Car shut off on road, will not start...

[squirrel_156]

My wife owns a 2000 ZX2 (Auto). While driving the car earlier in the day, she heard a metalic (aluminum like) clicking near the front right tire. She contintued to work, but on the way home the car started to deaccelerate and would not respond to the gas pedal. The check engine light and the battery light came on briefly then shut off. The car then shut down and coasted to a stop and started to smoke.

The next day, I checked out the car, and smelled anti-freeze. We poured some coolant into the radiator and watched it pour out of a hole near the engine block. The plastic piece, that houses the thermostat, had melted. We replaced what I will call the "thermostat housing" and reconnected all of the hoses.

I tried to start the car, and it cranks; however, it makes a high pitched whining noise. We have replaced the cam sensor, and the crank shaft sensor. I know that it was more than likely unnecessary to do so. We let the car sit for a day and it almost started, then reverted to the high pitched noise while cranking.

So my question is, what could be making that noise? I've heard that it could possibly be timing...

[91xltlariat]

Check the timing belt.. With the high pitched whinning noise, it sounds like it may have broke..

[squirrel_156]

I did not do an extensive inspection of the belt, but my father in law and I took some chalk and marked the "gears" that the timing belt was on. The gears and belt do turn and are intact, but would it still make the noise if it skipped time?

[Intuit]

Does the pitch of the noise change with engine cranking speed ? Pluggin an ear and using a paper towel roll might help determine which if any of the pulleys have bad bearings. I'd also run a compression test to ensure that overheating didn't ruin the head and/or head gasket.

Unfortunately it sounds as though she drove it until it ran out of coolant and cooked the engine until it ground to a halt.