langer1 said:
Pull the head at least but I still thing your problem was electrical.
I have seen many cases where a starter will stick and jam if it don't get enough power.
You could not move the engine you could un-stick it by pushing in reverse with shifter is third for standard shift.
I have also seen several seized engines one that had no oil and one that had been sugared, none just stop like the key was turned off. They all started loosing power and slowing down, them making noise and smoke.
My concern is it's not seized now, plus there no reason so far that it was or even a cause that you can point out.
Dude, it is completely possible for an engine to just act like it shut off when it siezes, especially if the car has an automatic and the converter isn't locked up at the moment of siezure. I've seen it numerous times. In fact, when an engine dies while driving and doesn't crank normally when you try to restart it, it's usually a mechanical problem inside the motor. A bad starter won't cause the engine to stall...in fact if the starter Bendix stayed engaged with the flex plate you'd still be able to turn it by hand easily, and you'd hear the starter being forced to turn, I've seen that too. If the starter kept cranking after the engine was started, you'd hear a horrible screetching/grinding noise as gears stripped, but any way you slice it, a bad starter NEVER has the power to stop an engine from turning. If it's a CMP or CKP sensor, or fuel pump, or whatever, the engine will still crank normally. The only exception is an undetected bad alternator and then the battery dies, but if that's the case you'd be able to EASILY turn the engine by hand.
Just ask my brother, who knows NOTHING about the mechanics of a vehicle. Last year, he was driving his '92 Chevy G20 van (350ci V8, auto) from NJ to FL pulling a small U-haul size trailer. He called me up a day and a half after he left, told me he was driving in VA on the highway and suddenly he put his foot on the gas to maintain speed and there was nothing there, the engine didnt want to restart once he stopped it on the shoulder either. I knew this wasn't good, but I couldn't offer any diagnosis or advice over the phone (although I suspected a bad engine), sure enough, he called me back a few hours later, said AAA towed him to a local shop and the engine was shot. He learned the hard way that an engine (especially an ill-maintained one) can suddenly die with no previous symptoms.
I agree with Funvtec, I think he's got some shot bearings. The question is...did the bad bearings lead to a bad crank, bad journals in the block, or anything else. I think it's in his best interest to get a junkyard motor at this point, or at least send the old block, head, crank, and cam out to a machine shop to be checked before rebuilding it.
