OT: My car... Ugh

[j21kickster]

so i was driving along today and i noticed i was loosing speed- RPM were still going up- there was a smell of unburned fuel- I pulled over and turned it off- Tried to start and the started was working but there was no turnover- I dont know if it is the timing belt or what- Also does anyone know if an 89 MR2 has a non interference engine- i think it does but i dont quite remember- hopefully no valves were ruined-
Anyone have any input?

 

[nicky1.8t]

mabe a bad spark plug that would cause unburnt fuel but i doubt it would cause the car not to start

 

[j21kickster]

i just replaced them w/ 4 platinum tipped Bosch plugs 400 miles ago

 

[drakken]

Originally posted by j21kickster
so i was driving along today and i noticed i was loosing speed- RPM were still going up- there was a smell of unburned fuel- I pulled over and turned it off- Tried to start and the started was working but there was no turnover- I dont know if it is the timing belt or what- Also does anyone know if an 89 MR2 has a non interference engine- i think it does but i dont quite remember- hopefully no valves were ruined-
Anyone have any input?

Definitely not the timing belt. I've owned 2 MR2's (awesome little cars!) and had the timing belt break at 7000 rpm. The valves are non-interfering so no worry there. The car will stop running immediately. I suggest checking the fuel pump and injectors.
Also, you say you just changed the plugs 400 miles ago... One time I changed my plugs and a few hundred miles later the car started running like what you are discribing. It turned out that one of the plugs came loose, so check those first.
Feel free to email me at r53@comcast.net
BTW, I had an '85 and '87.

 

[j21kickster]

how much do you think it would be to fix a timing belt?

 

[agro]

If the rpm kept going up it's not the timing belt. The engine would stop immediately. Anyway, last time I had one changed it was around $500.
From your description I would guess something in the ignition system went out.

 

[j21kickster]

do you think it could be the dis cap and/ or wires (which need to be replaced anyway)

 

[the claw]

If you didn't seat the wires on good, one could have easily popped loose. This is really common. The plug may not have been tightened enough, but my bet is a wire popped off. It will run sort off, and be real stinky. Then wont start. Sound familiar?
or
someone palyed a practical joke on you and shoved something in your tail pipe. Don't know how long you ran it before it started going dead.

 

[overanalyzer]

Hey Kickster - shoot me an e-mail I know a guy who comes out to your house to work on cars and is extremely reasonable!

 

[agro]

Pull the distributor cap and check to see if the rotor is tight. I had mine come loose on my integra. But yeah, it could be dist. cap, rotor, coil, etc.