Need help with NA S4. Might be blown..engine seems stuck.
 

OK, Here's the story. Any help is greatly appreciated. This is my daily so I'd like to get this figured out ASAP.

My '86 NA S4 displayed symptoms of a bad AFM (car would start but wouldn't stay running, etc.) It sat for about a month in very cold weather while I searched for another AFM. Found one on the forum and it arrived today...

I installed the new AFM and went to start the car. Battery was almost dead and the car only cranked a little bit before the battery died. Tried to jump the car with my wife's car...I let it charge for a long time but I couldnt get the RX7 to turn over at all. When I turned the key it only made a clunk sound and the lights went dim, like the starter was straining not able to turn the motor. It did NOT go *click click click...*.

I thought this was strange but thought I might not be getting a good connection with the jumper cables. So I installed a BRAND NEW battery that I was about to put into my FD project. The new battery did the same thing...*CLUNK*and interior lights go dim like the starter is straining. So I thought "shit, did something somehow, JUST NOW, break inside my motor causing it to seize?" (Remember it turned over the first time I tried it.)

To test if the motor would turn over I put the car in reverse and let out on the clutch to see if it would roll down my driveway which is a hill. It would not roll...motor seems to be hard stuck keeping the car from rolling. I also tried to put it into 1st and see if the car would roll backwards (should turn the motor backwards right?) and it would not.

Now, this was a healthy engine with only about 50k on it...was a new motor from Mazda a few years ago. Could the car sitting for a month in cold weather cause it to sieze for some reason? It seems to have done so. But I don't understand why it turned over a little bit the first time I tried it.

Does anyone have any ideas? Sorry this is so long.

Thanks,
James

Does this sound like carbon lock?

Just a guess here, but I really doubt it's locked from that.

You probably just need to charge up your battery to full before trying to start the car.

You can try turning the engine with a socket\ratchet on the front pulley if you want, just put the trans in neutral. If it requires a bit of force, that's normal, you're just fighting the compression stroke. But if it locks solid, bad news.