2G My Car stopped working

[FredRider]

So today my eagle Talon Tsi 1997 decided to give me its final hail Mary and luckily nothing happened to me or my sister who was in the car. The car shut itself off and the steering wheel was hard to turn. It still hasn’t been able to crank over or turn on electrically.

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[CKOPOCT]

Man. Been looking back through your posts. So sorry to hear about all the trouble. As to your current situation, can you manually spin the engine over using the crank bolt? What color smoke was coming out of the area below the thermostat housing?

 

[FredRider]

Man. Been looking back through your posts. So sorry to hear about all the trouble. As to your current situation, can you manually spin the engine over using the crank bolt? What color smoke was coming out of the area below the thermostat housing?

It was a white smoke

 

[CKOPOCT]

Well, that's... unfortunate. When I bought my 97 GST Spyder I had smoke coming out by the head - a few of the head bolts had worked themselves loose over time. So that is a possibility. If that is the case with yours, retorqueing the bolts won't do as the head is likely warped and will require machining. Not trying to speak doom over you. I would do a cooling system pressure test and see if you are losing coolant/pressure... and if so from where. I would also put a ratchet or breaker bar on the crank bolt and see if you can spin the engine by hand to see if you're seized. Depending on what you find you might also want to pull the spark plugs and check their condition. I have seen a few times where a head gasket went and a cylinder filled with coolant, hydrolocking the engine. If you are unable to spin the engine by hand, try after pulling the plugs...

 

[FredRider]

Well, that's... unfortunate. When I bought my 97 GST Spyder I had smoke coming out by the head - a few of the head bolts had worked themselves loose over time. So that is a possibility. If that is the case with yours, retorqueing the bolts won't do as the head is likely warped and will require machining. Not trying to speak doom over you. I would do a cooling system pressure test and see if you are losing coolant/pressure... and if so from where. I would also put a ratchet or breaker bar on the crank bolt and see if you can spin the engine by hand to see if you're seized. Depending on what you find you might also want to pull the spark plugs and check their condition. I have seen a few times where a head gasket went and a cylinder filled with coolant, hydrolocking the engine. If you are unable to spin the engine by hand, try after pulling the plugs...

Where is the crank bolt located? Also I checked the plugs and all of them are clean ? The only thing that I see out of the ordinary is the brown coolant

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[CKOPOCT]

The crank bolt - located in the center of the crank pulley... driver's side wheel well...

Nasty rusty coolant. Going to require, at a minimum, a thorough heat cycle flush. With that amount of rust and gunk you are probably looking at a radiator (plugged passages) as well as decreased cooling capability in the block, a need to change the thermostat and hoses, and the water pump. At this point I would recommend you seriously consider a rebuild. Getting the car started and running at this point is operating on a weakened power plant, and running it would be unpredictable. If you would get beyond the problems that are plaguing the car, at least the power plant, it needs to be refreshed IMO.

 

[FredRider]

The crank bolt - located in the center of the crank pulley... driver's side wheel well...

Nasty rusty coolant. Going to require, at a minimum, a thorough heat cycle flush. With that amount of rust and gunk you are probably looking at a radiator (plugged passages) as well as decreased cooling capability in the block, a need to change the thermostat and hoses, and the water pump. At this point I would recommend you seriously consider a rebuild. Getting the car started and running at this point is operating on a weakened power plant, and running it would be unpredictable. If you would get beyond the problems that are plaguing the car, at least the power plant, it needs to be refreshed IMO.

Yeah you’re right about that. I drained out the oil and it came out clean no particles or anything out of the ordinary I made sure that no flakes or rust came out of it. When I had the car up still I looked at the radiator cap and the coolant was back to normal im guessing the rust in the coolant sank to the bottom since the car was lifted.

At this point I’m not sure if I should even bother in getting it rebuilt and wasting the money or just buy a new car.

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[habitatguy187]

I wouldn’t be looking at my coolant and spark plugs if it’s not turning on anything electrical. You’re talking no dash gauges or anything? Did you check the battery?

 

[habitatguy187]

And so you know, the coolant level in the reservoir is supposed to go up and down, since coolant expands and contracts when heated and cooled.

 

[FredRider]

I wouldn’t be looking at my coolant and spark plugs if it’s not turning on anything electrical. You’re talking no dash gauges or anything? Did you check the battery?

Yesterday I turned the key and all the light came on. It used to not do that anymore.

 

[habitatguy187]

Check the battery. Check the alternator. You can figure this out

 

[1990TSIAWDTALON]

Check that all ground are good and clean and going to the motor and body in the correct places.

 

[chrysler kid]

You might consider taking your car to a mechanic if you don't know what a crank bolt is.

Have you checked to see if your power steering belt and alternator belt are still on the car?

Have you tried to jump start the car?

(admin edit)

 

[99dsmer4g63]

If electrical is the current problem I would do as Marty said, check, clean and tighten on all the grounds in the bay. I’d suggest the same on the battery terminals.

Can you still turn the motor over by hand? In the drivers side wheel well. Jack the car up and take the wheel off. There is a big pulley in there and you need to insert a 1/2” drive into the center bolt and turn it as if you were tightening the bolt.

Seeing if the motor wants to spin and the amount of resistance is something to know before doing anything else. If it does spin the grounds and battery terminals with the terminals in the starter are a good place to start.

-Daniel

 

[FredRider]

If electrical is the current problem I would do as Marty said, check, clean and tighten on all the grounds in the bay. I’d suggest the same on the battery terminals.

Can you still turn the motor over by hand? In the drivers side wheel well. Jack the car up and take the wheel off. There is a big pulley in there and you need to insert a 1/2” drive into the center bolt and turn it as if you were tightening the bolt.

Seeing if the motor wants to spin and the amount of resistance is something to know before doing anything else. If it does spin the grounds and battery terminals with the terminals in the starter are a good place to start.

-Daniel

Thanks I’ll do that when I get off work. I did record a video of me checking the coolant

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[CKOPOCT]

With your previous posts, issues, and questions I assumed you were relatively familiar with medium-level mechanics (can swap most parts on a car; understand how the engine, transmission, and electrical systems basically work; and can run through basic diagnostics routines that don't require referencing a vehicle-specific manual). Not wanting to insult you at all -- but also not wanting to give guidance and suggestions that are beyond your skill level. That is frustrating for all involved, which doesn't help you.

At this point because of multiple suggestions without confirming responses I am not sure if you have an electrical problem, a seized engine issue, a cooling system problem...

I would recommend that you do what has been suggested thus far and report back. Spin the engine over by hand; check the state of the electrical/starting system; check the integrity of the cooling system... Try to tell us, specifically and narrowed down as much as possible, what you've done and found out, and what components/systems/ procedures aren't working or what is wrong.

 

[FredRider]

With your previous posts, issues, and questions I assumed you were relatively familiar with medium-level mechanics (can swap most parts on a car; understand how the engine, transmission, and electrical systems basically work; and can run through basic diagnostics routines that don't require referencing a vehicle-specific manual). Not wanting to insult you at all -- but also not wanting to give guidance and suggestions that are beyond your skill level. That is frustrating for all involved, which doesn't help you.

At this point because of multiple suggestions without confirming responses I am not sure if you have an electrical problem, a seized engine issue, a cooling system problem...

I would recommend that you do what has been suggested thus far and report back. Spin the engine over by hand; check the state of the electrical/starting system; check the integrity of the cooling system... Try to tell us, specifically and narrowed down as much as possible, what you've done and found out, and what components/systems/ procedures aren't working or what is wrong.

I've been busy with work but here's an update:

I was able to turn the engine so it is not seized up. I did start to change all the hoses that had to do with the cooling system. I also am going to take my battery to get it tested out at my Autozone while also taking the Starter to see if any of them are bad.

I made a list of all the stuff that I will be checking out and replacing...
1. Get new hoses
2. Clean Resevoir
3. New Water Pump, Radiator, Change belts, Thermostat

I want to replace all of those cooling components because they have never been changed... I reached out to the person who sold me the car back in 2018 and he told me never changed any of those parts.

 

[1990TSIAWDTALON]

Timing belt while you are at the water pump. There change intervals are 60k.