teen4christ

so on Nov 24 i dropped my car off at the local shop, cause the car was misfiring pretty bad and he just got around to working on it on the 4th... he found the problem to be a fuel injector that the engine was getting to much fuel and that it was running really rich.

so i went in there Saturday the 6th and he says he had it all put back to gather but when he went to start it he said it locked up? and so he toke off the fan and tried to turn the crank and it wouldn't turn at all... does anyone have any clues???

skyjd

When was the last time anyone checked the tranny fluid?
Tourqe converter can lock up if too low.

Best case,Timing belt...
Worst, some thing broke inside the engine...

How well do you know the mechanic?
Did it tryyy to start?

Did it make a; wizzzz...pop...crack....bang, any sound? when he went to start it?

Hard to say at this point.

SABL

Hi T4C,

Can you give us a little more info?? What year is the car and how many miles are showing on the odometer??

teen4christ

its a 1997 infiniti q45 it has 181,xxx miles one the odometer. i was talking to my friend about it and he was telling me that he could of been the one to cause it to lock up? or that he's lieing in general about it being locked up? are either of those possible?

when we bought from the dealership about 3 1/2 monthes ago a month after we paid to have a tune up done to it at the dealer including all the fluids so i dont think it could be that. unless its burning fluids or leaking but i don't think thats the case.

please respond agian i really appreciate the help...

skyjd

Yes! either of those are possible.....Your friend is the mechanic?

Does he work for the dealership you took it to for this tuneup?

teen4christ

my friend is a mechanic... and his dads a even better one then him.. and he says that he could be pulling my leg, no its him and his dad run a at home thing repair shop... but there not a.s.e certified so thats y i didn't take it to them...

does this type of thing happen alot? or could he be telling me the truth about it locking up? and could it of been his fault? cause when i dropped the car off on the Nov. 24th it ran it was just misfiring...

skyjd

Okay. Tell him to stop doing that, and get your car fixed. These are conflicting statements.

No; maybe, maybe, unless you can give step by step info on what he did to your car. I couldn't even hazard a guess.

carsey

PLease expand on locked up for a start.

Unless they didnt know what they were doing when they changed the injector, they could have broken some of the internals, maybe valves depending where your injectors are on that particular engine.

Second, new injectors can take a while to 'prime'. This is because there is no fuel in them getting to the engine so it can be slightly hard to start after being changed.

Third, injectors have to be set at the EXACT amount of tightness using a work wrench and a tool that measures the degrees of turn you need, cant remember its name.

Fourth, is the injector set up correctly, I know some cars have injectors that can be adjusted and if this is out, then the car wont start.

skyjd

Thank You!, Carsey

teen4christ

alright, so i went in the the shop yesterday DEC 10th. and when i walk in they actually were working on the my infiniti. when i also just first got in there i saw that the right side of the infiniti was all token apart all the parts were on a table near by, and when i started talking to them they were dumb founded??? they said all the part look like there in great condition... i looked at the parts that they had off and they were in pretty good shape.they even checked out the timing chain and they said it was in pretty good shape too...

so now tomorrow there going to take apart the whole left side cause they said thats all they really have left to to... they said thet they stilll cant turn the crank??

what could be causing that cause they have no clue UN-less theirs something wrong with the left side????

please help

carsey

So im guessing the engine doesnt turn over at all....

If so, it could be a number of things.

When you turned the key, was there a click or a clunk from the starter motor? it could have overheated when the engine was being turned over constantly.

There could also be a possibility the engine has seized by itself, which I will find highly unlikely as the engine will have had all the oils and fluids for it to run.

Chances are, the mechanic who has changed the injectors hasnt put something back properly and its caused the problem. If the engine wasnt seized before it went to the garage, make sure that all costs of repair are covered by the garage and you only pay for the work you requested, IE the injectors.

SABL

Now that you are talking "sides" I will guess that your mechanic is working on the top-end and looking for a dropped valve. With any luck the search will stop here with no damage to the piston or cylinder wall.... just a guess. A dropped valve will prevent the engine from turning if it becomes lodged against the piston and cyl wall or head.

If the search continues it will involve the bottom-end of the engine and your mechanic will be looking for a broken connecting rod or a seized bearing.

Just hope he didn't bypass any trouble-shooting techniques... like making sure the starter wasn't jammed or the torque converter wasn't locked.

carsey

Surely a valve hitting against the piston will cause long term damage wont it??

SABL

Hi carsey!!

Yep, dropped valves are no fun. They kinda poke holes in the pistons and scar the cyl walls. Not common but happens. Most often cause is cracked retainer or broken valve spring which allows the keepers to fall out of their seats. Or it could be a simple broken valve.

This is purely speculation on my part.... with my dismal diagnosis, any thing else can only be good news!!

teen4christ

Thank you bunch guys, he told me to check back on them on Monday, so i will have news then, and i'll talk to them about some of your guy's ideas if they still can't find anything.

I don't think that he even looked at the toque converter or the starter, but my question to those are wouldn't he still be able to turn the crank, he's showed me that he can't turn it, he's token off the fan and then w/ a longer wrench handle and the right socket, it won't budge either way, he just showed me that when i just went in there the last time?????

Basementgeek

Dumb question here......long shot

Has he taken off the belts ? I have heard that locked up alternator has been to caused an engine to act locked up-can't move.

Possible a cylinder filled with gas causing a hydrostatic lock -

Good luck

BG

SABL

With today's cars, the torque converter provides a direct connection to the tranny, like a clutch in a car with a manual tranny. You car was driveable at the time so cross out the TC as a problem.

Starter jam is also not likely and should have cleared when attempting to get the crank to rotate in either direction. Removing the starter and trying to rotate the crank is easy proof if this is the cause or not.

Your friend is correct in implying that the mechanic could have caused the engine to seize. Why you didn't take your car to your friend... I don't know. ASE certification only means that the mechanic can prove he has the knowledge of procedures, it does not have anything to do with or prove he can actually do the job. An ASE cert, to me, means very little and there is more than one cert.... One ASE does not mean that a mechanic is qualified in all aspects of automotive repair. ASE certs are a great selling point for the auto shop but is no guarantee of compitence.

If nothing is found with the removal of the other head, the only thing left is the "bottom end". A seized bearing is possible but I find that when a bearing seizes, it usually spins inside the cap due to the softness of the bearing material and produces a "knock". But it is possible that when the components cool down and contract, it will seize the engine.

After beating around the bush, I will get point blank and say that you should not be surprised if the diagnosis is a failed connecting rod. If, and only if, this happens to be the case I don't know how your situation went from fuel injectors to major trauma. I don't wish to go there.

I have painted a very black picture for you and hope I am completely off base. I really do hope I am absolutely wrong. I wish your picture is brighter that the one I have painted.

SABL

Hi BG,

Good points!!

I have been a little more dismal in my thoughts. Would not the fuel drain off??

A locked accessory sounds viable...Alternator, power steering pump, AC. At this time and with the procedures that are being done on the engine, the belt/s should not be present and a factor.

I do have to hand it to you for your thought process on the situation!! You have really spelled out the initial process of diagnosis:

Remove all belts
Remove starter (optional)
Remove all spark plugs
Attempt to rotate crankshaft by hand with breaker bar and correct socket

The poster's mechanics seem to be far past that stage and are looking for something far deeper. If they have not performed the most basic of trouble shooting procedures, my guess is that they are inept in their abilities.

Basementgeek

The only reason a car parked one day, that was running ,even poorly, and locked up the next is something fell into the cylinder or filled up with fluid.

The first thing I would have tried would have been to try and rotate the engine backwards a little with a breaker bar.

BG

teen4christ

Thank you guys very much, i'll be going in there tomorrow, and checking to see if they have made any progress and i will be suggesting checking the starter and the trying to move the crank with it off and w/ the belt off... thank you again for your help... I'll update every one tomorrow