I have a feeling this question has been asked many times... I've searched the forums and think I've found the correct answer, but I'm posting just because I want to be absolutely positively sure on this --
The long and short of it is:
My 72 year old mother was driving my '97 Honda Passport last week, when from what I can cull together, the car started to run hot... she pulled over, and turned the car off for a bit, but seeing that she was where she wasn't suppose to be she tried to turn around and make it back to town, but she didn't get too far because the car just stopped running, forcing her to pull off the road.(She was heading toward the casino... I got a phone call that started with 'hey, um, I'm in a tight spot) Anyway, I had the car towed back into town and talked to the mechanic this weekend, who said that the engine was most certainly ruined, if the timing belt broke. Oh GREAT! We towed the car in this morning... and he took a look and it seems the water pump failed and took the timing belt with it --
Seeing that I can't afford to take anyones word for it, I started to do some research on the internet on whether or not there was any way I might have caught a break and dodged a bullet and I thought I had found it, since much of my reading says that this car should have an 'non-interference engine' in it which apparently shouldn't cause any damage to the engine... So I decided that I would go buy the parts that this site said I would need and the guy at the auto store said, that I was wasting my time, because it was an interference engine and he wanted to give me the name of a guy that rebuilds 'heads'? (Um, if you couldn't tell I don't know a thing about a car, I didn't know there was any such thing as a timing belt until this weekend)-- I don't know if it's because I'm female, but I have a feeling I'm about to be fleeced.
I'll also add that the guy at the Honda dealership over the phone this weekend told me when I asked if the engine was ruined said 'it depends, they put two different engines in that model, you'll have to bring it in' -- which means to me, we'll get your car here, rip it into a thousand pieces and charge your 1000.00 no matter what, just to put it back together again...
Honestly, if I have to have a new engine, I'm just going to pull out the ol bike and my mother will have to figure out another way to take her mid day casino runs... (yet another problem I have to deal with) ....
But I digress...
I didn't buy the parts, water pump, timing belt and tensioner was what I was going to get-- I was unsure of what to do, so I didn't buy anything-- can someone give me a good indication of how I might proceed, what kind of engine is in this model and if all is good with the engine are there any other things I should replace while I'm at it...? I would greatly appreciate it. This Honda/Isuzu Passport has been a great car and replacing the parts it needs is fine with me within reason... but I can't handle the new engine at the moment, so if that's what it takes I guess we'll just have to part ways... and I'm going to be getting a lot more exercise.
Thanks again
... I know there's probably been a uptick in my kind on these boards recently...