- This topic has 3 replies, 2 voices, and was last updated 7 years, 2 months ago by
.
-
Topic
-
Last time I drove the avi, I parked it for a week and then tried to start it. The engine turned over for a sec and locked up, while running the starter. Makes the electrical system go dark in a hurry. Took a breaker bar and socket to the crankshaft bolt in the CW direction and could not budge it. When reversing direction, it would turn. I turned it 180 degrees and then tried to start it again, with the same initial results. Always stops at the same angle. Thought maybe that the timing chain had broken and wrapped around the crankshaft an jammed it .Towed it into my garage and removed parts on front of engine to the front cover and the timing chain is intact. Attempted to turn crankshaft again and it turn s freely with no stopping. Had take plugs out and stuck a fiber optic camera into each one to see if maybe a valve had dropped into one cylinder. Everything clean there. Don’t know where to go from here.My dad is a fanatic Ford guy and says I should take it to the boneyard, but I would have expected nothing less from him. LOL. He is 92 yrs and a Ford lifer. Anyway, I would appreciate some help and not a tongue lashing.:unsure:
-
Replies
-
Thanks for getting back with me. Since posting looked closer at the inside of each cylinder and found coolant in #6 cylinder. Also, learned that many 5.3L engines were built with Castech cylinder heads. These heads were machined with very thin walls between the coolant & oil passages. Prone to small cracks. Some into the combustion chamber. I have not checked for the head mfr. yet and am hoping it is only a head gasket failure and not a head or block fail. The lock was caused by coolant in the combustion chamber called hydrolock. As soon as plugs came out, the engine would turn.
Also failed to mention for the benefit of other 5.3 L owners. Slow loss of coolant that does not show external leakage and intermittent coolant low indicators, may be due to the Castech heads as they show up on many older GM trucks. You may be losing it in the oil pan or in the combustion chamber. Remove the cover on the head and look for a mfr mark near the intakes. If Castech, good luck. GM knows about the problem and produced a tech bulletin for service dept. They never did anything about it. I have a Saturn Vue 2008 and a 2009. Both years has 35R waveplate problems in tranny. They were too brittle and would crack at or about 60 to 120 thousand miles. GM did nothing until a class action suit forced them to back warranty the tranny for 10 years or 120,000 miles. Hundreds of thousands of people were affected by this negligence. I have had one car done free of charge even though it was out of warranty. They took responsibility and take care of the problem. This same thing should have happened with the 5.3 L.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.