I just got my car back from the mechanic, had to change right rear wheel bearing. Driving home and im slowing down for a turn, all of a sudden my steering wheel wont turn, like im trying to move the wheels in park. I push the gas but nothing happens, look down and see my tach at 0. I drift to the side and turn the car off. My lights and radio work fine, and battery guage is good. I try to turn car on but nothing happens. First off, my oil pressure guage stays at 0, though I can't remember if it normally moves when I crank the car. The sound coming from the engine is weird, i think its the engine trying to turn over, real slow and low pitched woooomp woooomp. Also in the background I can faintly hear a real quite high pitched whine. Gonna haul the car home tomorrow, anyone know what could be the problem?

 

we're gonna need some more info to help.

if the engine is cranking oddly / sounds odd when cranking over, it's possible the timing chain broke and the valvetrain is stuck.

i don't remember if my car shows oil pressure when cranking or not. but check it and make sure you have oil in the crankcase.

was it overheating / running hot when it shut down?

do the lights dim a lot when it's cranking?

 

It was running pretty cool when it shut down, and yeah if I turn the lights on inside the car they dim alot when cranking.

 

MrNova,

The dimming of the light on cranking is normal. The high-pitched whine you're hearing at the rear of the car is likely the fuel pump running in the tank. That's a good thing. So from that we can presume the engine is cranking, and you have fuel available to the injectors. There IS fuel in the tank, right? Just had to ask...

Beyond that, you should check for spark. Remove an easily accessible plug wire and hold it about ¼" from a good engine ground (like the exhaust). Make sure you're holding the insulation of the wire well back from the spark plug boot, then have an assistant crank the engine a few revs to see if you are making spark. If so, we can presume the timing chain has not broken and that the ignition system is still working.

The next thing to check is spark timing. The easiest method by far is with a timing light. Lacking that, you can remove the distributor cap and physically move the crankshaft to TDC on the #1 cylinder, preferably on the compression stroke. If you are on the compression stroke, the distributor rotor should be pointing directly toward the #1 cylinder. If you are on the exhaust stroke, the rotor should be pointing AWAY from the #1 cylinder. If you are at TDC on the #1 cylinder and the rotor is pointing anywhere except those two positions, you'll need to use a timing light to see if and how much the timing chain has jumped.

Get that far, then report back with results, please. Hopefully, you will be able to verify fuel, spark, and correct timing, so we can concentrate on the other possibilities. If you're not so lucky, you'll find the timing way off and start shopping for a chain and sprockets. Good hunting.

 

good advice.

one additional comment: i would first pop the distributor cap, and have someone just bump the starter. if the rotor moves, then pop the cap back on and continue with your testing.

if the rotor doesn't move, then start taking things apart, because you have internal damage in the motor (timing chain, chewed up dist. gear, etc.) the only reason i suggest checking for rotor movement first, is you don't want to be cranking the motor over a lot if something is broken as you will do progressive damage to the valves/heads/pistons etc.

 

Excellent point!

 

UPDATE: Well looks like my alternator whent and took out the serpentine belt with it. Belt had all these nasty burn marks, and alternator was turning all f'ed up, with a whaling noise. Car's all good now though...minus my wallet

 

bizarre.

I had the same thing happen to me on my 4cyl fiero, except with the AC compressor. the free-wheel bearing froze up and the motor didn't have the power to start or run against the frozen pulley.

 

I drove an 1989 gta which is now in storage due to the same problem Mr Nova is having.

right now for the winter here in Ottawa I brought my Crown Vic out to drive.

I was coming down a main road going to work in my gta when the exact same thing happened. my stereo was pumping so I didn't notice that I didn't have steering all too soon. eventually I forced the car over to the side and tried to start her but she wouldn't start. everything was turning as normal but nothing was starting.

fuel pump is fine. alternator is brand new. I haven't tried changing my coil or anything.

the car did run for 10 seconds once after that but when I gave her some gas she died again and hasn't started since. I've heard everything from timing to fuel pump to relays. but right now I'm tight on cash so I couldn't even afford any of the parts to repair her. so she's going to have to wait till next summer.

but I'll be back here to see if anythings been resolved. maybe it'll be the same for my gta.

5.7 L98 @ 144000 miles.

simon.

 

Well new serpentine belts are only $25 or so, worth a shot i guess...