my saturn may be toast... help?

ilikecereal · 05-21-2005, 11:54 AM

alright, let's set my pride aside and get this over with. i did not check my oil level at all lately, and it was very low. probably about 3/4 qt. i know this is stupid, please, i don't need to hear it. ok, so here is what happened. i drove about 20-30 miles to syracuse today, going roughly 70 the whole way. get back, drive to my girlfriends house, stay for a while, go to work at 10pm. i get out at 4am, go to drive home, turn left onto my road, engine shuts off, i give it gas, no dice. it will not move anymore. i drift it over to the side of the road, and luckily one of my coworkers was following me. he pulls over, we look at it, and he checks my oil and we realize my stupid ass didn't put oil in and there is barely any in there. we put 3 qts in, and it finally shows that there is oil in there on my dipstick. car lights turn on, starter works, i can hear it working. all electrical components work, but dim when i try to start. my car just won't turn over. could there be something...less wrong with it other than a seized engine, or is it pretty much a fact i seized my engine. it happened about 3 hours ago, so i haven't taken it to a mechanic or anything. i'm screwed aren't i? i'm going to need to buy a new car or a new engine, and i have no money. maybe, MAYBE i can hopefully sell it for $1500 without a working engine. but does anyone here have any other ideas of what may be wrong with it? thanks for any input.

RIP

U2slow · 05-21-2005, 01:26 PM

Well running that low on oil is definitely not a good thing, but normally if you kill your engine from low oil you will hear some ticking followed by some knocking followed by some clunking......did you hear any of this? If not, when you say you hear your starter working do you mean you hear it clicking? That doesn't necessarily mean that it's working if it won't turn over. Try leaving some jumper cables on it for 5 minutes or so and try again. You may be surprised.

ilikecereal · 05-21-2005, 10:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by U2slow

Well running that low on oil is definitely not a good thing, but normally if you kill your engine from low oil you will hear some ticking followed by some knocking followed by some clunking......did you hear any of this? If not, when you say you hear your starter working do you mean you hear it clicking? That doesn't necessarily mean that it's working if it won't turn over. Try leaving some jumper cables on it for 5 minutes or so and try again. You may be surprised.

no, i don't hear clunking or anything, just the clicking. you think jumpers may do the trick?

edit: also, my starter wouldn't cause the car to stall either.

ilikecereal · 05-22-2005, 08:58 AM

i have a question. is there anyway i can manually turn it somehow and get oil through the system or is this not possible? no way to fix it if it's seized?

scottyr94 · 05-23-2005, 12:48 AM

If it is seized its trashed, junk. I would say you need a new engine. I can usually hear when mine is getting somewhat low on oil, my lifters tick. Make it a very good habit to just check your oil when you fill up with gas, you do nothing while the pump is running anyways. Also keep an extra quart of oil in your trunk just for that reason, I usually throw mine down by the spare tire.

ilikecereal · 05-23-2005, 01:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scottyr94

If it is seized its trashed, junk. I would say you need a new engine. I can usually hear when mine is getting somewhat low on oil, my lifters tick. Make it a very good habit to just check your oil when you fill up with gas, you do nothing while the pump is running anyways. Also keep an extra quart of oil in your trunk just for that reason, I usually throw mine down by the spare tire.

well in new york we don't have the little tabs that hold the pump handle down (up?). i've been told to take out the spark plugs and what have you and get oil down in there and lubricate everything i can, manually turn the engine over, rinse, and repeat. would this help if nothing is bent or melted together?

Sega Saturn · 05-23-2005, 08:46 PM

Well, try getting a BIG wrench and hook it on the crank, then try moving it, plugs out will help for sure. Mine did the same thing without and ticking or what not before. But I was able to unjam it. Good luck

scottyr94 · 05-23-2005, 11:12 PM

You're still going to have lots of wear and scored parts such as cylinder walls. Even if you manage to get it spinning again, it's never going to be same and your least concern will be lots of oil burning. Lack of lubrication is very bad for engine, those parts are spinning very fast with lots of heat. When that thin coating of oil is gone, metal to metal contact will destroy things.

ilikecereal · 05-24-2005, 03:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sega Saturn

Well, try getting a BIG wrench and hook it on the crank, then try moving it, plugs out will help for sure. Mine did the same thing without and ticking or what not before. But I was able to unjam it. Good luck

what caused your engine to seize? lack of oil? how does it run now that you have got it working again?

Quote:

Originally Posted by scottyr94

You're still going to have lots of wear and scored parts such as cylinder walls. Even if you manage to get it spinning again, it's never going to be same and your least concern will be lots of oil burning. Lack of lubrication is very bad for engine, those parts are spinning very fast with lots of heat. When that thin coating of oil is gone, metal to metal contact will destroy things.

what kind of things will i notice? serious lack of performance? will it run reliably long enough for me to save up for a new car/engine? i'm just curious as to what will be effected from now on. thanks guys.

also, i have been told that it could be possible that a starter solenoid could be whacked, or maybe even a clog in the fuel line would cause it to stall and not turn over. maybe it was just coincidence that it happened around the time that i was low on oil... any suggestions other than a seized engine?

hvactech77 · 05-24-2005, 03:53 AM

This happen to me in my subaru years back. Long story as to how i was leakin oil, but i was. One night I was jammin to the radio and thought i kept hearing a sound. turned radio down and my car sounded like crap. I pulled over and shut the car off. checked oil i was pretty much out. had spare quart and added it went to restart and too late. my pistons welded themselves to the cylinder walls from heat. a friend pushed my car the next day from behind w/ it in gear and got it loose. amazinly it started, but sounded very bad w/ crank bearings shot. Saturns can take alot of abuse, but if you had to add 3 quarts that's bad. There is no way of fixing it w/ the old trick put oil down spark plugs. Either your locked up, or weak battery, or starter problem. A weak battery would cause the car to shut off. Starter wouldn't though... You didn't hear any bad sounds before it died? Need more info... You have to verify the engine turns over to eliminate the worst.

Derek
PA