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  #1  
Old 08-10-2011, 01:02 AM
Awox Awox is offline
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Winched onto a flatbed in gear....

Here's where the horror story starts....

I have an electrical issue with my 95 where occasionally on a wet day some strange things happen. My alarm may go off while driving or I may have a short that prevents it from starting. This day was one of the wet no-start situations. I had just pumped gas and tried to start it, nothing but dim lights and relays buzzing/clicking all over and random dimming of lights on the dash, after about 10 minutes playing with every switch or wire I could find I just gave up and pushed it off to the side of the gas station.

Without the convenience of waiting for it to dry out and start, I had to have it towed home. AAA sends pretty much the only local towing company they contract with to service the area, and that's fine. They've towed me before without any issue. Today though, they send a wheel lift, with no wheel dollies. Great. Whatever. These things happen. So I tell the guy that it's AWD and that they'll just have to send a flatbed. He actually waits around for the flatbed to show up.

It arrives, and backs up to the rear of my car, so that they can pull it on backwards. This guy and another gent who can't stop texting gets out. Takes a peek at it here and there, asks what's wrong and if I tried jumping it. Let him know that it was just an electrical fluke and that it just needs some sun to dry out. So at this point, I already have the car in neutral. I tell him this, and that all he has to do is drop the parking break and it's good to go up on the truck. So what does he do? Throws the chains on, barely pays attention to me and says "I GOT IT" Gets in, pulls the gear lever down 2 spaces assuming it's in park, takes off the parking break and bolts towards the winch controlls on the truck. He's in a mad hurry. I tell him "I had it in neutral lemme just check to see if it's good". To this he replies "I GOT IT STAND BACK"....so....I didn't see exactly what gear he put it into, I figured he knew what he was doing and just moved the shifter to make sure it was in neutral. I figured he wasn't a total dip**** and knew what he was doing.

Nope.

It's being pulled up onto the truck in "2". The winch is screaming bloody murder in our ears as it struggles to pull the car with all 4 wheels engaged to the tranny, in a foreward driving gear. It's all being spun the wrong way, but all 4 wheels are moving. Then the back wheels touch the slick metal surface of the flatbed and stop moving. I'm hollering at the guy that it's in gear but he won't listen, just looks at me like a dumbass. So the second guy peeks away from his cell phone for a second and starts screaming at him "THE PARKING BRAKE IS ON! THE BACK WHEELS AINT MOVING!" so the guy replies "NO IT AINT!" and now i'm screaming too "ITS IN GEAR DUDE!!" so we're all yelling like tards at eachother but the guy doesn't seem to get the idea that he should stop winching it. Both the winch and the car are making ungodly creaking noises. Not till the nose of the car is almost scraping the ground does he stop to put boards under the front wheels. That's when I see for sure that the car is in "2" and i tell him to put it in neutral and that he better pray nothing is damaged.

Meanwhile, the wheel lift driver gets out cause of all the hollering, I pull him aside and ask if he saw that he pulled it up in gear and the wheels weren't spinning. To this he just assumes I'm a complete dumbass and says "Oh uh yeah...um...they do that so it don't um...you know, slip off the flatbed."

I ask him how stupid he thinks I am to believe that crock, so he shrugs and gets in his truck....

I am so mad.

Anyway. The aftermath. I need help explaining this. I get the car jumped because the battery is pretty toast from the shorting and whatnot. I start going down the road slowly to see if everything shifts right. No weird noises, shifts and drives in reverse and foreward gears just fine. So I'm on my merry way to get a bite to eat when I smell burning rubber or plastic. There's this 1980's volkswagen in front of me so I just assume it's that car. About a mile later the volkswagen is gone, and the smell is worse. I begin to worry and slow down. The smoke starts to fill the cabin and I start to hear a squeaking noise. I'm guessing my alternator belt is slipping badly trying to charge the completely dead battery. I pull over and pop the hood. Alternator/serpentine belts are fine, no slipping, no smoke. I do spot the source though and nearly crap my pants....

The timing belt cover, on the side of the engine near the power steering pump and ABS unit, appears to have been pushed open about 3/8ths of an inch and it's got white smoke pouring out of it. It appears that my timing belt or one of the pulleys is rubbing against something And I would assume that since it is on that side, something must have pushed it out.

Now I'm not 100% sure how this could have happened. But am I completely insane to blame the tow job that was royally screwed?

AAA's damage claim representitive basically called me an idiot and that it had nothing to do with it and that it has to be a coincidence.

Everyone, in all of your combined knowledge of this merry beast of a car, can you think of anything at all that could relate this damage to the tow? If it was in a foreward gear, being towed backwards, could anything have been spun backwards in the engine? I think the torque converter could have just absorbed the energy and not spun the engine, but how do they behave when going the wrong way around? I'm so confused and worried.

If it's any help at all, this car has seen a lot. 240K miles on it and has a bad front differential (I think, cause turning causes a shudder, especially bad when backing up).

I'm at my wits end and can't afford repairs right now. If this truly was not the fault of the bad tow job, that's fine, I just want to know because if it was, somebody is fixing my baby
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  #2  
Old 08-10-2011, 07:58 AM
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Conn SVX Conn SVX is offline
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Re: Winched onto a flatbed in gear....

My thinking from a mechanical view is . You were pulling the car back wards, could all that torque have nose dived the motor into the frame hard enough to shift the cover, I am sure the motor was jumping around some . Lucky he was not dealing with me . The cell hone would be in distinguishable from Dog S#% when I was through with it, and he would have had a hard time explaining the red marks around his neck when he got home to his wife . And explaining the broken rear window on the truck to his boss that I broke with the first stone I found to throw thru it (just to get his attention )<LOL> . As far as the motor it really doesn't care if it runs forward or backwards . Sounds like your damage is the plastic timing belt cover .
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Old 08-10-2011, 08:09 AM
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Earthworm Earthworm is offline
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Re: Winched onto a flatbed in gear....

Do you have a photo? I don't see any relation between the towing and the engine cover.
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Old 08-10-2011, 09:04 AM
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Conn SVX Conn SVX is offline
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Re: Winched onto a flatbed in gear....

Thinking back on my thought above. If the cover pulled out it would be now farther from the belt and pulley. could have been loose for a long time and that is all it took to make if come off. not that hard to remove and take a look see.
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  #5  
Old 08-10-2011, 09:49 AM
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Mike621 Mike621 is offline
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Re: Winched onto a flatbed in gear....

While it does sound like the tow company was rough/negligent, I'd say your jumped belt sounds like a roller/idler bearing going out as an unfortunate coincidence.
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  #6  
Old 08-11-2011, 12:02 AM
Awox Awox is offline
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Re: Winched onto a flatbed in gear....

Well, the belt isn't jumped. Or at least what I think you mean by jumped. The engine runs fine, of couse aside from the smoking... A pulley is pushed out, far enough to push open the cover and rub the belt or a pulley on the cover apparently. Are any of the bearings in the engine one way? Does a torque converter work the same in both ways?

Has anyone ever had a vehicle moved backwards, while in a forward gear, not park?

I don't have pictures, but I have a video on my phone of the smoke coming from the crack. I'll try to get it uploaded to youtube or something.

Also it's not loose, it's securely fastened all the way around. It's forced open and appears bent/broken on the side. It certainly was not that way before the tow.

Last edited by Awox; 08-11-2011 at 12:04 AM. Reason: Also it's not loose, it's securely fastened all the way around. It's forced open and appears bent/broken on the side. It cert
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Old 08-11-2011, 12:48 AM
gl1674 gl1674 is offline
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Re: Winched onto a flatbed in gear....

The short answer is - Nah.

Engine was not running when it was being towed therefore there were no line pressure in the transmission. No line pressure means no gear was really engaged. It is not a manual gearbox, the gear selector level does not engage
any gears directly; it's a hydraulic control.

The car would roll easily either forward or backward in with gear level in any position except "P". There would be no damage to engine or transmission.

You could damage the tranny if you rolled car for several miles at high speed
(no line pressure - no lubrication), but a few yards is nothing.
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Old 08-15-2011, 12:27 PM
Awox Awox is offline
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Re: Winched onto a flatbed in gear....

That makes my heart sink. I guess I'm a lot less stressed but now i'm sad...

Oh well. Must fix.
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