Ive got a 99 Expedition AWD with a 5.4 in it. I picked this up for $900 the other day. In great condition has 125,000 miles on it. The guy I got it off of said that it wouldn't start and the starter or solenoid were bad. I replaced both of them and went to try to start it and nothin but the starter slamming the flywheel The guy said that it ran great before he parked it and it set for a couple weeks. Well Im coming to the conclusion that the motors shot. I tried to turn the crank pulley and it would budge! My question is if the tranny is locked up would it cause the motor to not be able to spin free? Pretty pissed off about this right now but it is what it is. Only thing I can do is fix it. Guy seemed like a pretty honest guy but Im beginning to wonder! If anyone can give me some tips or help on what to try or what should do that would be great. Thanks for the help.

 

If the trans were locked up it wouldn't prevent the engine from turning. Every time you come to a stop the trans stops turning and the engine keeps running.

 

I actually had a car before which had recently a motor replacement, one day the engine seemed locked up. No indication on why, then when I decided to pull the engine and found the bolts on the flywheel had backed out and then snapped, preventing the engine to turn at all. Really unlikely thing to happen, but shows that it CAN happen..

 

Did you mean to say that the crank "wouldn't" budge?

Sounds like you've been had. The old "bad" starter excuse, just bring a tow truck with you when you give me the money.

I'd go back to him and get your money back or give him some piece of sledge hammer mind. Nothing better then seeing that front windshield bust on his new buggy.

 

I would pull all the plugs, then crank it over. May be hydro-locked, happened on my '98

 

Yes, assault with a deadly weapon and vandalism are ALWAYS the solution.... Joking aside, it's certainly possible that the truck's previous owner wasn't the brightest crayon in the box. Mine certainly wasn't, he ignored the even-important wheel stud/lug nut and trailer hitch hardware recalls for almost 20 years, despite having it serviced multiple times at the same Ford dealer where I had them taken care of today (I have the records now!). If $900 and 125k for a fullsize truck doesn't make you think "what's wrong with this picture?", then no amount of goodwill can help you. As the old proverb goes, "There's no such thing as a free lunch"

For the sake of comparison, my truck's previous owner originally wanted $900 for my 97 Expedition 4wd with the same 5.4L in it, and 288k on the clock. I gave him $500 for it and have had to put another $500 or so into it to address chronic neglect. Stuff like fresh spark plugs, fixing a broken ignition coil mount, shifter tube (this was known before purchase), set of new tires (missing patches of rubber...), fixing the headlights (dimmer switch was burnt to hell inside from badly corroded grounds) and the last oil change was sometime in 2012. Oh, and the spare tire had NEVER been touched, all the little rubber spiny spike things were still on it. Same with the owners manual, never been opened.

Anyway, it's better to have neglect than someone lacking in the IQ department try and 'fix' it because Autozone is next door. A time-tested lesson from the RX7club is this: DO NOT PURCHASE ELECTRICAL PARTS FROM THE PARTS STORE. Ever had a car 'talk' to you like Lassie? I have, and it said "If you put an autozone starter in me again, I will kick you in the nuts.". This NEW Autozone starter cranked at less than 1/4 of the bare minimum needed to start, a whole 70 RPM. Yes, Seventy RPM and it sounded like Lassie.
As for Alternators, "Dead or Dying On Arrival" is their motto as well. A rusted to hell original american made part after 20 years of daily use is still better than shiny brand new chinese garbage.

No, a junk transmission will not prevent the engine from turning over, unless the torque converter has locked up as well. Automatics do this by design for fuel economy since torque converters transmit motion by convection using two impellers. Easy way to tell if a torque converter has locked up is to start the engine and try putting it in either drive or reverse. A locked up Torque Converter will stall the engine. Happened to me on my first car.

PB Blaster will be your best friend and ally here. I'd suggest trying to turn the engine over manually from the crank hub with a socket and breaker bar. If and how car it turns over will tell you quite a bit about what's going on inside the engine.

 

Both directions?