Something failed

[Jeff73Mach1]

Took the beast to the station for gas Sunday, after replacing the fuel sending unit.. On the way home I downshifted and romped on it and heard a thunk and the sound of metal scraping. Pushed in the clutch, rolled to a stop and engine died. Looked it over and saw nothing obvious, started it back up, ran shitty, eased across the street and it died again. Next start attempt was met with the starter not turning-just a damned "thunk".

Rolled it over the crest of a hill and on the way down tried to roll start it in 2nd gear at 20 miles an hour. Back wheels locked up.

Dragged it the last 200 yards homed with my brother's pick up and a rope and pushed it into the garage.

Stuck it on the battery charger and tried to enjoy the rest of my weekend.

Something broke and I fear the worst. I'll start by removing the starter and then the valve covers unless someone has a thought I'm missing

 

[tempestairbrush]

Not sure if i would even bother with the starter since it's even locked up after trying to push start it. Drain the oil and take a look see if any parts or metal come out. If you see metal flakes in the oil then you know for sure its something internal. I agree with you with the Valve covers is also a great place to start for the obvious stuff before pulling the heads. Good luck with it.

 

[Jeff73Mach1]

I'm concerned it is at the flywheel/pressure plate-pulling the starter is a good way to get a look. I may be completely off base though. I figure the battery has to come out anyway, so the starter is easy. (It is a gear reduction starter, so it is easy to remove.)

I also plan to pull the plugs and try and turn the engine over by hand (unless I see damage)

It could be so many different thing that I see no point to guessing. I am going to look for the problem, but I am going to do it in a manner as if I am prepping to pull the engine. ie. Battery, starter, fuel pump (you can check the timing chain through the opening), valve covers, distributor, intake.

If I haven't found the problem by then, I'm draining everything and pulling the engine.

 

[Mister 4x4]

I'm concerned it is at the flywheel/pressure plate-pulling the starter is a good way to get a look. I may be completely off base though. I figure the battery has to come out anyway, so the starter is easy. (It is a gear reduction starter, so it is easy to remove.)

I also plan to pull the plugs and try and turn the engine over by hand (unless I see damage)

It could be so many different thing that I see no point to guessing. I am going to look for the problem, but I am going to do it in a manner as if I am prepping to pull the engine. ie. Battery, starter, fuel pump (you can check the timing chain through the opening), valve covers, distributor, intake.

If I haven't found the problem by then, I'm draining everything and pulling the engine.

Sounds like you have a good game plan. I'd definitely say to pull the plugs and attempt to turn it by hand. Then pull the starter and try again. Pull the fuel pump and check the timing chain (thunk and scrape sounds like timing chain to me - maybe the fuel pump's mechanical arm somehow broke and is jammed in there now).

Best of luck - I hope it's something 'simple,' although what you described has pretty low chances of being just that.

 

[caspianwendell]

Does the clutch feel right when you depress it? can you actually feel it disengage?

 

[hyena429]

That sucks jeff..I hope it did not hurt anything in there too bad.

 

[Don65Stang]

Ouch! That sure does suck Jeff. I fear the worst. After pulling the plugs try rotating the crank by hand in the opposite direction and listen for clues.

Hopefully you wont but I have a spare block if you need it.

 

[Jeff73Mach1]

Clutch works and feels fine.

Timing chain failure seems unlikely, it is fairly low mileage-but I won't write anything off just yet. I had a friend's shop install the cam and timing chain and lately, it seems that the work I let other people do is always where I have problems.

I have a spare transmission, and a good buildable short block in the basement along with multiple sets of heads, intakes and a few usable camshafts even. I have been planning a short block rebuild ever since I went through the top end, so while the timing sucks, most of the work was in the future plans anyway.

 

[73vertproject]

Man, I'm sorry to hear about that, Jeff. Keep us posted.

 

[72HCODE]

i think your clutch blew apart.

if chucks were wedged up against the starter gear that would explain why the starter locked up and the engine ran bad because it was being loaded down big time.

would also explain why the driveline locked up.

i would pull the inspection cover on the trans and see if chunks come out. but i'm betting if you pull the plugs and try to turn the engine on the crank bolt it will be totally locked up because chunks have wedged up in the clutch area and jammed the crankshaft.

 

[Jeff73Mach1]

72H Code

Your theory is one of mine as well. The clutch is a Kevlar unit that is only 500 miles old. When I check the starter, I'll pull the plate and take a look.

The sound was like an intermittent rotational scrapping. and the engine did not want to idle when I did get it restarted.

I may be clutch cursed as both my motorcycles may need clutches too

 

[droptop73]

If the car rolled with the clutch disengaged it's likely the trans and rear are good. When you get the plugs out try rotating the engine in both directions and listen for the chunks.

 

[69 Rustang]

Typically, stick shift cars do not have an inspection cover like an automatic. Pull the starter, peel back the release arm seal, get a mirror, try turning the engine backwards by hand... Good luck!

 

[will e]

That stinks. I hope it isn't bad but it sounds like it is going to be.

 

[Jeff73Mach1]

Well I took a couple of hours yesterday and got started. Nothing at the starter, nothing at the valve covers, nothing at the intake, nothing at the distributor.

Pulled the exhaust, driveshaft and transmission-still nothing-clutch pressure plate throw out bearing all perfect. This far along and now I an thinking rod failure.

So I pulled the engine and set it on a stand for teardown.

Looks like I'm going to be building a fresh shortblock. Hopefully my heads are okay. I'll update once I pull the heads, the water pump, balancer, front cover and the pan

 

[matrixx]

Ouch, man sorry to hear about that misfortune. Guess it's an opportunity to make it even better!

 

[CZ-75]

I hope there is a silver lining in your cloud somewhere.

 

[Jeff73Mach1]

Oh, don't feel bad for me. When I bought this car I assumed I'd need to rebuild the engine.

I upgraded heads, cam, added headers, increased the carb size, changed the ignition system, basically pumped up the horsepower by 50% or more. The compression numbers weren't great to start off with and I picked up a spare block several years ago, just for this eventuality.

I need to be running forged pistons, ARP rod bolts and modify the oiling system-

This day was coming. I knew it. So far I think the heads are going to be fine, the valve train looks good so far. The cam may even be fine, though I'm unsure if it will be going into the next build.

If you want to feel bad for me, I pulled the engine with my right knee so f'ed up, that I couldn't get up from a seated position unless ALL my weight was on my left leg. Of course, today, it is doing fine. Sure makes it hard to explain to the doctor, so . . . I will not bother to try.

 

[CZ-75]

Gout? It can come and go fairly quickly. Although more prevalent in the toes, it can affect any joint


Have them check your uric acid levels.