Engine locked up...

[mdoan]

After buttoning everything up post valve cover swap I cranked it up to top off coolant since I changed coolant tanks also. Ran for about 2 minutes - long enough for idle to smooth out - and then I heard a loud, abrupt squeal
(belt I suppose) and the engine stopped like it hit a wall.

I topped off coolant, looked everything over and turned the key one more time. The starter is trying to turn but something isn’t letting the crank loose.

I’ll be pulling belts when I can and see if any accessories aren’t turning - please someone out there just tell me an accessory - even if it’s the blower - can lock up hard enough to stop an engine dead, and keep it from cranking...

My best guess is the water pump didn’t have enough fluid and seized, but who knows. The reservoirs both had coolant in them. Not full but definitely had a level.

 

[MG0h3]

Huh? This happened after a valve cover swap?

Please tell me you didn’t dump the oil and forget to fill it.


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[MG0h3]

Bearing in water pump is sealed. No bearing is lubricated by water or coolant.


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[mdoan]

Didn’t touch the oil yet... had to remove the brake booster but I bled brakes and clutch seemed fine.

 

[MG0h3]

Take a sniff of the oil. If you cooked the engine (not sure how) you’ll smell it.

Maybe the blower could stop the engine but not sure.

No reason for that to suddenly seize.

It’s likely something you did since it was right after the work.

Not familiar with the hydraulic clutch on your car or if/how that could lock anything up.


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[mdoan]

It smells about the same as when I had the valve covers off at least.

I just checked and there was a bit of oil in the passenger side catch can, which I had thoroughly emptied just before putting everything back together. And when I emptied it while torn down it had much more than usual in a pretty short amount of time...

 

[Black Cobra '99]

Ok, what mods do you have, can you elaborate on what you were doing and why.
Nothing in the accessory can stop an engine from turning, and the engine won't seize suddenly at idle.

 

[Black Cobra '99]

Can you post a video of it trying to start?

 

[PM-Performance]

Blower lockup will most deff cause that. While still an expensive fix, I wouldnt go too nuts until you pull the belt off and see if the blower spins.

 

[railroad]

Remove the belts, no luck, remove spark plugs, no luck, trans in neutral roll car, no luck, remove starter, turn engine at flywheel or lower pulley, good luck,

 

[mdoan]

Blower lockup will most deff cause that. While still an expensive fix, I wouldnt go too nuts until you pull the belt off and see if the blower spins.

Thanks everyone. I had to drill and heli-coil one of the blower EGR bolt holes, so that is the most likely scenario I think (hope). I was very careful with shavings, vacuumed and high pressure compressed air blew the rotors while turning, used a bit of red loctite on the heli-coil, etc, so I’ll still be surprised; but I can swallow a blower replacement if I have to financially. An engine rebuild... not so much. Been secretly wanting to try a whipple 2.9 anyway... just not yet.

If I can muster the energy I’ll be pulling the belt tonight and post an update. That valve cover job has wiped me out.

 

[Catmonkey]

That's crazy. Pull the plugs and see if it cranks. Hydro-lock could seize the engine. Only other things beyond that are nothing you want to hear.

 

[PM-Performance]

Thanks everyone. I had to drill and heli-coil one of the blower EGR bolt holes, so that is the most likely scenario I think (hope). I was very careful with shavings, vacuumed and high pressure compressed air blew the rotors while turning, used a bit of red loctite on the heli-coil, etc, so I’ll still be surprised; but I can swallow a blower replacement if I have to financially. An engine rebuild... not so much. Been secretly wanting to try a whipple 2.9 anyway... just not yet.

If I can muster the energy I’ll be pulling the belt tonight and post an update. That valve cover job has wiped me out.

Whipple? i thought you are putting the car back to stock and selling it from your last post?

 

[mdoan]

I honestly don't know at this point. I've been running numbers on the cost of newer GT's and the mods necessary to get it where I want it and just can't make the dollars turn in my favor. As frustrated as I am with this car, at $27k original price it was a pretty good bargain. Maybe the valve cover job pushed me into seeing red more than I'd like to admit.

 

[mdoan]

That's crazy. Pull the plugs and see if it cranks. Hydro-lock could seize the engine. Only other things beyond that are nothing you want to hear.

You agree a blower seize could do it also, right? Basically if it's not blower seize or hydro-lock I'm royally effed. Awesome!

 

[Catmonkey]

To some degree. I wouldn't be willing to say that until I put a breaker bar on the bolt of the balancer and tried to see if the crank turns or not. But I would also try it in both directions.... clockwise and counter clockwise.

 

[mdoan]

Wouldn’t hydro lock happen at initial startup, not after idling a couple min?

 

[buddha93]

Just pull the belts like it was mentioned, process of elimination.

 

[PM-Performance]

Wouldn’t hydro lock happen at initial startup, not after idling a couple min?

Dont fear the worst until you pull a belt. Sure lots of crazy scenarios could happen, but blower lockup is the most probable. It is a VMP so that is probable. lol. I cannot tell you how many Gen2/2R models I have seen that had bearing issues and rotor pack issues and either locked up or some other problem causing rotor damage.

Im sure I will get beaten up by that comment, but if you search hard enough, you will see enough people with problems with those things to understand why I think this is the issue.

 

[Catmonkey]

I think if you had an injector dumping fuel, it probably could idle short term, but once the plug can't get fire or enough gas gets in the cylinder, it will lock. It could take a little while to drain out the cylinder, but if you removed the plug, it will push anything out of the cylinder than would otherwise restrict movement. Let us know what you find.