2003 chevy cavalier, engine seized?

i was driving my car back home after a short drive to the store and my car stalled and i started it back up and it continued to stall(no check engine light was comming on or oil light if there is one) i finally got it back home and it will not start now, i asked a friend to come look at it and he said it could be the starter, as he was checking on that he said there was a hole in my oil pan, which of course i did not see, i replaced the starter just in case and it did not start and he also replaced the oil pan and put oil in as it was completly dry(4 quarts). it still makes the same noise when i try to start it with a jump and a new battery, when i turn the key all of the dash lights go dead, so i am unsure what to do next if my engine is seized or maybe something else i can hopefully check or replace for cheaper

The engine is history. Start shopping.

A bone dry engine will sel destruct rapidly. Yours did. The noise you hear is probably the poor starter trying to turn a seized engine over…just before it sucks all the juice from the battery from its struggle.

thats what i was thinking but before getting a used engine from a junk yard i just wanted some opinions

You can try turning it over by hand with a socket wrench on the balancer just to make sure but no oil is a big problem. Hard to believe though the oil light didn’t come on. Does it come on now when you just turn the key to “on”? It should unless it is burned out. The warning lights come on for a short time every time you start the engine just to show you that they all work. Its a good idea to pay attention to them in case there is a problem with them. The lights all go off when you turn the key to the start position in order to provide all of the battery power just to the starter for the start and is normal. A starter would not be a correct diagnoses for an engine that just died.

I agree w/@Bing, the first thing to do is put a socket and ratchet on the crank shaft pulley bolt, and see if the crank will turn. If it won’t, then remove the spark plugs and try it again. It should turn quite easily if the spark plugs are out? Still won’t turn? Well, it could be something simple like a broken oil pump jamming the works, or something else jammed, like the timing belt, but most probably the engine needs to be completely rebuilt.

Don’t despaire completely though. A rebuilt engine is probably already sitting somewhere waiting for you to order it. Or there might be one in a junkyard with many miles left on it. In either case, replacing an engine isn’t overly expensive. Compared with purchasing a newer car I mean.

yup the engine or the oil light did not come on initially because i would of stopped driving it right away, now when i try to start it and even turn the key the engine check light and the battery light stay on

But does the oil light also come on when you turn the key along with the check engine light and battery light? It should. Otherwise there is a problem with the warning light like bulb, wires, sensor, etc. that cost you an engine.

The battery and check engine light are supposed to come on when the key is in the “on” position, but the engine isn’t running. If that is what you are seeing, that is what it is supposed to do. This is to allow the driver to verify the indicator light bulbs haven’t burned out.

If the check engine or battery (or oil, brake, coolant temp, etc) indicator lights come on when the engine is running, then immediate att’n is required.

If there is a hole in the oil pan, it may be covered by either comprehensive or collision insurance. I say this because my son hit a tool in the road left by a road crew. It put a hole in his oil pan and transmission pan. He stopped the car right away and had it towed. The good news is that was covered by insurance. The bad news is that the insurance company said that it was his collision that would cover it (not the comprehensive as I thought it should) and he had a $500 deductible. The repair cost was $510 so he didn’t file a claim. Your insurance may be better and cover the damage under the comprehensive as it would do if you hit a deer.

@Triedaq Collision covers dead animals and objects and comprehensive covers live animals. When I hit my raccoon it was covered by my comprehensive even though it was dead after I hit it. That’s the way it was explained to me so try to hit live stuff if you can.

If there was a hole in your oil pan the engine is done for. Period.

the oil light never came on and now when i turn the key to try to start it it does not come on either

I hope you saved the oil pan. If you hit something and it put the hole in the pan your insurance may cover it. I hit a pice of steal and put a hole in the transmission pan. I was covered. Check it out, it may save you some money.

yea it sucks i dont have insurance, i guess i will be getting a used engine

If you don’t have insurance then park any and all cars you have until you get covered. Period.
What’s your plan if you get in an accident? Are you independently wealthy? You’d better be.
You won’t be after an accident.

I know I sound harsh. I may get flagged. Tough.
If you can’t afford insurance then the rest of us can’t afford to share the road with you.

Maybe he meant he just has the required liability insurance. In class with my agent Wednesday, he went through the scenerio of a 35 year old making 50K a year being killed and the settlement on income alone would be well over 1 million. The required liability coverage is something like $25K in Minnesota. The rest they come after your assets or future income for. People really need an umbrella policy unless they want to risk being chased down and indebted their whole lives.

found an engine for a thousand bucks, anybody wanna borrow me some moola becuase i am not independently wealthy as of yet