So, I got in my car 2 days ago and noticed my check engine light came on. Didn't think too much of it because my battery died and I had to jump it and in doing so, my jump box was in the "on" position when I hooked the cables up and it sparked. So, I thought maybe I had just tripped something.

Anyways, I took it to my dads because he has a code reader and I wanted to make sure it wasn't something major. Reader popped up the P0016 which said it was a the crankshaft or camshaft sensor, and I the car was running perfectly fine. So, we erased the code and started the car again and the check engine light turned off, so we chopped it up to nothing.

Drove home and nothing was wrong for the rest of the day. Later that night I needed to go to the store and when I was backing out of my driveway I noticed the car wasn't moving as much as it should compared to as much throttle I was giving it. Now I knew something was wrong. It would seriously bog when you gave it more the 10% throttle. Turned around and parked it.

Had my dad pick me up to get the new sensor and then he decided to just take it to our mechanic to change it out. We decided to call a tow just to not cause any more problems and the tow truck driver asked me to pull the car out of the drive way so he could load it on the truck easier. I cranked it over and it reved up like normal and then completely shut off after around a second of starting.

Got it to the shop and the mechanic said I broke the timing belt and said I would need a rebuild. $1800 for the shop to do it. I come to find out that the mechanic didn't even look to see if the timing chain was broken, he just tried starting it and couldn't get it to crank over so I guess he made a professional assumption as to the the timing chain being broken.

The car is a 2007 with 78k miles on it. I have babied that thing and routinely did the necessary maintenance ie. oil change and air filter. I'm pretty much stuck without a car and I can't afford a repair bill of that size. Is there a chance that this is a simple fix or do any of you agree that the timing chain broke? If so, would I need a complete overhaul or could I just replace the head?

 

Yes it could be the issue, unfortunately it sounds like your ride is at a shop that has no problems jumping to conclusions!!

It could just be that the timing chain needs replaced per this link


http://www.obd-codes.com/p0016


Here is a kit

 

The thing is, we've been using this guy for a couple of years now and we've never had any problems with him. I really thought he had actually looked and seen the timing chain broke, but after talking to him some more he just tried starting it and said that's what had happened. Do you think if I was going to trouble shoot this thing myself that it's one of those situations where you just replace the smaller solutions like the timing chain or tensioner and work your way up to the bigger issues until I get it to work? Maybe get a second opinion from another mechanic?

 

quote: "the smaller solutions like the timing chain or tensioner and work your way up to the bigger issues"

No offense, but I take it you're not the DIY kind of owner. Replacing a timing chain is considered a major repair.

Fwiw. Not sure if this holds true with the Ecotec's and their timing chain setup but other cars with broken timing belts can usually be diagnoised by just listening to the engine turn over.
With a broken belt, the engine will usually turn over about twice as fast since the cam(s) aren't turning.

 

With an Ecotec , a close tolerance engine, turning it over with a broken timing chain can bend valves and break pistons
It's relatively easy to pop off the valve cover and see if the chain is loose or broken , but stop turning it over, or trying to start it!


Here is a how to, link


Timing Chain Service Procedures GM 2.2L L61 Ecotec, Camshaft Sprocket

 

$1800 sounds a little high, enough for more estimates.

AllData says its a 4.8 hour job. Plus $129 parts (chain kit) some gaskets need to be changed that are not in the kit.

 

I was just meaning that compared to an overhaul, it's a small job

 

I thought these engines were interference motors?

 

If you have the wrenches and some moderate wrenching skills, then have at it!

 

I'm starting to think that this could all just be a bad sensor. I was looking at the symptoms a bad sensor can cause and one of them wasThe engine may run but with reduced performance (which it was doing) and another symptom was the engine may crank but not start (which is what it is currently doing). And from the amount of time that it took from me dropping the car off at the mechanics and then them calling me to tell me the timing belt broke (around 2 hours) it just doesn't seem like there was enough time for the mechanic to really dig in and know for sure that that is the problem.