Car won't crank to start

[Laurabuzz]

We have a 1996 Lumina that we have been having problems with since last fall. We had an intake manifold gasket fail and used Thermagasket to fix it which worked pretty good all things considered. We've always had to keep our eye on the oil and coolant levels just to make sure we weren't losing any. Last week my son was driving the car and it just died. When you turn the key it makes a clicking sound in the front of the engine near the starter which is what we figured the problem was. After replacing the starter....same thing no change. My husband tried turning the flywheel??(I think that's what it's called)and he said it wouldn't budge and that it should turn. So he feels the engine may have seized. The oil was a little low but it still registered on the dipstick so it wasn't out of oil. Is the stuck flywheel a sign of a seized motor? The car itself is in fantastic shape, no rot at all which is saying something for a 12 yr old car in New England!!! Any opinions or advice would be greatly appreciated.

[jdl]

When you turn the key to crank, can you tell if there is load on the starter circuit? One way to tell, would be to watch the dome lite or headlites, when you turn the key to crank, if the lites dim or go out, there is a load on the circuit.

I usually use a socket and breakover on the end of the crank, to see if an engine is siezed. You may have to remove accessory belt/s and in case of hydrostatic-lock, remove the plugs, with the plugs removed you won't have to fight compression either. If the crank turns, you might watch the plug holes, to see if coolant comes out?

[j cAT]

Originally Posted by Laurabuzz

We have a 1996 Lumina that we have been having problems with since last fall. We had an intake manifold gasket fail and used Thermagasket to fix it which worked pretty good all things considered. We've always had to keep our eye on the oil and coolant levels just to make sure we weren't losing any. Last week my son was driving the car and it just died. When you turn the key it makes a clicking sound in the front of the engine near the starter which is what we figured the problem was. After replacing the starter....same thing no change. My husband tried turning the flywheel??(I think that's what it's called)and he said it wouldn't budge and that it should turn. So he feels the engine may have seized. The oil was a little low but it still registered on the dipstick so it wasn't out of oil. Is the stuck flywheel a sign of a seized motor? The car itself is in fantastic shape, no rot at all which is saying something for a 12 yr old car in New England!!! Any opinions or advice would be greatly appreciated.

the battery must supply a huge amount of power to crank engine with starter....if the connections or battery is defective this is the most likely problem..did you replace battery with a known good battery/or have battery load tested....did you test starter that was removed ?


if engine was running fine and suddenly it would not crank this is the way to locate what is bad, having a volt meter is needed. if you prefer just buy a new battery...

[Laurabuzz]

We tried jump starting the car to no avail. It won't crank at all. It just makes a single clicking sound near the starter when you turn the key. We tried replacing the starter and it did the same thing. There goes 100 bucks! The battery is fairly new as is the alternator. We did the banging on the starter that everyone suggests and nothing.
Would an engine just all of a sudden seize up like that? If the flywheel won't turn at all is that a sign of a seized motor? It doesn't seem like a good sign!

[j cAT]

Originally Posted by Laurabuzz

We tried jump starting the car to no avail. It won't crank at all. It just makes a single clicking sound near the starter when you turn the key. We tried replacing the starter and it did the same thing. There goes 100 bucks! The battery is fairly new as is the alternator. We did the banging on the starter that everyone suggests and nothing.
Would an engine just all of a sudden seize up like that? If the flywheel won't turn at all is that a sign of a seized motor? It doesn't seem like a good sign!

remove all spark plugs then try to crank with starter or by hand if it does not rotate the motor is seized.. this could be due to antifreeze entering the combustion chamber by way of a head gasket failure..good luck let us know whats happened..