Dad-E-Wagon

Has anyone ever experienced this? I got hit in the rear and pushed into the vehicle in front of me. After got got to the body shop it wouldn’t start. Replaced battery, safety cable and starter and still no start. Indy shop found exhaust cam timing almost 180 degrees off normal. They reset it and got it to start but there is no explanation as to what caused this. If anyone has any insight or explanation as to how this happened, I’d love to know. Thanks and Merry Christmas.
Dad-E-Wagon

ripley

At least it wasn't 360 degrees off normal.

But seriously - an accident causing the cam belt or chain to jump off a sprocket??
I have never heard that before.
Either a misdiagnosis or miscommunication must have happened.
Reset it what exactly at the indy shop.

KyleB

+1, I work in the industry and what you are describing nearly defies the laws of physics.

Dad-E-Wagon

I talked to the Indy shop today and they explained what they suspect happened. I don’t think I can recount it accurately here but it sounded like a bit of a stretch. They also said the starter was bad and needed replacement, which I’m told has happened in other collision situations. I’m in no position to challenge it at this point. It looks like everyone is just trying to make money off the insurance company but they’re really just eating into the amount they’ve already authorized. I’ve been taking the car to this Indy shop for the last four years and I trust them but this is borderline. If they’d tried to replace my muffler belts I would definitely have cried foul!

JuniorB

These cars don't jump 180 off, it's impossible, unless your cam gear is worn to nothing, and that's impossible. A starter after an accident? Never heard of it, a no start, absolutely, fuel is meant to cut off when impact/ or yaw has been significantly disruptive. The power cable is also meant to break for the same reason, to prevent fire.I would hate to know what he charged you for all this.

Dad-E-Wagon

Could it be related to the following scenario:
BST blew out as expected, vehicle was towed and battery ran down because they didn’t turn the flashers off. Based on additional damage found on the bottom of he car, it looks like they moved it with a fork loader. The bottoms of the brand new control arms were rashes up, the center lower chassis cover was ripped out and the brackets behind it were sheared. There was a small dent in the forward exhaust pipe and there was a bunch of mud along the inside of the frame rails behind the engine. I’m almost positive that they put forks under this car and either dragged or carried it to the tow truck sent to retrieve, it by the insurance company.
When it got to the body shop they tried starting on a jump box and cranked for a while with no start, then gave up. Installed new BST and battery, still no start. Indy tech said over cranking on the starter could’ve contributed to it’s failure.

E60Japanese

I'm a panel beater and find the diagnosis unbelievable
Sure a hard hit can cause a lot of damage but in my 40 years in the industry I have never seen this happen
But if it did, your car would be a ride off

I bet it is a simple electrical problem that they haven't found yet

Reading posts like this make me mad how they will spend customers money so easily or just keep getting money from an insurance company

In situations like this the repair company can simply put in additions to the original claim for approval to your insurance company
I can promise they will never spend money on your car unless the addition has been approved

Your thoughts on your car being lifted with forks sounds warranted and is a usual practice when the car cannot be driven for any reason

Looking forward to reading the outcome
Feel free to contact me if I can give any advice