'Engine seized'

[NathanJ]

Our Ford Escort broke down at the weekend, about two miles from home - the engine just suddenly died in the middle of a roundabout, and wouldn't start again. We've had no problems at all with it up til now. The RAC mechanic who came out didn't look under the bonnet, but just told us the 'engine had seized' and towed us home. Our usual mechanic is away for a few weeks, so at the moment the car is just sitting on the drive. Anything we can do/check to see  what's really wrong while we wait for a mechanic?

[FastBarry]

1) Does the engine turn over and not fire up ?

2) Did it make any noises before conking out ?

3) Assume oil levels all OK ?

Possibly suspect broken timing chain/belt.

or

Broken piston ring jamming up the works.

An engine shouldn't just seize up for no reason providing reasonable care has been taken to service regularly.

Were there any other noticeable symptons prior to breaking down ?

[NathanJ]

Thanks for your answer. I know almost nothing about engines, so sorry if I sound clueless!

When I try and start the car, there's a loud click, but nothing more happens.

It made no noises and had no obvious problems before dying, nor have there been any problems with it otherwise. We did a seven hour journey in early Jan and it was completely fine, and all short trips since have seen no problems at all.

I did check the oil, and it was low, but not worryingly so.

We had a quick once-over prior to the long journey in Jan, and everything was fine. The mechanic's a good mate, so I trust his judgement on that!

[FastBarry]

Hmmm, could be a seized starter motor, but that wouldn't explain why you suddenly died at the r'about.

Engines don't normally seize up for no apparent reason.

Could be that your alternator failed.

Anyone else any bright ideas.

[alunrw]

This sounds exactly like what happened to my daughter's car, even down to the comments made by the RAC - it happened to hers a week or so after a new starter motor had been fitted and literally just died whilst she was on her way to work - I phoned the garage and it's in at the moment but their opinion when I called them was that it sounded like the alternator had gone?

[angleterre7]

The RAC mechanic sounds professional! There are a number of possibilites but it does sound like it's electrical. Usually it is the alternator that will cause a car just to die whilst running because it is not charging the battery up. If the battery is totally flat(from not being charged) other electrical things will not work (lights,wipers) As mentioned before it could be a snapped belt which would apparent by seeing pulleys with nothing on them. If it was the timing belt/chain that had snapped the engine could have died due to the timing being thrown out, bending valves and not allowing compression and ignition to take place, but this would still allow the engine to turn and try to start but it would never fire. It is usually possible to get a spanner on the end of the lower crank and turn the engine by hand this will show that it is not siezed. I am still thinking that your problem is electrical, and there is not enough power in your battery to turn the starter motor. You could easily check this by trying a different battery in the car from a car that you know works well. Or you can try a set of jump leads to see if it turns. This is not going to solve your problem but you will at least know it is a power problem and less expensive to fix than a siezed engine.

[landie]

You would be able to tell if your engine was seized by doing the following. Put the car into gear on level ground, release the handbrake and try to push, or rock, the car. If the engine has seized the car won't move.

[alunrw]

Further to earlier post. my daughters car turned out to be a major fault with the timing belt, effectively killing the engine and needing a raplacement engine - not cheap, shes now actually selling the car to the garage and cutting her losses. Her car being a R Reg ford fiesta Diesel and all shes getting s �100 !!! she was quoted �900 for the repairs.

[NathanJ]

Thanks for all the suggestions.

Mechanic had an initial look last night and is currently none the wiser. Apparently it's none of the 'obvious' things that could be wrong with it. He's going to have a proper look today, but the current thought is that where the car is fifteen years old, everything's just given up. I'd be surprised though - she's never had a single problem in the five years we've had her.

[FastBarry]

NathanJ please keep us posted, be interesting to hear the outcome.

[verrecchia]

simple way to check if the engine is siezed, is to put it in 1st gear, make sure the ignition is OFF, release the handbrake, preferable on level ground and try to push the car, if it doesn't budge at all it's siezed, if it moves with a kind of lumpy movement then its not siezed, next remove the distributor cap and do the same, watch to see if the rotor arm turns along wth the engine, if it does then the belt is ok, if it doesn't then you have aserious problem, form a possible broken distributer to a broken belt, if like most modern cars, it doens't have a conventional distributer, try to gain access to the belt itself, by removing the upper belt cover and again see if the belt turns with the engine, or if it is even there

[NathanJ]

Hi all,

The eventual conclusion was, as originally thought, that the engine had simply died after 15 years good service. So our old banger is off to the scrap heap, prompting a new question: where can I find a dirt cheap second hand car that'll last 5 years again?!

Cheers for all your help, Nathan