new to dsmstyle, and no knowledge of dsm

DSM_Hawk · 10-18-2005

I'm new to this site and new to the DSM world. My brother recently bought a 92' Talon TSI AWD from an old lady and gave me the headache of trying to bring this car back to life again. The body is stock, motor stock, basically bone stock to the frame.
Heres the problem: the car does not start. My brother had to tow it. The previous owner (the old lady my brother bought the car from) said that something came loose, toss itself around the timing belt cover, broke some bolts and threw the timing belt off.
- note: The problem did not happen while she was driving, the problem occurred the next day when she went out to start the car and it didn't start.
So the lady took the car to a local mechanic, he took a look at it, took off the timing cover, took off the timing belt, removed the auto tensioner, removed what i think is the alt and power steering bracket and belts, and then told the old lady that the head, valves, and pistons were shot. most likely will cost the lady ~ $1500 to get everything working again.
My question is this: is the mechanic right about this?
I also had one of my friend, who has a supra and knows some stuff of rebuilding motors comes over to look at it and says that my brother mind as well swap the motor.
You guys know what i should do?? and where i can find a reasonable price range for a motor if it comes down to a new swap?? PLease Help DSMSTYLE!!!

**JET** · 10-18-2005

You should really start a tech thread about that problem, but welcome. The head probably is trashed. Hopefully the damage wasn't too extensive so it hurt the pistons too much. You should be able to get the head rebuilt and put it back on, if the damage isn't too bad. I would expect about $500 to get it going if that is all it is, if you do the labor yourself.

Oh yeah, welcome!

sleepydsm · 10-18-2005

Welcome!

cudvig · 10-19-2005

he doesnt know that interference motors wreck havoc if the timing belt breaks, i doubt he will be doing labor himself. But yeah he is right. head is probably trashed and pistons might be too. You may get lucky since she wasnt driving it though.

-Colin

DSM_Hawk · 10-19-2005

so then my buddy was right about swapping in a new motor??...

...christ!!

niterydr · 10-19-2005

Welcome to the boards.

Jed · 10-19-2005

Quote:

Originally Posted by DSM_Hawk

Heres the problem: the car does not start. My brother had to tow it.

And after you fix the motor you may want to look at the tranny depending on how it was towed.

Welcome to DSMLand! You'll be a mechanic in no time.

DSM_Hawk · 10-20-2005

my options are: 1) pull the head and rebuild, 2) replace with another motor

my q's: if i replace with another motor, will it be OBD1/OBD2 difference like hondas?? how much of trouble will i be going through? does it matter which motor i replace with as long as its 4g63 or 4g63t?? you guys have to help me on this one.

DSM_Hawk · 10-20-2005

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jed

And after you fix the motor you may want to look at the tranny depending on how it was towed.

Welcome to DSMLand! You'll be a mechanic in no time.

my brother had it on an auto-transport type thingy

npaulseth · 10-20-2005

I was there (as well as my cousin) when your brother bought the car. I gave him this site as a info source when he told me he was going to put a 2G 7-bolt head on it. He seemed to be in a little over his head. The car needs a new alt pulley and timing belt cover, along with a new head.

npaulseth · 10-20-2005

Quote:

Originally Posted by DSM_Hawk

my brother had it on an auto-transport type thingy

Did he flat-bed it? If not, did he disconect the driveshaft? The owners told him it needed to be flat-bedded.

DSM_Hawk · 10-21-2005

Quote:

Originally Posted by npaulseth

I was there (as well as my cousin) when your brother bought the car. I gave him this site as a info source when he told me he was going to put a 2G 7-bolt head on it. He seemed to be in a little over his head. The car needs a new alt pulley and timing belt cover, along with a new head.

npaulseth, you were there?? ^^ so thats all that was needed to make the car run again? He does have a 2g head to put in... I told him it just wouldn't work work that way, and yes he seems to be over his head when he told me that he was putting a 2g head in, it just wouldn't work? right? send me a pm so we can discuss. thanks man.

- they had to transport it.. i'm not sure what if it was auto-transport or flat-bedded, but he said they didn't tow it, and yea they did disconnect the shaft too.

Tauni · 10-22-2005

Wow, its like two different topics in one thread! Welcome!

Clearly your brother was over his head if he bought a DSM and decided to hand it off over to you instead of dealing with problems himself. But there's a lot of smart guys on here, you should have no problem getting it sorted out. I do have a little advice for your brother though: next time, buy one that works, or at least one you know how to fix.