Yay, Locked Engine?

[Android42019]

So a while back I posted about the dealer not putting enough oil in my car and it started a slight knock(see here: http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=403259 )

Well I took it to Classic Chevy in Grapevine TX instead of autonation where they messed up, and guess what? they couldn't hear the noise so I'm like I'll come up there and drive you around to hear it. I get up there and the service guy rides with me and for some reason doesn't want to go out of the lot for me to actually get the noise to start, so he has me go back to the shop area and get the mechanic so he can hear it, I get him out of the lot and he FINALLY hears it after I go up and down the road/freeway and this guy tells me it sounds like the rattle from the exhaust service bulletin that was put out and I'm just not buying into it so I say "ok so basically what your saying is that it's not the engine? So keep driving it until something happens if it is the engine?" And he goes yeah. So we get back and the other guy comes up to me and was like well he says blah blah and your not under warranty for the exhaust so we can replace for $750....WHAT?! I said uhhh no I can get a better sounding aftermarket for a little more than that no way, he got this mad look on his face when I said that and tried to push me by saying "well aftermarket are welded and these are bolt-on" I'm not dumb I know there are bolt on systems, duh. So he says well bring it back if you have any more problems.

So that was about a month ago? I've driven it some but not normally like before and today I get in the car to go down the street to the car wash since she was lookin a bit dusty and I turn the key it starts up and the CLANK. DEAD. Nothing. SO, now I'm torn as to what to do, both dealers have been shotty with me now, the woman that sold me the car at classic was great but the service dpt seems to SUCK!

And btw I do have the whole thing on recording just in case someone tries to say "oh I never said that"

[Demon War Horse]

I had heard classic was the place to go. Wow.

[Android42019]

Originally Posted by Demon War Horse

I had heard classic was the place to go. Wow.

The purchase of my car was easy, I paid less than msrp for the car loaded with a couple more features than if I had ordered and the saleswoman Jackie Smith was GREAT. She got promoted to finance shortly after my purchase. I can't say anything else as that's the only car I bought from them but that service dpt is shady, tried telling me 19k to fix this car way back and I said ur crazy! That wasnt even including paint! And now immediately jumping to me paying $750 outta pocket for an exhaust that's out of warranty instead of diagnosing the damn engine that's under warranty still >_<

[Neuf Cruz]

Said bring it back if problem. Problem! Take it back if under warranty. When you took it in, did they check oil and all good? I'm sorry, didn't read the other thread but if you thought you had some oil issue and now a knock, Why were you driving it? If under warranty, i would have had towed in.
Going to now!
Good luck.

[Android42019]

Originally Posted by Neuf Cruz

Said bring it back if problem. Problem! Take it back if under warranty. When you took it in, did they check oil and all good? I'm sorry, didn't read the other thread but if you thought you had some oil issue and now a knock, Why were you driving it? If under warranty, i would have had towed in.
Going to now!
Good luck.

Yes sure they said take it back if problem but my dilemma is I don't want to take it somewhere that's gonna be shotty at everything. I put that link so I didn't have to explain the oil thing again in another post, this was month or 2 ago that it started and I noticed the sound of low oil(old Nissan 200sx leaked and burned a lot so I could tell what the sound was) so checked oil and the stick was dry(I've NEVER had an issue prior to that dealer changing oil not even my G5 GT which went well past times for oil change and still had plenty of oil on the stick) I then changed out what was left to make sure the right amount was added and checked to see if the noise went away like my Nissan had done, nope, so I call Chevy and take it to them and then the rest is up top in the first post. And the guy said it was fine that's why it was being driven, no oil leaks and still have plenty of oil on dipstick since I did it myself. And yeah....getting it towed in once I figure out where to take it.

[essess]

Are you sure its a seized engine? Did you see a low oil pressure warning or hear any louder noises when you started it? Usually if a motor is gonna lock up, your gonna hear some nastyness before it happens. Take the belt off and put a ratchet on the crank pulley bolt and try to spin. If it spins than its not seized

[Android42019]

Originally Posted by essess

Are you sure its a seized engine? Did you see a low oil pressure warning or hear any louder noises when you started it? Usually if a motor is gonna lock up, your gonna hear some nastyness before it happens. Take the belt off and put a ratchet on the crank pulley bolt and try to spin. If it spins than its not seized

main reason I say locked up is because it started and now it won't crank at all, and no nothing from the dummy lights or the digital display, my scanner doesn't even pull up any pending codes or anything.

[cownipples]

Did you check the battery? Sounds like a dead battery!!

[ChrisBlair]

In the electronic car age, sometimes it's easy to forget that an engine can be turned over by hand. I can simply remove the inspection plate on the transmission in my car with a 10.25:1 compression V8, and using a rag, grasp the flex plate and rotate the engine. I'm not Charles Atlas.

if I were worried about a seized engine, that's the first thing I'd do.

[Android42019]

Originally Posted by cownipples

Did you check the battery? Sounds like a dead battery!!

If it was dead....it wouldn't have started in the first place....

Chris,
Sadly I don't have access to a lot of tools :\ bare minimums right now till i can get a nice set and good toolbox.

[TheHorse13]

When you say, "CLANK. DEAD. NOTHING!", can you be a little more specific? Was the car idling fine and then cut out with no sputtering or stumbling? When you checked the oil after this failure, did you notice any metal particles in the oil? If you have a flashlight, shine it on the dipstick and see if any metal particles are in the oil.

Sometimes when you get a major failure, the motor will not lock up. If I were you, I would find a good Cadillac dealership and have your car towed there. I have found, through extensive dealership visits with my Camaro, that Caddy dealers do a far better job.

Best of luck.

[Revster]

Check The BATTERY

[MrChrisLS3]

Originally Posted by Android42019

main reason I say locked up is because it started and now it won't crank at all, and no nothing from the dummy lights or the digital display, my scanner doesn't even pull up any pending codes or anything.

Let me edit, as I realized I'm not exactly sure what you mean here. "No nothing" simply there are no warning lights, i.e. check engine light, and the scanner is reading no codes present? Or you dash is completely dark, as no lights at all, and the scanner is getting no power to pull codes?

This really sounds like an electrical problem. If your engine were seized, you would still have electrical power. Just the fact that you can't run a scan tool tells me this. As some have said, it could be your battery. Could also be a faulty ground, or something along those lines. Perhaps someone else can give some more info on the elec. system, I'm no guru on that.

Now, if you have lights, it could still be your battery. With just enough power to engage the starter but no enough to actually crank the engine. Assuming that as you described, I understand that you turned the key, it went "clank", and that was it. While it could be many things, and a seized engine is one of those things. I would start by pulling the battery and getting it checked, a simple easy place to start. If it's good under load test, then it's time for a carriage ride to the dealer. They said to drive it until something happened, well, something happened.

[pickwithaustin]

Put a meter on the power source and see if you get a reading. That will help eliminate battery as the issue. At that point, have it towed to the dealer - The service guy that checks you in and out at the dealer is not the guy that's going to fix it, so you should be okay.