Gizmo Posted May 12, 2022 Report Share Posted May 12, 2022 So of course after successfully getting my 850R tuned by Vast, it takes a catastrophic hit while parked on the street. Something very large hit my drivers-side front wheel, destroying the control arm, caving in the subframe and smashing the transmission, and smashing the car into the curb, snapping the *other* control arm. It's bad, but my trusted mechanic says everything looks aligned above the subframe. I'm an idiot who loves this car, so -- we're rebuilding her. Got a new transmission on the way, same with a spare 16" columba. My guy's got a stack of S70 subframes, so we're good to go. Except... The engine doesn't want to start. When it came time to tow the car, I got the engine to fire, but it sounded uneven and idled more roughly over the few seconds it was running, so I cut it off. After that, it cranks and cranks and cranks, but doesn't fire. The cranking sounds "normal," so the engine is turning. There are no obvious signs of internal damage -- oil and coolant levels are good, the two aren't mixed, and the engine appears to spin freely when cranked. 24 hours earlier, when I parked the thing, it was running beautifully -- instantly firing on Aaron's Motronic 4.4, pulling hard all day at 16psi, idling happy as can be. To me, the initial start with degrading idle feels like a fuel issue -- almost feels like there's no pressure coming from the pump, and it fired on whatever residual pressure there was. There's no inertia switch on these cars that I'm aware of, though, so how on earth could a hit while parked effect the fuel pump? I thought maybe a fuel line got dislodged, but that doesn't seem to be the case, and if that had happened there'd have been *no* residual pressure... The car is at my mechanic's shop right now for the subframe replacement (I don't have the kind of space to do that on my own), so I'm kind of just sitting on my hands, wishing I could work on it. Is there anything I'm overlooking? Any relay or wiring harness that could have been damaged when the subframe crushed the transmission? Or am I wrong to zero in on a fueling issue? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zappo Posted May 12, 2022 Report Share Posted May 12, 2022 Looks like everything on the street got hit, just like in the movies. Hopefully, you have insurance to cover it. It could be a number of things. The fuel lines may be damaged at the subframe. Since you ran it the day before, it is possible there was still enough pressure in the system to start the car and idle, but it would run out quickly and after that you couldn't start. It could be a huge vacuum leak as well, damaged wiring to the MAF, etc. I wouldn't worry about running the engine until you inspect everything from under the car. Your mechanic should easily see any fuel line issues when replacing the subframe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gizmo Posted May 12, 2022 Author Report Share Posted May 12, 2022 My fear is insurance will only total this, and I'll be left fighting the salvage title to re-insure it once it's fixed... if anyone has experience in that area please DM me, I'm out of my depth. And yeah... four cars in a row hit. Whatever it was made it through at least three alloy rims and kept going! Thank you for the advice. I agree its likely a wire or a hose that got damaged in all the violence. If I had to do an engine rebuild on top of all of this... that would be a bad day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmsgltr Posted May 12, 2022 Report Share Posted May 12, 2022 sorry to hear/see this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mojojo Posted May 12, 2022 Report Share Posted May 12, 2022 Holy crap. Any local business have cameras facing the street? Should be pretty straightforward to figure out. First, verify fuel and spark are present. The rest should fall inline. Nice car though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gizmo Posted May 12, 2022 Author Report Share Posted May 12, 2022 And uh... quick followup as I plan on a weekend of parts-gathering... Anyone know how much the auto transmission weighs when empty? I'm going to have to muscle one into a truck on Saturday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mojojo Posted May 12, 2022 Report Share Posted May 12, 2022 It weighs enough that you should find someone to help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gizmo Posted May 12, 2022 Author Report Share Posted May 12, 2022 23 minutes ago, mojojo said: It weighs enough that you should find someone to help. Got it, thank you. Does it weigh so much that the two of us are going to want some way of getting it out of the bed of a truck? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mojojo Posted May 13, 2022 Report Share Posted May 13, 2022 Two healthy males should be able to lift it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gizmo Posted May 13, 2022 Author Report Share Posted May 13, 2022 Thanks. If we encounter any trouble, I'm blaming my buddy's health Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gizmo Posted May 15, 2022 Author Report Share Posted May 15, 2022 Can confirm: That thing is HEAVY Got the junkyard transmission to the shop, and got my first real look at the damage to the old one. Check it out--the subframe *pierced* it: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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