drove the car back to my house, it was less than one mile, the tick tick tick from the engine faded as i drove, but it didnt go away.

Any input would be greatly appreciated!

What do you think is wrong with my car?

Post by **MadeInJapan** » 04 Mar 2008, 20:14

I hope you didn't damage the car by driving it. I'm thinking the timing belt jumped a tooth but you really need to get it to a mechanic and maybe read the codes as well. I would not drive it anymore until the issue is cleared.

motodude4 · Post by **motodude4** » 04 Mar 2008, 20:36

Never thought of that. But the thing is, it drove really well except for the slight missfire and the white smoke. Is there anyway i could check the timing? Is it as simple as removing the cover?

Lemme know what you think.

Post by **MadeInJapan** » 04 Mar 2008, 20:50

moto, it's a bit more difficult than just taking the cover off. You would have to rotate the engine to where the timing marks come up to the top and see where they are. the should line up squarely in the notches, buth the intake and exhaust cams. If you can look in the repair database for this and can eye ball it, you would be able to tell what's up. However, before doing this, it might be good to get a few other opinions here. I'm no expert on the timing belt and others might have more experience. The gas issue certainly is confounding...I'm still trying to imagine it and think through it....that part just doesn't add up.

motodude4 · Post by **motodude4** » 04 Mar 2008, 20:55

Yes the gas part is confusing me as well. I found a post that detailed changing the water pump and I saw in a picture the notches you were talking about.

I'll get around to checking it tommorow.

Thank you so much for your input.

motodude4 · Post by **motodude4** » 05 Mar 2008, 15:25

Ok so here are some pictures of my timing, Everything looks in order to me. The bottom notch was hard to find, But it does match up with the notch on the block. So As far as I can tell my timing is in good order.

motodude4 · Post by **motodude4** » 05 Mar 2008, 15:36

motodude4 · Post by **motodude4** » 05 Mar 2008, 17:25

Ok I started it up once i got all the drive belts and everything put back together. The exhaust is still blowing white smoke only after it is warmed up, and it smells very strongly like gasoline.

Also the oil is so thin, there is so much gas in the oil.

Any ideas on why there is so much gas in the oil?

sony2000 · Post by **sony2000** » 05 Mar 2008, 17:44

There may be gas in the oil from constantly trying to restart the engine. Change the oil, then continue to try to find the initial problem.

motodude4 · Post by **motodude4** » 05 Mar 2008, 17:47

I did change the oil then I drove it around the block and it still had the same symtoms. Still white smoke coming out and smelling like gasoline.

I'm stumped. I don't know what it is.