97 grandam v6 3.1 S.O.S !! any advice please!

acearsenal · #1 03-09-2009, 01:57 AM

I was driving today and i noticed my car wasnt responding normally when i was pushing on the gas pedal, all of the sudden i heard a squealing sound and the engine cut out and i coasted to a spot to pull off the road. i got it towed home and it was very low on oil but there was a little on the tip of the dipstick. I try to start it and it wont turn over. I can move the belt and every thing seems to be turning all right. even tried boosting it with a truck but it wont turn over. could i have seized my engine? it was a short distance i was driving slow. it is very cold out and too dark to see but i will have to get up early and take a closer look. If anyone has any ideas what this could be it would be greatly appretiated. the engine didnt have a smell or seem overheated but my guages are also all out so i dont really know what the temp was. thank you for any advice.

Airjer_ · #2 03-09-2009, 08:42 AM

You took the serpentine belt off and tried to start it?

3100 · #3 03-09-2009, 10:09 AM

so when you try to start do you hear any clicking or nothing at all?

and how can you move the belt? did the belt slip off?

give us more details if you can
how many miles?

it is very possible that the engine seized because of the low oil
if it is not that the only thing I can think of is the timing chain broke and is now tangled between the main sprocket and the main sprocket is now jammed.

Crankshaft position sensor (CKP) would shut your engine off but this is not your problem since you say you can not even turn it.

- my suggestion: raise the front of the car, secure it on the jack stands remove the passenger side front wheel, remove the inner fender splash guard, remove all the spark plugs, put some engine oil in each spark plug hole and try to rotate crankshaft by hand using 6pt socket and a ratchet on the crankshaft balancer bolt. (do this with spark plugs removed). Also remove the oil cap from the valve cover and have someone watch the rocker arms trough the oil filler hole and if you are able to rotate the crankshaft 5 or 6 turns but rocker arms are not moving chain is broken.

xeroinfinity · #4 03-09-2009, 06:27 PM

Welcome to AF acearsenal !!

How many miles on this V6 ??

acearsenal · #5 03-09-2009, 08:03 PM

hey guys thanks alot for the ideas and welcoming me to this site!

so it does click when I try to start it and it makes a little buzzing sound. I can turn the crank. when my friend was turning the key i was wiggling some wires where the buzzing sound was comming from and it seems to have a bad connection there because it was stopping when i wiggled it . i think it was the starter. the car has 176,000 km not sure how many miles that is. Ide bring it in to a shop but i cant afford it right now. I will try some of these ideas and maybe ill get lucky. I'm not really a mechanic but if i can turn the crank maybe i didnt seize the engine...... im hoping. Anyway thanks again guys this is a great site and im glad i came across it. I can only do so much work then i gotta come in cause my hands are frozen lol damn canadian weather i tell ya!

463 · #6 03-09-2009, 08:24 PM

it sounds like you have a electrical problem. check and clean you connections from the battery to the starter. check out the ground wires from the battery to the frame and engine. you said [my guages are also all out , even tried boosting it with a truck but it wont turn over ] this is making me think it's a bad connection.

463 · #7 03-09-2009, 08:26 PM

cause my hands are frozen lol damn canadian weather i tell ya!
ps. put on the gloves.

dinkydaudoc · #8 03-10-2009, 09:54 PM

The GM 3.1 is notorious for the cam shaft breaking and then spining the bearings. Remove the intake manifold and the valve cover and have your friend turn the crankshaft with the plugs out. See if the valve lifters move, if a few move and a few do not, then there is your answer. I recently had a hard time finding a shop that could bore the cam housing to fit an oversized bearing. Check your crankshaft also, because these get scored also. At 170K+, you man need to replace your engine if my diagnosis is correct.
good luck

J-Ri · #9 03-11-2009, 06:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dinkydaudoc

The GM 3.1 is notorious for the cam shaft breaking and then spining the bearings. Remove the intake manifold and the valve cover and have your friend turn the crankshaft with the plugs out. See if the valve lifters move, if a few move and a few do not, then there is your answer. I recently had a hard time finding a shop that could bore the cam housing to fit an oversized bearing. Check your crankshaft also, because these get scored also. At 170K+, you man need to replace your engine if my diagnosis is correct.
good luck

If the camshaft broke, the engine would still crank just fine, I even saw one start and run on 4 cylinders. Removing the intake manifold is a bit extreme. All you have to do is remove the left (front) valve cover to see the rocker arms moving (you can usually see the middle two through the oil fill, but some do have a baffle in there) 170killometers is nothing for these engines, many have 170k miles.

Start by getting the thing to crank, don't be tearing the engine apart when the problem may be a bad connection!

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