Pop Noise When Turning

[GardensRNice]

Unfortunately, before I could figure out what was causing the "Pop" noise my Windstar had another problem. I drove it to work one rainy morning and when I returned to my car after work it would not start. The battery would not try and the only noise I got was a very low tone single "Clunk." I tried replacing the starter and that didn't work. My 2 neighbors who have experience with cars said they believe the engine went bad. While saying this, however, they are still puzzled by the fact I drove it to work and there were no signs of any problem, no strange noises - nothing out of the ordinary. I have tried a lot of different things, but it is now just sitting and has not started since. I had to buy a different minivan. If you have any ideas of anything else that could be wrong other than the engine please share them with me. Thanks! And thank you to everyone who relied trying to help me with the "pop" noise.

[scubacat]

Originally Posted by GardensRNice

Unfortunately, before I could figure out what was causing the "Pop" noise my Windstar had another problem. I drove it to work one rainy morning and when I returned to my car after work it would not start. The battery would not try and the only noise I got was a very low tone single "Clunk." I tried replacing the starter and that didn't work. My 2 neighbors who have experience with cars said they believe the engine went bad. While saying this, however, they are still puzzled by the fact I drove it to work and there were no signs of any problem, no strange noises - nothing out of the ordinary. I have tried a lot of different things, but it is now just sitting and has not started since. I had to buy a different minivan. If you have any ideas of anything else that could be wrong other than the engine please share them with me. Thanks! And thank you to everyone who relied trying to help me with the "pop" noise.

This really sounds like an electrical issue to me. Do you have power inside the van (dome light, etc.)? Did you test the battery voltage? If the battery is OK (>12 volts at least), put your meter on the starter connections and see if you get voltage there while someone else turns the key. My guess is it's not getting proper voltage. As a totally wild guess (if I had to wager a bet at this point) I'd say you have a bad ground somewhere. Check the ground connections for corrosion or to see if you forgot to rehook something. Have you done any other work to the van lately? If so, what?

I'd be surprised if the engine "went bad", but try to crank it manually. Put a socket on the crank bolt and turn it clockwise with a breaker bar. It'll be hard to turn but as long as it moves at all, that's probably not the issue.

[12Ounce]

Wow, your replaced the starter? No small task. Did you use a proven starter? Remember most of the parts houses can do a bench test on a starter.

I agree that there is likely a electrical issue. There are all sorts of relays, sensors, and switches that can go belly up and prevent starting. After a couple of embarrassing non-starts ... I installed a permanent jumper wire from the 12v control terminal on the starter up to the battery area ... neatly, and securely stowed near the battery. When I get a no-start, I place the tranny in P, raise the hood and touch my jumper wire's bare end to the positive terminal of battery. Never fails! It jumps around all that "stuff" that can fail.

[kevink1955]

Can you turn the engine with a wrench on the crankshaft balancer (front pulley) bolt. I had my engine hydrolock once, the cowel was cracked and allowed water to pool on top of the intake plemum.

A leaky intake seal allowed the water into the intake port and filled a cylinder. Since you cannot compress water the engine cranked about 1/8 turn and the piston hit the water and stopped dead.

Spining it over with the plugs out and it ran, Got another 60.000 miles out of it before the rust got to bad and I had to let it go. Water in the cylinder could have bent a rod, I got lucky