Engine after dropping

[drrn]

Hi all,
I was driving my FR 150 home today cruising along when I heard a scrapping noice coming from the underneath. I stopped and saw the plastic cover had come loose and was rubbing off the road. When I got home I jacked it up to clip the cover back in place only to find the engine had moved position. It was lobsided and had droppped in one side. Anyone seen or heard anything like this berfore? Could this be a cracked engine mount in one side? Will this be costly to repair??

 

[Viking]

Have you had the cambelt replaced recently?

 

[drrn]

Had the cambelt and water pump changed at around 9K ago? Would this have a bearing on my problem?

 

[Viking]

No doubt they reused the engine mount bolts. They're single use "Torque to yield" bolts which sort of stretch to breaking point when tightened. When reused they're sufficiently weakened so that they don't hold the correct torque and snap for no reason at all. The engine mount has to be removed to remove and fit the timing belt, and the bolts should be replaced, not reused.

That's what I'm betting on.

 

[drrn]

Cheers for that. It makes sense alright. Hopefully I have not damaged my engine as a result.

 

[Viking]

I seem to remember that some hose damage is most likely, either coolant or intercooler. But I'm buggered if I can remember exactly what.

If you still have the receipt for the cambelt job and it doesn't list the new bolts, I'd be asking why.

 

[andi leon frtdi]

i've just had my cam belt done and i don't think i remember them saying anything about bolts. what do you think i sould do ?

 

[oldman]

as viking said, look at receipt and go back and politely explain what has happened and ask as too why no bolts were replaced if non were mind.
otherwise may be a case of cut losses and learn, i know i have from this.

I thought they came in the cambelt kit?

 

[MJ]

The bolts are not a mandatory item to be replaced once removed BUT they should be tightened with a torque wrench to the correct setting.
The bolts are designed to shear the heads off in the event of a front end accident to allow the engine and gearbox to fold undernieth the car to prevent them from entering the passenger compartment.

A common mistake made with these mounts is to tighten them to "F.T" with an air gun - this eventually pops the head off because they have been overtightened and the end result is they break and can severly damage the back mounts on the block, in most unfortunate cases breaking off the threaded mounts. This requires the removal of the engine and the mounts to be welded back on and re-tapped.