My oldest son got a great little 323 1 1/2 years ago. We call it 'putt-putt". Anyway, about 6 months ago, putt-putt just died out. My son tried to start him back up, but couldn't.

Here's what is happening... when you turn the key, power goes through the system, the radiator fan starts to turn, the starter starts to click, but the engine does nothing. Does not turn over, or even try to engage.

Someone thinks the engine seized up, but there is plenty of oil, radiator fluid, etc... the car was running hot, but my son got the water pump fixed and made sure there was plenty of water in the engine.

I'm wondering if the engine IS seized or if this can be fixed.

HELP!

 

Pull the spark plugs, look at the electrode condition, look at the color. If they're light tan, that's good. If black and sooty, mixture is too rich. If greyish-white, mixture is too lean.
If plugs are wet, is it water, fuel, or oil? Running hot may have taken out the head gasket and allowed coolant into the cylinders; this gives symptomd identical to seizing.
Sort that out first.
Next, check that the battery is good (have it charged if necessary). Check all connections are clean and tight (including the chassis grounds !)
With the headlights on, attempt a start. If the starter motor is drawing current you will see perceptible dimming of the headlights. If the starter draw is confirmed, but the engine won't turn, it's either a bad starter motor/ ring gear issue, or else the motor is seized. If the headlights don't dim on start, you may have a starter solenoid switch issue or a car side wiring interlock/ fuse' relay issue.
If you have a manual transmission, check the clutch depressed interlock switch. It should be open circuit with clutch out, short circuit with clutch depressed.
You can now do an acid test on the starter by disconnecting the small wire on the solenoid switch, and using a jumper wire, connect the battery wire terminal of the starter to the tab on the solenoid. Before you do this make absolutely certain the car is in neutral with handbrake set. If the starter motor cranks, you have interlock problems upstream of the starter.
If the car has manual transmission, put it in top gear (ignition off) and try having two people push. If you can push it, the engine is not seized.If you can't, remove the starter from the car and repeat. If you can move the car, the starter gear is the problem; if you still can't push it, the odds are the engine is indeed seized.

 

Wow... I will try that!

There was, as I recall, a smell of antifreeze... it could be the head gasket.

I will get over there and check all that you mention, although it is an automatic tranny.

Thanks for the reply!

 

OK, the push option is off the menu.
On a happier note, if you can confirm coolant, there's a good chance the problem was hydrostatic lock, meaning the starter couldn't crank the engine because one or more pistons was trying to squish the water out of the cylinder(s) past valves which were both closed at the time; now that's a real challenge for any battery- starter motor combo! The symptoms of hydro-lock are absolutely identical to those of a seized engine! The cause is usually a blown gasket, but rarely it can be a cracked head or block.
You can confirm what that stuff in the cylinders is by poking a barbecue skewer into the cylinder and leaving it there long enough to soak up some liquid. better still is a Q tip provided it will reach. Don't try scraping for the sample though, it will just give you piston head crud; just let the fibers soak up the sample naturally.
Another test is to look for telltale traces of oil/fuel floating around on top of the coolant in the rad.
For your next step, remove all the spark plugs and get as much liquid as possible out of the cylinders, screw them back very slightly so they're just barely engaged on the threads, and now go back to the starter motor test using the wire jumper between the battery +ve connection and the solenoid tab (if the battery's dead you can always jump start cable it to a good one.) Do this with ignition off.
(One thing you should avoid at all costs is cranking the motor with spark plugs ungrounded or high tension wires to the coil disconnected. This can result in the unloaded coil high tension voltage going to easily double its normal working value and can permanently damage expensive components of the ignition system.)

If you have no joy, disconnect the battery negative and remove the starter motor:
Then remove the plugs, and with a wrench, try turning the cranskhaft IN A CLOCKWISE DIRECTION. If you can't turn the crankshaft, then for sure the motor is seized.
Keep us posted of how it's going.