Timing chain woes?

[misterQ]

Fired up the Q yesterday. It had been sitting around for a few days. It ran for about 2 secs, heard a slight pop and then just died. I supect chain guide problems. I had compiled the parts from Daedalus post and had scheduled to start the job in 2 weeks when the weather warms up. Aaaargh!!. Anyway the car is in A-1 condition and want to fix it. I am a diy'er and probably will tear down the timing chain area for a look in 2 weeks. My concern is head damage. The engine turns freely.but wil not start. Any advice on how to check for possible head damage? Hopefully the chain/chains jumped one cog. I guess I can only cross my fingers at this point.:help

[DAEDALUS]

Sounds pretty bad. To verify damage you can either take off the front cover or the valve cover--your choice. But to fix it, you'll have to do both, in addition to removing the head probably. If either chain only jumped 1 or 2 teeth, I think the car would still start. Sorry to hear, I'll keep my fingers crossed too.

[maxnix]

If it turns freely, you are in luck. Once you read some of the chilling posts, no rational owner of a 1990-1993 G50 would ever start their engine again without this repair being done.

[DAEDALUS]

If it turns freely, you are in luck.

Not necessarily true. If it turns freely, it only indicates that the valves aren't hitting the pistons. The chain may still have snapped or derailed, and there may still be some valve damage. I believe it's possible for both cams to remain at rest without any valves being in the path of the pistons.

[Q451990]

Mine was still running with valve damage on one cylinder...sputtered and backfired, shaking like hell, but runnning. I suspect it slipped two teeth.

In any case, I wouldn't turn it over any more. I'd pull the front cover first, try to re-time, and then check compression on each cylinder. Typically it's the left side that has damage. Sorry to hear about this

Heath

[DAEDALUS]

True, I was assuming it was the left side. Since it's not certain, pull the front cover first to get a first impression. But even re-timing will require removal of the valve cover too.

[misterQ]

Thanks for the replies. I am away for a week but will report my findings when I get the covers off. Hopefully the Q will not need a new motor, tough to find 90-93 in decent shape.