TobyZ28

2 weeks ago my engine wouldnt start one morning. The engine tried to turn but just stopped and clicked. I initially thought my starter was bad since my battery checked out fine. Tried to jumpstart the car as well.

Anyhow replaced the starter with an LT4 starter (man what a tight fit!). Same deal, engine tried to crank and immediatly stop on something. It sounds like its hydrolocked (blown gasket?).

How likely is a blown gasket? How likely is it something else? Why me??? lol. The engine was rebuilt about a year or 2 ago.

The oil doesnt look milky, nor does it look like there is oil in the coolant.

The weird thing is that this all happend after one of the few days of snow we had. Drove the car home real slow on the snow, parked it. Next morning I tried to crank the car, and just "clunk" . Any ideas, anyone?

slopokrodrigez

Usually when you get clicking, it's because the starter is not getting enough current. And that's usually from a bad connection. You should go over all the connections again. The terminals at the battery, the positive cluster and negative terminals at the passenger fender and the ground strap from the frame to the engine. Don't just wiggle them to see they are tight, take them loose, be sure the surfaces are clean and shiney and check for broken wires or terminations.

After you get all that straight, put a volt meter across the battery and be sure the voltage does not go below 11 volts when someone else cranks it over. If it does start, check that the voltage across the battery is now about 14 volts.

If all that checks out, and you still can't get it to crank, it may be time to pull some plugs but I really doubt you have to go that far.

TransAm9585

Not that its your problem but im suspecting a bad battery. I had my 94 z's battery do this to me. The battery tested fine but just didnt have what it took to crank the car. I did the same things as you though went with a new starter and everything before i found the real problem. Probably not much of a help but it may be worth checking.

shoebox

Swap in another battery and try it out.

FastZinTennessee

I'll bet it's a wiring connection. I had a standard battery in my car, had the same click problem you had. I then installed an optima redtop, and it almost cured the click problem- it happened twice more. I think the redtop battery was forcing more voltage through.

tanker

You can turn the engine by hand with a breaker bar by crankshaft hub to see if it is hydrolocked. Check grounds/connections

Guest47904

Weak battery + poor connection + cold weather = no crank or poor cranking (everytime)

The most often mistake made is people put a volt meter across the battery and see 12.6 volts and say "it's ok". Even batteries that are completely dead in our return pile will read 12 volts with a meter. They must be tested under load. That's why slopoke said to crank it and check the voltage at the same time.

TobyZ28

Well cranking the engine manually was almost impossible...
I started the car while jumpered to my gf's car. Identical results.

Its also one of those ACdelco batteries (less than a year old) with the green eye on it. The eye was still green.

Its not just a click.. you can really feel it torquing on the engine. It doesnt want to go I did crank the engine a tad manually, while i started the engine i watched the converter turn about the same amount that i had made it move and then just stop dead.

jonota

Try the multimeter on the battery WHILE cranking just to be sure... wouldn't want to start looking rebuild over a $50 battery...

Jonota

TobyZ28

Will do that as soon as i can, along with clean all the connections... While i was manually cranking the engine with a breaker - i heard what sounded like bubbling of sorts. Is that normal? Whats it from?

slopokrodrigez

I doesn't sound good. Pull your plugs. Then try to crank it over and cover up the fenders if you have a good paint job.