Questions and Answers

Broken Crankshaft

Q. We own a 1996 Honda LX Honda Accord 4 cylinder, 4 speed automatic, 4 door sedan. My wife a few weeks ago was hit from behind at about 25-30 miles per hour. A week and half later our crankshaft broke. Our mechanic (Whom knows my driving habits well and says we are very easy the car) was confused that the shaft broke until I mentioned that my wife was moving forward slowly at the time of the accident in the attempt to prevent the accident. ( She saw it coming.) Our mechanic at then opened his eyes wide and stated now it makes sense. He says that when the car is in motion and gets hit it causes the engine to lurch backwards for a moment and most likely caused a crack in the crank which then a week and a half later broke and now the car does not run at all. My wife and I after the accident had noticed that when stopping the car would make a moaning sound. (I thought it was struts) My wife complained about the car feeling heavy and sluggish. Anyway I want to hear your opinion on this. It would be a great help.

Thanks
Mike

A. When a car is in an accident Mike, all the rules go out the window. Anything and everything is possible. Your mechanic came up with a perfectly plausible explanation. The only flaw I can see is that she was hit from behind, and the car was moving forward. When she was hit, she was pushed in the same direction she was going and the engine was moving in at the same time. Now the added stress of an outside force may have been enough to crack the crankshaft. I don't know. Like I said, all the rules went out the window when the two cars hit. There is little doubt that the crack was accident related, but as to exactly how, one guess is as good as another.