ottenm

Humming along perfectly (sound- and ride-wise) our '07 TL stalled out with no fanfare whatsoever. No warning lights, no noise, and then just a single click when you turn the key. Hmm. We towed it to an extremely reliable shop, to find out the engine was seized up. Full of new oil, working oil pump, and (reputedly) a 6-month old timing belt. No visible issues.

Can a 2007 TL blow a timing belt silently? My naive impression of losing a timing belt in an interference engine, is that it really can't go without some pretty audible banging and scraping.

Thanks for any help!

horseshoez

iTrader: (2)

For starters, a timing belt cannot seize an engine. As for when the belt breaks, I rather doubt you'd hear anything, on moment the engine is running, the next it is dead.

peter6

You wouldn't hear any noise. Engine would just stall and that's it. If valves come into contact with piston they will bend but they won't make any audible noise, especially while rolling, radio on, etc.

However, having engine seize up is a little bit different than just belt breaking. Broken belt won't cause engine to seize.

There used to be a thread on this forum where one camshaft seized up, stalling the car and breaking the belt.
You won't really know what happened until shop starts taking apart the engine. Taking both top TB covers to check if cam is seized would be easy. If that is not the case and engine still can't be rotated I would start looking for another.

ottenm

Thanks a ton horseshoez and peter6!

We bought the car 23 days ago (private owner), and about 95% of it seemed perfect. Our shop is the best we've been to in 30 years, and they're just not seeing any of the usual signs that would trigger a seize up, so not recommending an engine replacement (only to have it seize up too). Have lost no faith in Honda/Acura either, just some super unlikely cards.

Will let you know if we turn anything up before donating it.

horseshoez

iTrader: (2)

Engines for these cars are plentiful, if the engine is truly seized (which I am personally doubting), buying a used J35 and dropping it in is a relatively trivial task.

thoiboi

Was it just the starter that seized? I feel like thats much more likely given your description

ottenm

Thanks a ton! Def not the starter. They had a crank on the motor and couldn't budge it. Like concrete.

NBP04TL4ME

- I'm in for results. Agree with others TB wouldn't seize the engine and the timing belt is over-engineered. You rarely hear about a TB breaking on it's own. It can happen, but it is rare. How many miles on your TL?

ottenm

Miles are 165k.

And apologies if I mislead. The shop never said it was the TB, just that they hooked up a crank and can't move the motor and they're not seeing any usual suspects. It's just (uninformed) me revisiting the seller's "new timing belt" claim, and knowing they're critical. No blaming, just curiosity/resolve. Learned here: TB not the culprit. No sweat. Just helpful to know.

Thanks again!

08KBP_VA

Anyway to determine if headgasket failed?

ottenm

No clue! But I'll definitely pass it along. Thanks!

peter6

Are you asking a question for yourself or suggesting OP to check for head gasket?

If HG fails, you usually have at least one of following
- coolant going into the cylinder - missing coolant but no leaks visible, when using endoscope through spark plug hole piston is nice and clean, extra white smoke coming from exhaust
- mixing of coolant and engine oil - milky oil, or oil in radiator
- exhaust going into the coolant - coolant is overflowing, bubbling all the time. There are "block testers" that test for exhaust gas in the coolant.
- external leak (for example some toyota's V6 liked to "seep" coolant between block and heads)

Mari D

I was on my way home when I got to red light. My gas was low so I thought I ran out of gas. I made it down the street called a buddie who brought me some gas. Tried to crank car till battery got weak so I brought out the jumper cables. After 2 hours of trying to jump car off I had it towed to the stealership. I was then informed it was the timing belt, bad battery , needed brakes(3m), u know the usual upscale. Long story short got timing belt done 600 bucks and because I had the jumpers on for so long needed alternator. Since Acura said I need a battery that was a cheaper fix so I got that before knowing about alternator. These are some sensitive cars when the charging system is acting up. All in all she is doing wonderful!!!!

vpasla1

lol replacing a timing belt isn't going to fix the issues experienced.

Midnight Mystery

Interesting. Wondering how this will play out. Very unusual for a J Series. Something must have come loose internally and caused it to lock up.

DMZ

OP, you've given new meaning to the term SILENT BUT DEADLY

Since you bought this car used, did you bother to have it checked out thoroughly by a mechanic BEFORE you bought it?
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