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Hey Guys,

The problems with my Eclipse began about 5 days ago.  When I was stopped and in Neutral, my engine turned off. I figured that it was because my 4 cylinder engine couldn't hold up with the A/C on a higher setting so I began driving with my windows down and had no more problems.  When I was driving last night, my fears had returned. While I was going about 60 MPH, I began to hear a strange noise, almost as if something were hitting my tire.  I then realized that the noise was coming from my engine.  About 10 seconds later, my engine completely shut off and i was flying down the road without power.  I pushed in the clutch and started her back up and my car was vibrating more than normal.  When I put it into neutral again and began to come to a complete stop, the vibration was unbearable and i feared my engine would explode.  Needless to say, I drove about 5 more miles in complete fear and finally made it home.  Does anybody have any sort of clue what might be wrong with my engine, and if so is there any way I can fix it without going to an auto shop?  Any help is much appreciated. Engine size is 2.0 L. Thanks!  

you will want to start with a visual check...

coolant level in the radiator..

oil level in the engine by pulling the dipstick..


disable the ignition coil...   crank the engine .. does it make any noises?? banging .. pounding..  or do you get a nice even sounding cranking sound..   even compression on all the cylinders.

do you have a compression tester gauge??? so you can do a cranking compression test to check for broken pistons or burned valves..

examine the ignition system.. that its not leaking high voltage  to ground... other than through the wires and spark plugs..

do you know how to check the timing belt sprocket alignment to know if it has slipped a tooth????/

it really needs to be examined by somebody who knows cars...   and will give you an honest answer.. not. oh the engine is blown and i will give you 100 bucks for the car..    

there are a lot of things that can go wrong... a timing belt coming apart.. a fan belt coming apart.. a water pump that i think on your engine is cam belt driven..   one of the idler pulleys going bad...

i really worry that the oil level was low and the oil pump went dry causing internal engine damage..

i had somebody drop off an old air cooled bug.. said it would not start..  when i tried to turn the motor it was seized..  when did it fail to start... i was going about 70 on the freeway and it died and would not restart...  when i pulled the dip stick.. it was a quart and a half low on oil...    that motor only used 3 quarts of oil..   when i ripped the engine out and split the case.. the main bearing surface was melted just slightly.. taking up the clearance between the crank and the bearings preventing the crank from turning..    see the crank and cams ride on a layer of motor oil.. keeping the parts from touching.. if they touch friction builds up and the soft bearing surface melts..  since the crank is cooler than the now melted bearing.. it welds the bearing material to the crank and spins the bearing shells ..  

oh.. and another reason to figure out what the exact problem is..

another shop.. another bug came in making a terrible screeching noise.. metal tearing noise..   the boss said it needed a motor.. they put the new motor in.. and it still made the noise..  oops.. another part was actually making the noise..