If you dropped a valve it would run rough before it dies, you would loose compression in the bad cylinder as it was failing, pull the six covers and check the rockers to see if any are looser that the others.

The starter and a good battery does have enough torque to break internal parts so I also would not try to power through the stall.

Do a good visual inspection of the timing cover and around the bottom web of the block for any cracks or holes like where a rod might have exited worst case.
Is it a manual or an automatic?

Jim

 

At that rate you have about a 600,000 to 800,000 btu fire going in the engine with nowhere to go. 600,000 btu will melt about 150 lbs of aluminum pistons into a pourable puddle in about 45 minutes. I've poured many ingots that way.

What I'm saying is that when the heater quit the coolant wasn't circulating very well. When the belt blew off with the hammer down the engine would heat up probably 100 degrees per minute. Temps inside the cylinder are already almost hot enough to melt a piston, only kept in check by a large amount of oil spraying against the bottom of the piston dome. Just a few minutes starts melting and breaking things.

 

Well, thank you all for your responses despite the prognosis not being good.

Jim, the truck is a manual.

Tonight I did the following:

Tried to turn the engine over by hand via one of the crank bolts, serpentine belt removed. I turned the bolt clockwise with a half inch breaker bar as hard as I dared, which was pretty hard - I didn't want to shear the bolt off in the crank nose.

After that, I took off the timing cover with all that entails. KDP has never been killed but is still in place. Everything looks beautiful in the timing case as far as I can tell

So what's left?

1. Engine Seized (due to heat)
2. Dropped Valve (due to heat?)
3. starter jammed flywheel

I doubt #3 unfortunately because the engine was running (albeit rough) when it stopped hard so the starter must have been disengaged. I didn't pull the starter to verify because I didn't want to be out in the cold anymore.

I must say I'm surprised that a water pump seal can take out the motor so easily. I mean, I understand why, but it meant that if I didn't notice my gauge going hot for 10 minutes I bought a motor? I guess I need an idiot light. Of course with 20/20 hindsight I wish I would have put in a fresh water pump when I got the truck.

I had been watching the temperature on my drive (particularly on the passes) and it was normal the whole way when I checked it, which was many many times.

Thanks again,

Andy

 

Did you try turning the engine both ways?

If so, I strongly suspect she is seized.

Is there any place close where you can yank the engine?

 

I didn't try turning CCW as you look at the front of the engine, because at night in the cold I didn't think of a way. I guess I could have put two harmonic balancer bolts in and bar'd it? What is the recommended way? I have a half inch breaker bar but that's about it.

 

I have been able to turn a 12V over, so I could pull the flex plate bolts one at a time, using the alt. pulley nut and a 1/2 inch breaker bar.
With the motor tight it might not be enough.
I have also turned one over using the harmonic balancer bolts, but you would hate to really reef on it and break a bolt off in the crank.

 

Thinking outside the box here but if the truck is a manual do you have something solid either in front or behind the truck you could hook a comealong or chainfall to. If behind put the truck in first and try to pull it backwith someone watching the crank for movement. If in front put the truck in reverse and try to pull forward. If you try this go very slowly with someone watching the crank as you will be putting a lot of torque on it.
Del

 

not a good idea....you will just break more stuff. I'm guessing its locked up as others have stated. Like J-Martin said..thats a lot of heat for no place to go. Also, with no coolant the sending unit for the gauge takes alittle longer to to heat up since it doesn't have the liquid around it. I'd pull the head off and take pictures.

 

X2 this.
Trying to pull start it will most likely break more parts.

 

I would put 2 bolts on, and if it isn't locked, you really shouldn't have to push hard enough on it to risk the bolts. We know it won't turn one way, now we are looking to see if the piston is hydrolocked, so going backwards, if it is not seized, will be relatively easy.

If it is as tight backwards as forwards, then you are looking at a very rare starter bendix fail ( I'm saying 99.99999999 percent not the case ) or a locked engine.

 

I'm working on trying to get him a Motor shipped but being Christmas on Wednesday it's going to Stink but I'm tryin.

 

If your solenoid fails to retract the pinion from the flywheel the overrunning clutch only last a short time until centrifugul force expands the armature's windings and seizes the starter in the flywheel.
Starting with a weak battery can cause a starter to hang up,
I have had many 42MT starter fires because of weak batteries.
Pull the stater and make sure the pinion is retracted, elimenate the starter.

Also found out from experience, a failed torque converter can mimic no power and stall the Cummins engine, hard to imagine but true.
Jim

 

Another comment that I wanted to make is that after working on vehicles for over 25 years, the #1 engine killer I have seen is from the block heater popping out. People never seem to think of this, I have heard hundreds of times people changing their belts and hoses as preventive maintenance and ignoring the block heater. They often get tired of holding on, and when they pop out they leave a pretty big hole for the coolant to fall out of. Often the gauge or light never gives a warning because the sending unit relies on coolant to transfer the heat to it. Again, only a couple of minutes and the engine is toast. Just a heads-up while we're on the subject.

 

This is why every engine should have a Murphy Switch installed.

 

Also found out from experience, a failed torque converter can mimic no power and stall the Cummins engine, hard to imagine but true.
Jim[/QUOTE]

His truck is an manual, so a failed torque converter is out as a possibility...