Thinking I'm f*ed
 

So that wonderful white Camaro in my signature.... It died on me on the freeway a little while ago. I just checked spark... No spark. What's worse was the clunking sound that wasn't audible from the driver's seat but was very clear from under the hood with the engine cranking.

The engine is a 10k mile rebuilt job. I'm still holding onto the hope that the timing chain just let go or something.

1) On these engines, with a busted timing chain will the pistons hit the valves and screw stuff up?

2) Any good ways to check the timing chain? I would take the distributor cap off to see if it was turning inside, but I'm afraid to mess with the Optispark.

Thanks

anyone?

More info... What happened when it died? Why no spark--that would explain it dying though?

Yes, a broken timing chain could cause pistons to hit valves.

No spark could be an optispark problem, I would check it as well as your timing chain.

Timing, ICM, or opti it sounds like.

Thanks for the replies guys.

I wanted to check the timing chain next... Is there an easy way to check it short of taking the whole front of the engine apart?

>> When it died it just cut out on me at high RPM. No audible clanking noise, just cut out and would not restart.

the easiest way to check the timing chain would be to remove the oil filler neck and have someone turn the car over and see if the valves are moving, if you cant see the rocker well enough, if you dont have traction control and driver's side valve cover is a cinch to remove to see if the valves are moving

and the question about whether the pistons will contact the valves if the chain breaks is unfortunately true

That's the kind of quick and dirty check I was looking for. I'll try taking the filler tube off sometime this week and then start worrying about troubleshooting the opti.

Thanks a bunch!

Opti.

so who rebuilt it? that car would be on their doorstep in 2 seconds if that shit happened to me.