so the other night i went to start my car after getting gas and it cranked a couple times then just stopped real quick and every time i try starting it after that it just clicks like the starter is trying to turn the engine and it does nothing. tried to push start it twice and it just locks up the rear tires when i pop the clutch. i thought it was the starter at first but i put a new one on and it did the same thing.

the car does have 216k on it but its always run good, other than a little oil smoking at high revs, never overheated or ran low on oil. even that night when it wouldnt start it was running fine i was doing 100mph down this fun road about 20 minutes before.

i guess my question is what would make it suddenly lock up? and is there anything i can try to do to get it running again? or is the engine just garbage? someone was saying maybe it carbon locked or a stuck apex seal does that sound right?

 

carbon locked would be an engine that just sat for a while...stuck apex seal shoulg break after bump start def not lock up rear wheels...try the atf trick. sounds like something else is going on though

 

atf trick? putting it in the spark plug hole right?

 

Wedged/rolled apex seal due to wear. Same thing that happens when old NA engines break apex seals while running, they roll out of the groove and get shattered. But when it happens during shutdown or startup, there is not enough momentum to shatter the seal and keep going, so it just wedges between rotor and housing and locks the engine. Result is still the same, even if you force the engine to turn again...you'll have a jacked up rotor and housing, and one or more broken apex seals. Still need a rebuild.