Motor seized while cranking?

[streetraceboi]

Im going to try to make this as brief as possible. Im working on a guys car. He brought it to me because the last guy who was working on it kept giving him the run around on the car and never completed it, so he got it back from him and now I have it. Its a 95 gst with a 6 bolt swap. The guy who had it before me put the motor in just head, block, and trans. No timing components, intake manifold, turbo, etc. I did all the rest of the swap, all the timing assembly, wiring, etc. Go to crank it, and the tard who worked on it before me put an awd flywheel instead of a fwd flywheel. So I replaced that. Its also a non-turbo block with turbo internals from what I can tell.

Now here is where im stuck. I go to crank the car and it cranks, but doesnt start. So I keep trouble shooting and cranking every now and then to try to get it to run. It had a slow crank even with a new battery. I notice light smoke coming from the starter area, so I stop and let it sit thinking maybe im killing the starter somehow from cranking too much. I go to crank it again and its locked. Starter just clicks out but doesnt turn the motor. Go to turn it by hand and it doesnt budge. Thing is locked...

Now my question is, can the motor seize up by itself like that without actually not being run? Im thinking the guy bought a dud motor from the start, and was gonna knock its life away if it did ever get to start. Motor did seem to drag upon cranking from the beginning. Any input would be greatly appreciated...

 

[DSM_JAY]

well if the starter started to smoke, thats never good for the starter, Plan on buying a new one. I have heard of motors seizing up while trying to start them, just last week as a matter of fact a friend rebuilt his started the car for like 20 seconds and the oild pump seized. however if thier was alot of resistance i would look somewhere else. I would take the sarter off all the accesory belts then see if it spins. If not take the timing belt off then do little 1/8-1/4 turns to see if the crank turns, dont go nuts on it you dont want the pistons slamming in to the valves. Was the engine primed before you started it?

 

[streetraceboi]

well if the starter started to smoke, thats never good for the starter, Plan on buying a new one. I have heard of motors seizing up while trying to start them, just last week as a matter of fact a friend rebuilt his started the car for like 20 seconds and the oild pump seized. however if thier was alot of resistance i would look somewhere else. I would take the sarter off all the accesory belts then see if it spins. If not take the timing belt off then do little 1/8-1/4 turns to see if the crank turns, dont go nuts on it you dont want the pistons slamming in to the valves. Was the engine primed before you started it?

Well according to the guy it was a running motor when he bought it. But you know how shady people are these days, and the guy isnt very knowledgeable when it comes to these things. I primed the pump before starting yes. Im thinking the guy just had a non turbo block, threw some turbo internals in there, bolted it up, and sold it to the guy saying it was a good running motor. This motor hasnt been ran since he got it installed. It didnt start with me being it had some issues that I had to figure out but now cant due to the motor being locked. I already put a breaker bar in the crank bolt and turned counter and clockwise and still didnt budge one bit.

 

[DSM_JAY]

well I have had two cars with non turbo blocks that were turbocharged, the only thing thats missing is the squirters alot of people have done, so we can rule that out. unless some machining has been done improperly. Next i would take the spark plugs out and have a good look in there. is there fuel, coolant could be hydrolocked. unfortunately your best bet is to ake the head off and get a better view of whats going on

 

[streetraceboi]

Will enough fuel be able to get in to actually hydrolock the motor? I know it can happen to a running motor, but this motor was never run since ive had it. Just cranked a few times to try to get it running. Ill pulll the plugs anyways to get a look in there to see if theres anything out of the ordinary...

 

[Calan]

Depending where it sat and for how long, you could have corrosion built up on the cylinder walls and rings, causing the pistons to seize. It could have provided enough resistance to make life miserable on the starter for a while, and as it broke loose and worked around in the cylinder...could have caused the rings to bind up.

Assuming there isn't something external or in the valve train that is causing it.

 

[streetraceboi]

Depending where it sat and for how long, you could have corrosion built up on the cylinder walls and rings, causing the pistons to seize. It could have provided enough resistance to make life miserable on the starter for a while, and as it broke loose and worked around in the cylinder...could have caused the rings to bind up.

Assuming there isn't something external or in the valve train that is causing it.

You have a really good point there. I might take off the valve cover to take a look at possibly something loose/broken in the valve train. If that doesnt have any outcome, might end up with the conclusion of bottom end being junk

 

[dented_coffee]

oil pump gears might have been obstructed and the belt might be stopping the crank from turning. take the timing belt off and turn the oil pump sprocket by hand and feel for any resistance or grinding of that sort.

also it might be a jammed starter as well. my friends 1994 gst cross toothed the starter gear and the flywheel and locked the crank. the cylenoid on the starter started smoking and fryed.

 

[jdsoza]

Well sounds like you have quite the problem . I had a same thing happen to my old Mustang. Cranked and then all of a sudden locked up. Yes it could be hydrolocked, but shouldn't be if you really didn't crank on it for long. Thats a lot of fuel, or if the head gasket is blown, water may be in there. What it really sounds like to me was the same thing that happened on my 'stang. It cranked and then stopped. start changing out the rod caps and main caps, try every cap on every rod and every main cap on every main cap that is alike. If a #1 cylinder rod cap is on a #4 rod, your going to have some issues or a big issue, a seized motor. same thing applys for main caps. They are cut or "broken" as a solid unit, so they are not compatible with any rod/any cylinder. Hope this helps

 

[e39a]

same thing happend to me on my galant gsx i was cranking and cranking then the motor seize it wouldnt turn anymore. I took the valve cover off and found that one of the camshafts seized, i took one of the caps that holds the cam and it look like it wasnt getting any oil there, so it was turning without lubrication and the cam seize hope this helps

 

[laserspeeddemon]

The two times I've seen this. 91 Talon TSI AWD (Auto) and 90 Plymouth Laser RS (Turbo, 5-speed). The oil pump had fozen, destryoing the timing belt (caused a slow crank) easting away the teeth of the belt, the 91 Talon was actually driving when it happened and it ripped the rod from the rod cap and wedged the rod against the block, creating a massive crack internally in the block. The motor was absolutely destroyed.