so does the car not start now??? give us some more info here...

if the car doesn't start you prolly chewed up the opti, that grinding was you breaking the rotor to pieces.. not a big deal just time for a new opti... this goes along with your hesitation that you said youve been getting... my guess is that your opti has been on the way out the door and finally it went

 

no, the car doesnt start, if i try to turn the key it just makes a nasty grinding sound, a real nasty one, a sound engines shouldnt make

 

is there any coolant left?? is there any oil in the engine???

proly the opti is dead

 

no coolant, but theres oil

 

well then, ive expected the worst, now im hearing it might be the opti??......i still am leaning towards, blown head gasket = spun bearing, and thats the sound im hearing, but i would give a finger for it to be the damn opti****

 

Wheres the noise coming from, pop the hood and get someone to lsiten to where it is when you try to crank it ...

 

dude your opti is DEAD!!!!!!! don't worry about friggin bearing's and head gasket's till you need too!

i'm tellin you it's the opti! you've got all the sympton's.. that's why i asked you "IF YOU CAR START'S" or not. like i said that grinding was you breaking the rotor into pieces etc..

lemme ask you this. why you try to turn the motor over now, does it turn over kinda fast or kinda slower than usual?

 

Drain the oil.. look for metal shavings of any kind (anything sparkly) and, more likely, coolant (oil will be milky and thin). If neither of these is present then I'd say your problem is likely elsewhere. IF you do have a blown head gasket for god sakes don't just replace it.. have the heads milled. Overheating an engine doesn't just "blow" the gasket.. the gasket no longer seals because the heads have warped.. it's not a big deal just have the heads milled if you need to replace the gasket.

I think you're jumping to conclusions here though... drain the oil and see what you find.. try and locate that coolant leak also.. then get back with us. Heck, it could be something as simple as a starter or somesuch. Check the easy things first and have fun


edited: IF it is the opti or starter or whatever then you've also got the coolant leak you need to address.. if the water pump is the source of the leak and the leak ruined the opti then the pump and opti must be replaced.. point is, make sure you solve the problem and not just the symptoms

 

why not just pull the dipstick and check the oil real quick.

 

Sounds liek your water pump went and took the opti with it. You need to drain the oil and check it like these guys sare saying to do. There no other easy way to check for a spun bearing with out it running.

 

lol you guys are onto a really good point. If the waterpump takes a ****, water will start to dribble out of the weep hole. Not a bad leak at first, but enough that when it drops onto the Opti, is gets inside there. As the Opti gets antifreeze in it, you develop your "stumble" that your car had. Finally the pump lets loose, your coolant all leaks out, Temps go sky high, and while the car is hot, its enough to keep the Opti goin while the car WAS running, you shut it off, and thn the bearin was in such a condtion that when you tried to start it , it took a ****. So get yourself a DynaSpark, and a Electric Water pump. Well , after you check your oil to verify that the heads aint leakin now ...

 

oh yea man the grinding is bad news, these guys are mistaken. Someone asked if the engine turns over faster, or slower or whatever, i'll state it again, it doesnt turn over, it just makes an awful grinding sound. Its either the sound of a spun beaing, or the sound a hydrolocked engine makes.

 

sounds to me like you blew a head gasket. you first say it was hesitating which would be consistent with a small coolant leak from a popped head gasket. after time the leak gets worse and so does the hesitation. then one day it barely runs at all b/c the leak is so bad but at the same time it overheads since you are burning off so much coolant. now after you let the it set, the cylindar has filled up with coolant and is now hydrolocked like you say. this would cause the motor to NOT turn over and when you go to crank it the starter just grinds on the flywheel.

 

I'm not gonna say it again...

DRAIN THE OIL!

then come back with the news.. untill then all we're doing is taking shots in the dark.

 

does the engine rotate at all when you try and start it if it does nothing and just grinds it isnt a spun bearing you wouldnt hear it. and it aint hydrolocked either you would know cause you would probably have oil all over your driveway cause a rod would probably shoot through the oil pan. i got lucky when my headgaskets went, my car hydrolocked but instead of a rod giving out the starter snapped in 2 and it was under warrentee . my guess would be your opti or just your starter but you have to be a little more clear of whats going on. need more info