My friend was driving his 2nd gen 400 Trans Am w/ a TH350, parked it, and now it wont crank. He replaced the starter and it was tested to be good. He also tried cranking the motor by hand and he said he can barely turn it (in neutral).

The oil and tranny levels are good.

My thoughts are that it is something tranny related or possibly something on the belt system. I dont see how a motor could just run and then sieze when he came back to the parking lot.

I am not too famaliar w/ this engine and he is 300 miles away.

Any thoughts?

 

Could be anything.

Start by pulling all the spark plugs. See if any are damaged. See if any fluid is in the cylinders (coolent, fuel etc). A cylinder full of coolent won't let the engine crank over. When all the plugs are out, see if the engine will turn over. Best to try by hand first. Try turning one way then the other. Do at least 2 full revolutions in both directions if it will turn over at all.

A seized automatic tranny won't stop the engine from turning. There's no physical connection between them. They're joined through a fluid coupler.

Worst case will be pulling the oil pan off to look inside for any failed bearings. Take the oil filter off and cut it open. Take a section of filter material and squish it in a vise to get all the oil out. Open it up and see if there's any metal in the filter.

 

I have the same motor/trans combo in my car...
I can't think of any reason that it would seize. I would deffinetly take out all the spark plugs, and disconnect the belts at the front of the engine.
Then try spinning it over with the starter, and using the bolt that attaches the dampner to the crank shaft.
If the engine still doesn't turn over, then there's a deffinite mechanical binding....
The oil pan can be dropped with the engine still in the car, but if it's serious damage, your friends going to have to pull the engine.

 

Is it trying to crank and won't fire, or is it not even cranking? Having it in neutral has nothing to do with being able to turn the crank by hand, so it may not actually be something that serious. Has he checked the distributor car for cracks, mositure? Is the coil wire connected?

 

if the starter and battery are good, check the cable. Even a great battery and starter wont work if the cable has loose or corroded connections or a bad ground. Being as old as it is I wouldn't be suprised if it's something small.

Is it seized? If it tries to lug over at all then no. If you hear the starter hit hard, and the engine not spin over at all, then I would start looking at that possability.

 

the VERY first thing to do is to pull the belts and try to turn it by hand, if it turns, try starting it DO NOT LET IT RUN FOR LONG--NO WATER PUMP, then try turning the accesories by hand until you find the one that is locked up