car died and won't start again

cartert

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Dec 18, 2006
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I have an 88 supra with 7m-gte. I have only done a couple of minor things to it such as; uprgarded ct-26 60-1, divorced downpipe, cone filter, ngk spark plugs & wires.... hitting 11-12 psi, etc.

The past two days the car had been making this clanking noise between 2500-3000 rpm. I was sitting at a red light, car has not been running weird, is idling fine, when I went to take off the car died. It didn't do anything erratic or make a noticable noise, it just died like I didn't give enough gas while letting out on the clutch (this was not the case, just saying this is what is felt similar to). After it died... nothing. When I go to crank it you hear the starter click and if your staring at the engine you can see it twist, but it does not even start to turn over.

My crankshaft timing belt pulley is missing the outside lip which causes the belt to run out. Was planning on getting the lip welded back on today, but obviously I now have a bigger problem. I thought the clanking/ticking noise was the belt getting destroyed and smacking up against the plastic cover. I thought the car quitting was the belt breaking, wrong. I pulled back the cover to see a perfect looking belt.
:nono:

To me the situation seems like rod knock, and then the engine locking up, Although I hope not. Any suggestions on what this could be or what to check/do inorder to find out whats going on? Thanks
 

suprahero

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Aug 26, 2005
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Have you checked the oil? The only way it's going to lock up is if you ran it out of oil, or if it vaporlocks. (maybe it's called hydrolock)

Did you hear it knocking or was it more of a pinging?
 

cartert

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Dec 18, 2006
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Checked the oil first thing and its where it should be and oil pressure was fine the whole time. I would describe the sound as more of a metal slapping, so yea a knock not a ping. A friend of mine suggested vaporlock, not really sure what this is or what to check.

By the way, the weather here had just changed, temp drops and snow/freezing rain... just incase this plays a factor?
 

grimreaper

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Jul 2, 2008
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this clanking at idle and does it go away when it gets warmer? or is it louder when warmer? (the engine temp that is)
 

cartert

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Dec 18, 2006
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It does not clank at idle. It has only been making this noise for a day or two and i didnt really pay attention to if it got louder as the engine got warmer.... but i think the noise stayed consistant no matter the engine temp.
 

dumbo

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Jul 16, 2008
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try and turn it over with a socket and a breaker bar. maybe it was knock and a bearing finally spun. cut a filter open see if you got lots of fine metal.
 

cartert

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Dec 18, 2006
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dumbo;1204535 said:
try and turn it over with a socket and a breaker bar. maybe it was knock and a bearing finally spun. cut a filter open see if you got lots of fine metal.

Trying to turn the crank is the first thing I was planning on doing tommorrow. cut open the oil filter? If it was a knock wouldn't I have had more than two days to drive like this? I have had vehicles that developed a knock, poured thicker oil in it and got 25k more miles. It wasn't even that loud. Plus it was snowing, so it wasn't like i was beating on it.... this is depressing.
 

dumbo

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Jul 16, 2008
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i think it goes on a eng to eng type basis... i dont think theres a benchmark on knock to spun bearing..two days does seem kinda shy if your going easy on it. i would try turning it over first, go from there. but if the eng "twists" when trying to start; i'd start thinking its mechanical
 

black89t

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Oct 27, 2007
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rod knock shouldn't seize a engine even if the bearing is seize. on one of my old 7m's the bearing seize hardcore and yet it still ran long enough to get me home. :biglaugh:

if it is the bearings it will be obvious when you drain the oil. it will look like you struck gold. lol.

and usually when a motor locks up it has to do with it getting to hot or hydro locking. my buddy tried to cross the river in his yota and hydro lock his 22re. i have sucked up some water in my old trucks and it never seems to hurt them. it seems it takes a big gulp of water before you get into trouble.

let us know how it cranks with a breaker bar.
 

cartert

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Dec 18, 2006
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Put the breaker bar on the crank, wouldnt move either direction. looks like its time for a rebuild. I am not even going to bother with the oil until i get our garage cleaned out and start ripping it apart.
 

black89t

boost'en down 101
Oct 27, 2007
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was it with the car in neutral when you tried to turn it over? you might have seized the clutch. it might not be your motor. if it didn't spin in neutral then its definately you motor that is seized. :(
 

suprahero

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Good luck with the rebuild. It sucks that it would lock up with not much of a warning, unless you just didn't hear it.
 

dumbo

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Jul 16, 2008
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black89t;1204830 said:
rod knock shouldn't seize a engine even if the bearing is seize. on one of my old 7m's the bearing seize hardcore and yet it still ran long enough to get me home. :biglaugh:

if it is the bearings it will be obvious when you drain the oil. it will look like you struck gold. lol.

and usually when a motor locks up it has to do with it getting to hot or hydro locking. my buddy tried to cross the river in his yota and hydro lock his 22re. i have sucked up some water in my old trucks and it never seems to hurt them. it seems it takes a big gulp of water before you get into trouble.

let us know how it cranks with a breaker bar.

knock wouldn't, but when the bearings actually spin and they 'stack' on top of each other it can seize it. happen to a 4 banger i had,the starter did finally get her over;) and running--not a pretty looking rod/crank.

before you commit to this i would check your oil and try to diagnose the problem. good luck i'm sure people with more 7m knowledge will tell you what to look for.
 

cartert

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suprahero;1205145 said:
Good luck with the rebuild. It sucks that it would lock up with not much of a warning, unless you just didn't hear it.

I was thinking about that (not hearing it)... apexi n1 turbo muffler + 12" sub bumpin'= not hearing much of the engine
 

cartert

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Dec 18, 2006
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looks like theres gold glitter in my oil. thats a good enough answer for me, I am not even going to bother cutting up the oil filter. one last question; about how much should a block cost me?
 

dumbo

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Jul 16, 2008
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cartert;1206552 said:
looks like theres gold glitter in my oil. thats a good enough answer for me, I am not even going to bother cutting up the oil filter. one last question; about how much should a block cost me?

shitty deal dude...good luck and have fun!
 

black89t

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Oct 27, 2007
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cartert;1206552 said:
looks like theres gold glitter in my oil. thats a good enough answer for me, I am not even going to bother cutting up the oil filter. one last question; about how much should a block cost me?

don't get sad. you need to tear it down and see how much damage is done. as long as there aren't deep gouges in your bores and your crank isn't toast you'll be good. do it right though and thorough. i like to plastygauge the clearences when tearing it down. you might get away with stand sized bearing. i'm curious what happen. post pics of the teardown. you can do a mainly stock build for under 1g if you assemble it yourself and don't go too big with upgrades.