Scary event: Anyone know much about cars?

[Cody Carey]

First, a brief description of my vehicle. It is a 1993 toyota tercel, this thing weighs 1800 lbs. It maxes out at 85 MPH, but gets 43 mpg, which is the only reason I want to keep it. Anyway, on to the story.


I was on a back road, cruising along at 35 mph. Suddenly, as I round a bend, a big white Dodge Ram (Four times the size of my 93 tercel) comes barreling around the corner at WAY unsafe speeds. My choices were as follows:

1. Stand my ground and feel the wrath that is 4000 pounds of truck traveling at a minimum of 60 mph,

~or~

2.Take a sudden right turn, over a four foot drop, and into that lovely cornfield which I'd been wanting to explore.

Well, I chose the cornfield... I don't know, it just seemed less threatening. The guy in the truck didn't even stop, and I was stuck nose first in a foot of mud. For all he knew, I could have been seriously injured. (I escaped with nothing but a minor concussion) I only got the first letter of his license plate, so there is nothing the authorities could do.

So, anyway, I rocked myself out of the mud, putted along in the cornfield until the ledge was less than four feet high, and drove over it back onto the road. Power brakes were gone, and she would barely stay running. I was a good 30 miles away from home, without my cellphone.

I opened up my hood, and the engine was hanging askew, way too far down on the left side, so I assume it was the engine mount, and lots of hoses had been unplugged by the sudden movement of the engine. I plugged in what I could find and putted to a gas station. She didn't overheat, but she came too close for comfort. When I parked her in a gas station 15 miles away to be towed, she was leaking oil. There was a puddle. The oil light hasn't come on, and she still hasn't overheated. Even though she smokes CLOUDS of white smoke when I start the engine (which I am now done doing)

I noticed this at the gas station as well: The serpentine belt was gone, and I appeared to have snapped an idler pulley of some sort off of the block.

I Came here because this forum is full of knowledge and experience, and I was wondering if anyone here thought the car to be even remotely salvageable. No body/frame damage, just a screwed up engine.

Here's a link to pictures in slideshow form.

http://img266.imageshack.us/slidesho...3896635gy.smil



Thanks muchly,
-Cody