HELP!!! My engine started smoking and now it wont crank!!!

[CobyGoertz]

Hey,

I was driving my pathfinder last night when it started clicking for about 5-10 seconds before it made a small bang sound and started smoking. I am assuming this means my engine blew up, but I want to make sure it isn't fixable before I spend more money than I might need to. I know this makes me sound really dumb. 

Any help is greatly appreciated!!

Thanks,

Coby

[level9]

Probably toast if it won't even crank - most likely the engine is seized. When is the last time the timing belt was done?

 

You can check for seizure by getting I believe a 27mm socket and a large breaker bar. Place the socket on the large crankshaft pulley bolt (where all of the belts attach at the front/lower engine) and see if you can turn the engine by hand. It does take a little oomph but if you can't turn it, it's definitely toast.

 

If it turns and you don't hear any metal-to-metal grinding/clunking noises (like things hitting each other), check the starter area (passenger side, below and rear of the oil filter) for any scorching/burn marks - the starter wire is not fused and could possibly short out which would cause a show (possible but rare). Also check wiring at the battery for any scorching/burn marks/melting.

The only other thing I could think of possible would be a bad fuel injector which caused a backfire but that wouldn't necessarily explain why it won't crank.

[adamzan]

Is there any oil in it? Sounds like it ran dry or some other catastrophic failure. I'd do what @level9 said and check if it rotates at the crank but it doesn't sound good.

 

Fortunately there are a lot of VG33E sitting in the junkyards that you could swap in.

[CobyGoertz]

@adamzanyeah it was full of oil, but when i drained it it came out super clean at first, but then got SUPER dirty about halfway through. pretty sure my oil pump may have gone and not been lubricating the engine. i think i might just part out the working parts and sell the rest as scrap

 

[peejay]

Post a picture of the truck so we can convince you to keep it!

[Slartibartfast]

Yeah, that doesn't sound good. Not sure why it would have a layer of clean oil at the bottom, though, that's bizarre. Are you sure it was oil and not water? Not that water in the pan is better news.

[level9]

2 hours ago, Slartibartfast said:

Yeah, that doesn't sound good. Not sure why it would have a layer of clean oil at the bottom, though, that's bizarre. Are you sure it was oil and not water? Not that water in the pan is better news.

 

I could see the oil stratifying if it sits for a bit. The sludge should settle out and when you drain, the clean oil comes out first, then the rest picks up the settled sludge.

Still, the oil should have been more consistent. If the oil pump went out long enough to cause engine failure, there should have been an oil warning light on the dash due to the loss of pressure. The only thing I can think of is if the engine is super sludgy it's possible some oil passages were blocked while the pressure reading might report ok.