Blown Motor

KTscharae said:

At 170,000 miles, our car appears to have either spun a bearing or broken a rod.

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We've been too happy with this car to give up on the breed now.

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A definitive non destructive test is to drain the oil while filtering it through a paint strainer funnel to look for the big pieces. Then lightly stir the oil after draining and look for any "sparkle" (small ground metal bits in the oil).

With neither I'd doubt a spun bearing or thrown rod. Keep looking.

I'm assuming that your already familiar with the normal "cold" engine rattle.

If the damage proves out to be this severe used is the only way to go. You'd probably find that to rebuild your engine there are many other parts worn beyond tolerance. Its VERY unusual for this type of engine failure in a Honda. Usually extreme over revving or lack of maintenance is the problem and there _will_ be other "hidden" damage.

Please keep the group informed of your findings and results (in this thread)

HTH!

KTscharae said:

An update:

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More as we know it...

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Thank you VERY :!: :!: :!: much for your trouble in informing the group as your situation progresses.

But if I may trouble you, a question. Was there any warnings leading up to this apparent timing chain failure :?: E.g. noises :?: As the chain wears or tensioner(s) fail there is often (in chain driven OHV (Over Head Valve, Read: Long chain) an unusual "chatter" coming from the chain housing.

Also can you generally give us a good idea on how well the car has been maintained :?: (oil change intervals (average), and oil type (0W-20) / Brand (Genuine Honda) etc.)

Please :?:

Sincerely,

It does seem that Honda caved-in to the customer perception that a chain is better.

In most designs a chain has a slight friction disadvantage over a belt. And yes while belt "maintenance" is expensive chain as even mose so :!: And in the case of inferance engines (valves will impact pistons) catastrophic. :shock:

Hopefully this is just an anomaly. Most chains do give abnormal noise before failure.

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devin1955 said:

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Is there a maintanence interval for the Insight chain?

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AFAIK & by the Factory SM Maintenance interval pages, no. Niether is any interval mentioned in the installation pages 6-16,20.

AFAI remember dfiore's original engine went over 230K without a chain "problem".

http://www.insightcentral.net/forum/vie ... hp?p=36023

HTH!

For most chains more than 2x the distance for a timing belt is easily achieved with good oil change maintenance. 200K+miles

The best we can hope for is the common early warning from loose chain "chatter". Once this is evident there's little time to wait :!:

Not all chain systems give this warning although most OHV (overhead valve) chains do merely because of their needed extra length. The Insight may be an unwelcome exception in this regard. And there will always be the occasional non-standard failure without warning for any type of system.

The consequences of oops too long are very bad.

HTH!