Steven

iTrader: (19)

Have you checked for spark?

Vivid Racing

iTrader: (98)

You only need 4 things for the engine to run.

Spark
Air
Fuel
Compression

Check all of those. If your oil level is good, you should have oil pressure unless something is majorly wrong or I'm missing something...

evotuner04

iTrader: (45)

Oh man, I wanna know whats going on here

marcusE

iTrader: (20)

If it cranks, you need to check each cylinder for spark. Swap your COP with another buddies COP or coils and try again.

Tvo

iTrader: (9)

I suggest you drop(remove) your oil pan and check for play with one of your rods for a a bad bearing by wiggling it. Easy to do and its a piece of mind if it isn't it. Start with cylinder #1 rod bearing, common to go bad on high mileage stock block Evo 8s (assuming that applies to you).

prowakeskater

iTrader: (14)

I'm going to drive up tomorrow with my stock coils

i wouldn't imagine all of my cylinders not getting spark... but it would make sense now...

what else controls the spark? I've been using spoolinup's COP. Would that take anything out if it sent some volts to places it shouldn't?

4RETECH

iTrader: (86)

Good luck, sorry to hear.

Just take the inspection cover off to see the timing belt moves when you crank.
Then check compression.
If that's good, spark and fuel.

Again, good luck.

evoscott

My Evo did the same thing cruzin around 60 one morning... It def souds like timing belt... It's pro not broke but the teeth on the belt are all gone... Pull cover and turn the car over.. I will almost garantee it Dosent turn and or skips like a mother... Sry man! Hope for the best though!!

superkizuna

iTrader: (2)

Dude, I bet you that it is something really simple. If it's reduced power across the whole ban it could be a hole in your exhaust. My 2000 Camaro SS did that f/n madness to me too. Now I had the ignition coil go bad on a seperate occassion and that was because my plugs and boot were demolished. I'm thinking hole. I send you positive karma though; hopefully you pull through this mess.

prowakeskater

iTrader: (14)

thanks guys. I wasn't able to check it out today, work starts in an hour, but I have the day off tomorrow. my fingers are crossed that I'm just not getting spark.

it WOULD explain that backfire, but then again, why would it have fired that time and no other?

prowakeskater

iTrader: (14)

well, just talked to the shop

looks like my balance shaft belt snapped, and made my exhaust skip timing. That explains the tapping I heard as the engine was losing power- the valves hitting pistons.

whats going to be the best course of action from here?

2ndLaw

How loud was your "ticking" noise? If the balancing belt broke, its not the end of the world...scary, but not the end of the world. You could pull the head off and check the tops of your pistons and valves. (60 bucks for a new head gasket) Honestly, if it died right away, I'm sure they'll be fine. As far as it being more serious like a rod or bearing, you'd hear more than just a little "ticking" and it wouldn't have died right away. When you spin a bearing, your car will def still run, and after a min it'll sound like a lawn-mower fighting a shovel! lol. If you had any oil showing on the stick and you weren't racing, I seriously doubt you spun a bearing or anything like that. From here, do the cheapest first. I'd pull the valve cover and make sure you can't see anything obvious, like a valve stem being bent. (look carefully at everything) Then the next thing is to replace/change the your belts, might as well do all three.

**Also drain your oil and check it for any debris...let it poor into your hand and try to feel/see anything at all. NOTE: if you weren't getting any spark it wouldn't have backfired...you don't need all the plugs firing for your car to run. Example: when you're battery is close to dead, your car might start up, but sound like a Subaru at first because your coils aren't getting enough juice.

prowakeskater

iTrader: (14)

the shop i took the car to said they would "guarantee" have to remove the engine, and would pull the head off before doing ANYTHING. this sounded a little fishy

so I called this local shop that doesn't specialize in evos, but has helped me out here and there, and he says that no way would be the immediate case. He wants to take a camera down through my plug holes to inspect the pistons first and if all looks well, set the timing back up and test for compression. Looks like the smarter route

The ticking was VERY faint. I barely heard it, but I was also in an adrenaline rush like the movie wanted, so I superfocused on everything while it was dying. I made sure to throw it out of gear as well, so the engine stopped spinning as soon as it wanted to...

I'm gonne get my car out of the shop its in tomorrow. They said they wouldn't be able to work on it for over a week anyhow.

thedru13

iTrader: (24)

You dont need to pull the motor but having had my timing jump on me at idle under no load it bent almost all my valves. I would recommend pulling the head and checking everything. Once the head is off you can see the tops of the pistons.I would rather be safe in this case. Its not a huge job to pull the head and while you are in there you can freshen things up. Just my 2 cents

2ndLaw

Yeah I would get my car outta that shop, you DO NOT need to pull the motor to change your timing belt. How ridiculous, perfect example why shops suck! The other guy (with the camera) sounds like he might be able to help you out. I hope this is just a matter of throwing a new belt on and timing! Let us know what happens.

PS: you might look into working on your own car in the future. Saves lots of money and its valuable experience! It might seem daunting at first, but really, Evo's are pretty easy to work on.