Q: crankshaft pulley bolt is bent and car will no longer start. prior to noticing car would make knocking sound

asked by on March 17, 2018

my car was making a knocking noise and realized it was coming from crankshaft. noticed the bolt was loose and bent and now car won't start with bolt bent.

My car has 160605 miles.
My car has an automatic transmission.

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My best guess is that the crankshaft bolt worked loose and as it became more and more loose the front pulley and maybe the timing belt sprocket started knocking around. Once the bolt became loose enough that the front sprocket was allowed to shift, the timing belt was no longer able to keep the camshaft turning and the car stopped running. Depending on a number of factors, there may have been some valve damage. I recommend you not try further to start the car until you can have it looked at by a technician from YourMechanic. They can come out to your home or office to check out your Camry and let you know what it will take to get going again.

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