So my car died...

[Abailey21]

So I go out this morning so my wife and I can get our running around done. We go, take the car out to 3 places and the 4th place Walmart. I go inside car runs fine, come back out and nothing....

I have "aux" power meaning my windows work, radio, lights blinkers, and all of the ancillary things work just fine. The car doesn't click, doesn't try and turn over, its acting like the battery is 100% dead but obviously it's not.

I look at the fuse panel under the hood and it smells like a campfire but no fuses are blown, I'm think there's a short and a relay took a s**t?

I get AAA to tow to my local mechanic which I trust...enough

He calls me back about 2 hours later and says my engine is seized

the car gave me ZERO indication that the engine was letting go, it has driven better than it ever has since I did my head gasket.

I'm not sure what to do; do I take it to another mechanic to possibly get the same info, do I spend in upwards of $2000 to get a new engine (I'm not in a position for a swap or to do it myself), do I say f**k it and buy another car because the payment is less than fixing it I'm just at a loss


I've put so much work, so much of mine and my friends time into this damn car and it just keeps shitting on me!

 

[Normalbates]

f**k man that sucks IMO I think getting a new engine would be much cheaper than buying a new car.

 

[EJackBauer8]

Buy a swap which would be around 1500-2500 for a b16 anyways and pay someone to swap it in.

 

[Abailey21]

f*** man that sucks IMO I think getting a new engine would be much cheaper than buying a new car.

thats true but I've put almost 4500 into this car with just maintenance and fixing issues, at what point do I just draw the line?

 

[Abailey21]

Buy a swap which would be around 1500-2500 for a b16 anyways and pay someone to swap it in.

I hear you, but at the same I have my own issues with a swap right now

 

[Trekk]

If the oil pump took a crap that could happen.
I would go to the shop and have the guy put a wrench on the crank and show you it wont turn over, if you don't trust him 100%. If its a 5 speed you could just try and push it and pop the clutch.

 

[lethal6]

I would dump the car before spending anymore hard money on stuff. There are money pits and there are cars like mine (knock on wood) that don't need anything other than normal wear and tear items. It's the difference between one that was taken care of it's whole life and one that wasn't. I don't know the history but it sounds like your's wasn't taken care of by a previous owner and you are just fixing or having to clean up after their carelessness.

That being said, I would at least take it to another mechanic to find out if the engine is infact seized or have the current mechanic show you in person that it is seized. Then plan your next mode of attack.

 

[Abailey21]

thats a good call lethal, i'll have him turn it over for me monday


The previous owner was my wife's college roommate, female owned and meticulously taken care of. It was bought brand new for her as a college graduation present and I have every single receipt for the car for it's first 170,000 miles.

Which is why it's pissing me off so much, it was taken care of before me, and I've done nothing but baby this car

 

[Normalbates]

It must have been built on a Monday or Friday lol but yeah it would be good to go to the mechanic and have him show you what's going on

 

[Abailey21]

Yeah, he's a good dude so I'll tell him I wanna hand crank it on Monday afternoon

One of my wife's friends has a dad who owns a ford dealership in north florida so were going to lunch with her tomorrow, also my father in law has said he is willing to buy me a new car and pay for it till I graduate


My bigger issue is that I HAVE to have perfect attendance in the school i'm in, getting an A&P aircraft license is easy, they look at attendance and if you have less than 98% attendance you aren't even considered for most jobs locally. So I HAVE to have reliable transportation for the next 21 months because graduating with less than 100% perfect attendance to me is failing

 

[lethal6]

thats a good call lethal, i'll have him turn it over for me monday


The previous owner was my wife's college roommate, female owned and meticulously taken care of. It was bought brand new for her as a college graduation present and I have every single receipt for the car for it's first 170,000 miles.

Which is why it's pissing me off so much, it was taken care of before me, and I've done nothing but baby this car

Hmmm...

What have you done to it? Has it been more than the normal wear and tear stuff?

Any older vehicle is going to start needing normal stuff as time goes on and I guess it could look like a pile (to the one spending the money), if the stuff gets to the end of it's life span all at the same time.

Mine has 176,xxx miles on it and the only major outside of normal wear items has been a Distributor, main relay, and window regulator. Rest has been normal wear (tune up, o2 sensor, tires, etc...).

 

[Normalbates]

Hmmm...

What have you done to it? Has it been more than the normal wear and tear stuff?

Any older vehicle is going to start needing normal stuff as time goes on and I guess it could look like a pile (to the one spending the money), if the stuff gets to the end of it's life span all at the same time.

Mine has 176,xxx miles on it and the only major outside of normal wear items has been a Distributor, main relay, and window regulator. Rest has been normal wear (tune up, o2 sensor, tires, etc...).

s**t my ej1 has 263k and I haven't had that many MAJOR issues I just replaced the distributor cap and rotor, front end rotors and my driver side caliper. I had to replace the radiator at one point because of my own idiot move but other than normal services like tires cv joints and such nothing else really. Oh and my ac compressor has been dead for the last 4 years ha

 

[mymmeryloss]

I dont understand how it is siezed without warning

 

[lethal6]

I dont understand how it is siezed without warning

Confused on that as well. Should have had some sign, I would figure.

 

[Abailey21]

I dont understand how it is siezed without warning

Confused on that as well. Should have had some sign, I would figure.

thats why i'm going to my mechanic and cranking it over myself on Monday...I just dont trust it

 

[TigBitties]

try smacking your starter with something while cranking

 

[xxBLOOD88SHOTxx]

You didnt hear the solenoid clicking at all right, but all the lights were on? I have the same problems with my neons, sometimes when taking out and putting the battery back in the connections wiggle around, so when I go to start it everything goes dark and it doesnt turn over. Then of course when I return the key back everything comes back on. To seize like that without warning is odd, very odd.

 

[JeffBel]

try smacking your starter with something while cranking

My jaw hit the floor the first time I saw that work

 

[Abailey21]

I'm having it towed to another shop some close friends of mine have used exclusively for the past 15 years. Apparently the owner and 2 of the mechanics are die hard honda guys and very honest start shooters. So I'm taking it there because i still say it's electrical and not a seized motor.

The red flag flew for me when the guy tells me "it needs a new motor, if you dont want to invest that kind of money in it sell me the car" it's the third time he's offered to buy the car so that alone says the engine is fine.

 

[Reedy17]

Also sounds pretty fishy to me, sounds like someone trying to take advantage of your bad situation, I'd say get a second and or third opinion if need be, if the car ran totally fine right up until you turned it off at the store it confuses me as to how it could magically be seized and junk when you come back to it. I've had two vehicles in the past which have done something similar regarding the starting issue and fortunately for me it was just dirty battery terminals (pulled them off, wiped them down and fired right up) but the dirty terminals also caused everything inside to work fine but no crank or click.. Definitely do some more research before scrapping this car if it is in as good of shape as you say..