Car dies...$200 tow. Help.

[stickybones]

Well I guess it's my turn for the gremlins to infest my TR. Was driving home, about 40 miles away still, and she dies on me. Was in boost passing someone and poof. Pulled over to check things out and of course there's nothing obvious...to me at least. Starter engages but motor doesn't crank. Accessories work, so does the fuel pump. No malfunction codes per the Scanmaster.

Any suggestions on what to look for first? I suspect the crank sensor, but I'm sure it could be other things. No obvious warning before she died. Running fine one second and dead the next.

Any help is appreciated before I start rippin' into her tomorrow.

 

[1970gsx]

Do you mean the starter cranks over the engine, but won't start? Or the starter engages but the engine dosen't turn? The latter would probably not be much fun.

 

[stickybones]

I mean the starter engages, but the motor doesn't turn. When I turn the key, I can hear the starter click.

 

[SilverSleeper]

When you try to start it, do your lights dim? Like.. if you had interior lights on, do they dim when you try and start it?

Try banging the starter motor with a hammer. It might be in a dead spot.

Battery in good shape? How is your voltage? Clean good contacts?
Mine did something like this. Turns out it loosened the positive cable, and zap. Wouldnt start. Took me a while to figure that one out. It died because it didnt have voltage to support itself, since the alternator couldnt charge it enough.

I doubt it is a sensor if it wont even crank over. Try getting a long breaker bar and turning it over by hand, see if you can. If it turns that way, its a good sign. If it dont... well....

Good luck!!

 

[stickybones]

Yes, the lights dim when I try to start it. Battery is in good shape with 12 volts across terminals. Contacts appear good, but I can always check again. Haven't tried to turn the motor over by hand yet. (Don't you need to remove the intercooler to gain access to the crank pulley to turn the motor over with a breaker bar?) Anyway, if my motor seized up somehow while driving, wouldn't I have had all kinds of other problems like the trans locking up too and skidding all over the place since the car was still in drive????

The only reason I suspect the crank sensor cause it died on me years ago just like this time and it was the crank sensor that was bad.

 

[stickybones]

If I hear the starter click when I turn the key, but the motor doesn't crank, could that mean the starter solenoid is engaging but the starter motor itself is bad?

Can a bad starter motor kill the car the way it did? I think if I remember correctly with my brother's old camaro, he burnt thru the + wire to the starter once and that killed the car.

Now that I'm thinking clearly, I seem to remember that when my crank sensor went on me years ago, the motor still cranked, it just wouldn't fire. This problem is different so I can probably rule out the sensor(s) as SilverSleeper suggests.

 

[TurboDave]

Originally posted by stickybones
Yes, the lights dim when I try to start it. Battery is in good shape with 12 volts across terminals. Contacts appear good, but I can always check again. Haven't tried to turn the motor over by hand yet. (Don't you need to remove the intercooler to gain access to the crank pulley to turn the motor over with a breaker bar?) Anyway, if my motor seized up somehow while driving, wouldn't I have had all kinds of other problems like the trans locking up too and skidding all over the place since the car was still in drive????

The only reason I suspect the crank sensor cause it died on me years ago just like this time and it was the crank sensor that was bad.

No, your car wouldn't have skidded all over if the motor locked. Remember that's an automatic tranny bolted to the back of the motor.

Your safest bet is to try and turn the motor over by hand to see if it's seized.
Pull all the spark plugs to free things up, and try the starter again. If that doesn't work you'll have to remove the intercooler fan to gain access to the crank hub bolt to turn it with a bar.

 

[stickybones]

Well fellas, I tried to crank the motor by hand and...of course...I can't. I guess this is good indication that I seized the motor somehow.

Now what do I do. Start looking for an engine rebuilder here in NJ? Or is there something else I can look for that could be the culprit for a seized motor and relatively easy to fix.

 

[Red Regal T]

POSSIBLY THE TIMING CHAIN WENT AND JAMMED IN THERE SO YOU CAN'T TURN THE MOTOR....OR SOMETHING ELSE WORSE.

$200 FOR A TOW???? GOOD IDEA TO INVEST IN SOME AAA......THAT WAY YOUR ALWAYS COVERED IN AN EMERGENCY. THESE CARS DO "STOP" UNEXPECTEDLY NOW AND THEN.

 

[stickybones]

The chain is fairly new so I don't think that would be it, but, you never know.

As for AAA, I guess I had to attend the school of hard knocks. Actually, a AAA tow truck stopped by while I was waiting for the tow company that I called to pick me up, and they refused to help because I wasn't a member. Wouldn't even let me use their cell phone (I had borrowed someone else's to make the first call to the tow company).