Engine Locked Need Help

You said you were headed towards Ely, Where was the load going out of curiosity?

 

Why do you think ndot will pay, you’ll be charged to replace their sign you tore down.

You’re going to need to go to a shop, so tow bill, remember about shoulder parking .

 

I didn't think about that. Maybe that's what he meant the claim would be for is to replace the post. State job like that could be $5000.

 

So you're barely getting by as a lease operator, living check to check, paying the usual bills, but not able to save enough for emergency situations with the truck. I'm sorry this happened to you, but this is also a learning experience as well.

 

even if you say sign was already tore down, they’ll say prove it.

 

OK and did you put oil in the engine?

Great, 4 hours ...

OK you should have had this great mechanic troubleshoot the problem.

AND did he test them when you turned the key to the start position?

Nope you didn't.

So here is what I would have told you two to do. see if there is a draw on the batteries, just because the starter clicks doesn't mean a thing other than the ECM has cleared the engine for a start.

If the engine is actually locked up (doubt it), then the inrush of current at the starter would have pulled those batteries down to 11 volts easily and the starter would have been smelling badly it you held the key on for more than 30 seconds.

However if they are very weak batteries, then they would have dropped to 9 volts easily and there would be no cranking at all, to confirm a weak set, turn the headlights on and see if they go out when you hit the key.

If there was nothing but 12.9 on the volt meter, then I would have assumed two things, one is that the ground to the engine and ground to the chassis needs to be checked, or the starter is toast by being hit by the debris.

Is it possible that those two things could have happened when you went off road and hit the sign?

Yep, it has happened.

Learn how to troubleshoot the problem.

And start with the starter and grounds.

Doubt it, really do, even if it was severely abused by a cheap owner.

Could be the ground to the engine was ripped off, seen this before. To be exact I had to pay for replacement on a 2022 Mack where the ground was snagged on something, we don't know what it was but it was gone.

AND?

You should have 40k in reserve by now.

What ever. You need to get some legal profession involved, did you pass this by your lawyer?

It should not impact you at all if you have a good reserve.

OK so what happened?

You shouldn't, you should dip into your reserve and move on.

 

I would first check the batteries for good tight connections. Next, try jumping it. A passenger vehicle and 2 brand new sets of cables. Both hooked to the car, each hooked to the 2 batteries closest to cables running to starter. Keep hooked up for at least 30 minutes before trying to crank it. Last option would be to buy a new battery or 2. If it still won’t turn over, try hitting the starter directly with the jumper cables. Ground to Truck frame, positive straight to big lug on starter. As far as road service, try an another company. All depends on whether I had a rental car, access to new Truck batteries ( available at most auto parts stores) or using Uber or ?

 

For those that aren't familiar with that highway, as I recall there is about 100 miles of nothing but ranch access. Depending on where this happened it takes so time to get there from Vegas. That doesn't change anything that has been posted, but does add to the cost of getting to the truck and troubleshooting.

 

Very likely. Also, some trucks have a small air tank just for supplying air to these autos.

It was enough to break an oil pan, it's enough to break air lines.

And as mentioned, yeah, #2 flatheads aren't turnin tools