Hi all,
I own a 1999 Mitsubishi Galant 2.0 16v manual saloon which has done 102k miles. I've not had the car long but in the time I've owned it it has always made a 'tapping' noise from the engine throughout the rev range. Like the noise you sometimes get until the hydralic lifters get pressurised with oil when cold but all the time regardless of engine temp or load. Yesterday however whilst driving on the motorway the noise got a lot worse. Very clattery and would vary with engine load (went quiet when lifting off the accelerator). I pulled off the motorway and as I was looking for somewhere to pull in the engine cut out and I came to a stop. I checked the dipstick and there was some oil on that. No obvious leaks from the engine. I opened the oil filer cap and a load of white smoke wafted out for some time. Burnt oil I presume. I let it cool for 5 minutes and then attempted to start it to move into a better position. However the engine didn't turn over so I guessed it had seized. I got it recovered to a garage who were later able to start it but said that it sounded very rough.
To cut to the point. If the engine has been seized once and now runs roughly is it more likely than not that the engine has been badly damaged and a replacement would be needed? I presume a replacement engine could work out rather costly so I have to decide to take the car is scrap hit or new engine hit.
Cheers,
Mat.
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I don't think the white smoke was oil.
Was it overheating? Did it lose any water.
It wasn't tappet noise if it went when you eased off the throttle - must have been something else.
I take it its the 4G63 engine? They are a usually a very sound engine - you may get a low-mileage Japanese imported engine from one of the specialist suppliers at a good price.
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Aprilia,
Thanks for your comments. I'm not sure if the white smoke was burnt oil or water vapour but it was quite wispy and not 'wet' if that helps. To be honest I don't remember if it was overheating or not - I didn't check the water level when I looked under the bonnet after the breakdown. Its possible its been overheating and I've not picked up on it.
The tappet noise was still there throughout but was joined by another noise which got louder under load. I just linked the two.
Do you think the engine is now scrap? I know thats difficult to say without seeing it! I've been quoted £695 for a replacement engine (suitable for 99 model year galant) from API who supply second hand Japanese units like you mentioned. I suppose with fitting I could be looking at £1000 which to be honest is not far off how much I would loose by scrapping the car now.
Difficult decision.
Cheers,
Mat.
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I would think that you have destroyed the big end bearings. These show up as a tapping sound under load. There may be just one bad bearing, but if you drove it till it seized the crankshaft is probably damaged beyond repair. I think the replacement engine is probably the best bet, but don't give up on the car, with the new engine it will probably go on for years.
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Also piston rings may have stuck to the bores causing damage.How about looking for a write off with a good engine?
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This may be completely unrelated but I agree with Pete. I had a Cortina (yes I know technology has changed just a tad since the Pinto engine) that I was running down the A77 at about 70 for an extended time. The car was never used much. This was the first long run. After a while the engine ran a bit hotter than usual but not excessively. Then the noise started. I done the camshaft on this car only about 500 miles previous and I thought it maybe wasn't case hardened properly and the lobes had started to grind down. I was busy cursing the makers of the cam kit as I slowed down. After a couple of minutes the noise calmed down a bit and so did I. I got stupidly brave after another 10 minutes and picked up speed again. The same thing happened. It just sounded like the tappets had gone out of adjustment or the camshaft was melting away. This time I was too late slowing down. The car stayed noisy, became powerless and I pulled in to a layby. As soon as I declutched, it stalled. I immediately tried to start it but it wouldn't even turn over. The battery lights just went out as I turned the key. Anyway, after trying to push start it (I thought the battery was dead) and my mates getting fed up smashing their heads of the bootlid every time I let the clutch out, I gave up and phoned for a tow.
The engine was siezed. I took off the timing belt and the camshaft moved ok. I put a torque wrench on the crankshaft pulley bolt and jumped on it. It didn't budge. When I stripped it down I found that the number 1 bearing shells were a lovely blue/black colour and a different shape from what the makers intended. On my car the shells were already oversize meaning it had happened before and the crankshaft had been ground down to get rid of the scarring.
If you find that it is the big end bearing shells and fix it, look out for why it happened. Oil entry into the shell is via a hole and the concensus of opinion was that my oil or the oil filter wasn't being changed enough. No comment, I was a student!
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