Hey guys, my first post on here. I got a 1992 ls400 with 128k miles on the clock about a month ago and have been loving restoring it so far but right as I brought it to a custom exhaust shop (widely trusted) the car refused to start. Right after they had welded pipes and mocked up a muffler for me to hear they went to start it, and nothing, just a click as if your starter has gone out. Tried to start it a few times while I was waiting for the tow truck driver to bring it back to my house and a few times the starter made a loud grinding noise as if it was not fully engaging with the flywheel and just spinning on the edge of it.
Anyway, I thought it was the starter so I’ve taken the intake off and put a new starter in. Nothing. Thought it was the relay, so I tested that. Here’s where I went to try and turn the engine via the crank bolt and a breaker bar and I couldn’t budge it whatsoever. Appears as though the engine is completely seized.
I have tried:
-removing the new starter to eliminate the possibility that it was stuck on the flywheel.
-looking at the bottom of the flywheel for anything jammed against the teeth.
-looking into cylinders to check for water or anything abnormal in there, also sprayed a small amount of PB blaster in there hoping it might free a seized piston ring or something along those lines
-removing serpentine belt and checked that everything along it was freely spinning
-draining oil and checking for metal specs and whatnot (nothing at all, looks as it should about 500 miles after an oil change)
-rolling the car on the ground to make sure the trans wasn’t binding
Am I missing something?? Or should my next step be to remove the timing belt and check the cams? I feel like I can eliminate the possibility that the trans is the issue. There were absolutely no symptoms whatsoever of anything being off with the car beforehand, which is why I’m a little freaked out. Car hasn’t even been sitting, I was driving it to work daily about a week ago.
Thanks everyone for your help.
Anyway, I thought it was the starter so I’ve taken the intake off and put a new starter in. Nothing. Thought it was the relay, so I tested that. Here’s where I went to try and turn the engine via the crank bolt and a breaker bar and I couldn’t budge it whatsoever. Appears as though the engine is completely seized.
I have tried:
-removing the new starter to eliminate the possibility that it was stuck on the flywheel.
-looking at the bottom of the flywheel for anything jammed against the teeth.
-looking into cylinders to check for water or anything abnormal in there, also sprayed a small amount of PB blaster in there hoping it might free a seized piston ring or something along those lines
-removing serpentine belt and checked that everything along it was freely spinning
-draining oil and checking for metal specs and whatnot (nothing at all, looks as it should about 500 miles after an oil change)
-rolling the car on the ground to make sure the trans wasn’t binding
Am I missing something?? Or should my next step be to remove the timing belt and check the cams? I feel like I can eliminate the possibility that the trans is the issue. There were absolutely no symptoms whatsoever of anything being off with the car beforehand, which is why I’m a little freaked out. Car hasn’t even been sitting, I was driving it to work daily about a week ago.
Thanks everyone for your help.
