Suddenly lost all power when driving on highway then engine and other lights on. Pulled over to the shoulder. Shut the engine, restart, still no power. Towed back to a repair shop. Mechanic took a quick look and said engine compression not working, need to replace the timing chain as well. Could it be other possible problems? Any suggestion is appreciated.

Update: so the mechanic shop says the engine valve is not opening. Could be bad time chain or crankshaft. If the latter, need to replace the engine. I googled a little, wondering could it be the crankshaft sensor?

Update: today the mechanic did a diagnose on my car, he said the gudies for chain were broken, there was no comppresssion , and the crack shaft spun out of time. By now they said they could not tell the reason for the timing chain to broke, but they were sure there is something wrong with the engine which cause the crack shaft, and they want to open the engine to figure out what is wrong with the engine and caused the problem.

They said the problem could be just opening the engine and ajusting the shaft or changing some parts of the engine, or it could be as serious as the whole engine was demaged. It could cost me a fortune to fix it.

Before I want them to check the tensioner, however, they said It will cost more to just remove the engine part and check the tensioner.

Any help is apprecitate

 

What year of car and engine type (V6 or 4 cylinder)?

The engine was still running when you pulled over or had it already quit on the hwy?

Depending on year and engine type the engine may have a timing chain or timing belt. A chain very rarely fails, the belt can break.

From what the mechanic is stating it appears the chain or belt broke. The consequences of this depend on the year or car and engine type.

Need more info.

 

Thank you for your help I really appreciate that. My car is a 2002 Toyota camry, 2.4 L 4 cylinder, timing chain and non-interference engine. I asked the mechanic to diagnose my car, he said the time chain is broken, but he did not know the reason for that. They will make a better diagnosing after the long weekend.

Some friends said maybe only the upper part of the timing chain was broken b/c of the tensioner, I asked the mechanic the check several things:

1. tensionor
2. bent valve
3. compression
4. fuel pump

Any suggestions for the possible reasons?

Thank you again!

 

A) First thought, I'd just replace timing chain and be sure change the oil on specified intervals going forward.
B) From this statement, I wouldn't bank on their mechanical advice ... but they're your friends
C) 2 - if it's a non-interference engine there won't be a bent valve, that's what non-interference means. 3 - compression only happens when the chain works and moves the valves, and the chain is broken, so the mechanic now knows you are a rich sucker with no knowledge of motors. hold onto your wallet!

Given this, I'd tow it to a Toyota dealer and let them fix it, hoping for a more likely honest repair system; just because I've had some bad experiences with small independent shops. Luck.

 

I'm wondering why the mechanic said the timing chain is broken,...when you stated that the car would still run when you pulled over on the hwy but had no power. If your chain was broken,....the car would not be able to run at all.
Curious

 

Thanks, I have already towed my car to the toyota dealer, and they will do a detailed diagnose tomorrow, hopefully there is nothing wrong with the engine, I will update the information tomorrow. Thank you very much! I appreciate that.