This happened a few years ago, but it still bothers me. i was driving home after workit was a nice cool night. when the water pump gave out and I lost the belt too. The exhaust manifold was glowing bright red.
I got it towed home and bought a new water pump and belt, put them on and the engine wouldn't start. What could have happened to the motor, that would not let it start? Could the timing have gotten messed up, or maybe burned up the plugs? It's just bothering me, it is a great little car, and I was hoping maybe I could get it back on the road. i have a feeling it's not going to be something easy to fix.

 

OK, year, model, engine and trans info will help get model-specific help--it it is to be found here on a Ford site.

Basic checks are in order:

Fuel--if a carb, look in there as you work the throttle and check for accelerator pump action. For EFI, that's going to be tougher.

Spark--pull a plug, ground it, and have someone crank the motor as you watch for spark.

Basic timing check.

Is this OBD II? Read codes.

Fluids--check oil and coolant for contamination.

Visual/audio clues--leaks, noises, especially in the head and head gasket areas, and while cranking.

Compression test.

Overheating can warp heads or valves, cause blown head gaskets, sometimes wipe out the ability of the rings to seal, kill ignition and other electical items if they heat up enough, a host of wonderful things.

 

Ok well the make and model are in my sig down below. Anyways it's an 87 Toyota Tercel. Carbed 1.5 liter, 4 speed.
At the time I didn't have enough time to work on it, so i bought my 93 F-250 to get around. I did check all the fluids when I got it home. I also checked the oil when the engine quit, there was no oil on the dip stick. But when I was working on it, I checked it again. The oil was black, so i changed it. What was left of the coolant before I changed the water pump was still greenm no oil in it.
As far as I know, there is no computer on it. I never checked the carb for gas, and like I said before, I didn't have enough time to thouroghly check things out. Actually the thought of checking the plugs just came to me a week ago. so obviously I didn't check them then.
I'm just guessing, if the engine still cranks over, but doesn't start, that the the engine hasn't siezed up. I don't have any place to work on it anymore, so I dont know how I can check compression and anything else major. Right now it's sitting in my friend's field til i can find someplace to work on it.

 

Oh boy, glowing red exhaust is usually not good. The engine should have been showing signs of stress(slowing down, rough) well before glowing red since you had no oil on the dipstick and a dead pump. So going to red probably did some damage, unless the exhaust is made out of beer cans.

Did the engine sieze when it was hot? Did it crank after it was cooled down?

From reading it sounds like it has sat in a field for a few years?

There are two parts to an answer, 1) Just after failure and 2) years later.

Wild guess is that the engine did sieze while hot or at least damaged the rings. NO oil on the dipstick is really bad especially if you overheated as described.

If the engine has sat for a few years, it probably had no oil in the cylinders due to overheating and or just sitting. This may have led to rust in the cylinders.

So, first thing is does it crank over? If it didn't or doesn't then you have problems in the cylinder or a dead battery or dirty connections.

Your problems right after stopping were piston ring damage or seriously overheating ignition components.

Change the plugs. Most likely the timing belt etc is probably OK except for old age. If the belt snapped then nothing will work.

After years...

Since it is carburated, you probably have the carb gummed up from sitting a few years. Ditto if it happens to be injected. Also the fuel filter may be gummed up and the gas tank probably has nasty sludge in it now.

The ignition wiring may be corroded from sitting, so check connections to the coil, distributor etc.

Before trying to start it I would squirt some oil into each cylinder, about 1 table spoon or so. Crank the engine WITHOUT PLUGS to spread the oil. Then put in plugs and see if it starts. If not then you need to look for issues with fuel or ignition.

All this work should be doable just standing next to the car. Shouldn't need a garage other than for comfort and convenience.

Running with low oil and no cooling is a sure way to cause engine damage. The question is... is it fatal right away or is it a slow death due to scored cylinders.

Good Luck,

Jim Henderson

 

Aluminum head, massive overheat, and now no fire? It sounds like you blew the head gasket and warped the head, especially if it sounds like it's spinning over fast and smooth.

 

annealed the rings?