If a vehicle sits for about six months...
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Originally Posted By: spasm3
Originally Posted By: Dan76
Originally Posted By: spasm3
Originally Posted By: Dan76
Barkleymut, It lost all power on the freeway and had to be towed home. It will be looked at tomorrow morning by our mechanic who we trust to give a better idea of what happened. I had a Camry that did the exact same things and it was the engine. Roadking, the oil level was correct. I should have mentioned in my OP that it was the 4 cyl model with about 90,000 miles on it.
Lost all power on the freeway?This could be any number of things, from a fuel pump to an ignition problem ,head gasket overheat etc. Could even be a faulty fuel gauge and its out of fuel. Does not sound like the op can confirm the engine is actually seized.
I know it's not out off fuel as it has just been fueled up. Fuel pump is something I had not thought of, hopefully that will be it.
Let us know what you find out.
I will. Thanks to everyone for the advice and replies. It is much appreciated.
Originally Posted By: Dan76
Originally Posted By: spasm3
Originally Posted By: Dan76
Barkleymut, It lost all power on the freeway and had to be towed home. It will be looked at tomorrow morning by our mechanic who we trust to give a better idea of what happened. I had a Camry that did the exact same things and it was the engine. Roadking, the oil level was correct. I should have mentioned in my OP that it was the 4 cyl model with about 90,000 miles on it.
Lost all power on the freeway?This could be any number of things, from a fuel pump to an ignition problem ,head gasket overheat etc. Could even be a faulty fuel gauge and its out of fuel. Does not sound like the op can confirm the engine is actually seized.
I know it's not out off fuel as it has just been fueled up. Fuel pump is something I had not thought of, hopefully that will be it.
Let us know what you find out.
I will. Thanks to everyone for the advice and replies. It is much appreciated.
Tell us what the issue turns out to be.
If it doesn't turn over after sitting you could have an accessory like the alternator with tight bearings or stuck brushes. Put a wrench on the crank pulley and see if you can turn; put a socket (15/16"?) on the alt nut and see if that turns.
With a strong battery you can generally crank a motor over even with a siezed belt accessory; the belt will just slide over the pulley.
If it's a stick shift and you were cranking it with the clutch down in 1st, the clutch could have stuck.
The oil is the least of your problems.
With a strong battery you can generally crank a motor over even with a siezed belt accessory; the belt will just slide over the pulley.
If it's a stick shift and you were cranking it with the clutch down in 1st, the clutch could have stuck.
The oil is the least of your problems.
JHZR2
Staff member
Originally Posted By: Barkleymut
I think the real issue here is that the engine locked up. Please define locked up and what was done to get it running again.
+1
I think the real issue here is that the engine locked up. Please define locked up and what was done to get it running again.
+1
Oil change is the least of your worries.
Otherwise, I mildly disagree with the others; Very light usage with weeks or months of inactivity in between are very hard on an engine. Super severe service. When you think about it, that's what the manufacturers are telling us in a backhanded way when they tell us to adopt whatever oil change regime "or at least once every year"
I'm assuming the car was very lightly driven after the last oil change and not completely parked immediately after the last oil change. In the case of a car promptly parked after a change there would be no problem.
Sure the oil has additives that counteract the acid buildup, but they need heat and probably motion to do their work. If you can anticipate a long period of lack of usage, like a second home owner closing up for the season, an oil change is in order as about the last thing on the list before closing for the season as per my (and I expect many other) owners' manuals.
If the lack of usage is unanticipated, then I suppose you would ideally change the oil as per the "or once a year" regime as required by your manual, using the cheapest compliant oil. If I were resuming a normal usage pattern after a long period of inactivity, I might be tempted to go out of my way to take a couple of long highway spins to allow the TBN add pack to catch up to the TAN before changing. But that's just speculation.
Otherwise, I mildly disagree with the others; Very light usage with weeks or months of inactivity in between are very hard on an engine. Super severe service. When you think about it, that's what the manufacturers are telling us in a backhanded way when they tell us to adopt whatever oil change regime "or at least once every year"
I'm assuming the car was very lightly driven after the last oil change and not completely parked immediately after the last oil change. In the case of a car promptly parked after a change there would be no problem.
Sure the oil has additives that counteract the acid buildup, but they need heat and probably motion to do their work. If you can anticipate a long period of lack of usage, like a second home owner closing up for the season, an oil change is in order as about the last thing on the list before closing for the season as per my (and I expect many other) owners' manuals.
If the lack of usage is unanticipated, then I suppose you would ideally change the oil as per the "or once a year" regime as required by your manual, using the cheapest compliant oil. If I were resuming a normal usage pattern after a long period of inactivity, I might be tempted to go out of my way to take a couple of long highway spins to allow the TBN add pack to catch up to the TAN before changing. But that's just speculation.
A hole in the block usually comes from a broken rod going through it. Once you drop the pan you'll see what's wrong. Either way, that hole means you don't have a core when you buy a reman and the price goes up. Consider a used or new engine instead.
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