Hi, I'm new to the forum and I've got a bit of a problem. I recently purchased a '97 ram 1500 4x4 sport but she wont start, its an automatic with the 5.9l magnum with 140k miles. When i try to start it i hear a pretty solid 'clunk' down by the starter, checking for various possibilities i decided id take the serpentine belt off and make sure none of the pulleys with seized up. They all spun freely but i noticed that by hand i couldn't turn the crank pulley more then an inch, figured all right it's probably the compression keeping it solid. So i threw the belt back on and had a friend try to crank her while i watched the pulleys. Heard the 'clunk' again and noticed the belt would go about an inch forward then go right back to where it started. I'm planning to pull the starter this evening when i get home from work and have it tested, i already took the battery and alternator in just to be safe and they both checked out fine. I'm wondering if anyone has any idea what might be going on with this truck. I bought it non-running and the info i was given was that she just stopped running and hasn't ran since which happened in late April. I'm hoping she isn't seized up or spun a bearing :/. Any insight would be GREATLY appreciated as this is the first truck I've ever worked on and only the second I've ever owned, more of a supra/z guy :$.

thanks again guys,
John

 

You won't be able to turn the engine by hand, with the spark plugs in, for the reasons you already stated.

Probably just a bad starter. You can have it tested, but, that is not always 100%. Try rapping on the side of the starter solenoid a couple times, and then try and crank it. If you have a friend handy, have them turn the key, while you give the solenoid a couple love taps. If that cranks the engine, you can replace just the solenoid, or, just put a whole new starter on it.

 

Well today we finally pulled the starter (unfortunately its been raining all week) and i got it tested. Test came back good. Tomorrow, assuming its not raining, i'm gonna pull the spark plugs, and try to turn the flywheel with a flat head to check for missing teeth. If i don't find missing teeth and shes actually turning fine i figure itll be time to go through all the grounds and see what the hells actually going on...oh and thank you for the response HeyYou, if you have any other ideas please let me know it's much appreciated.

Thanks,
John

 

if the starter is "good" then its gotta be with the flywheel or maybe the trans dont think its in park. try puttin it in neutral and all that? rock it back and forth? just a thought...

 

Appreciated the idea I'll definitely try that.

Thanks,
John

 

so went to pull the spark plugs on the truck earlier tonight and the one closest to the drivers side firewall is...for lack of a better word, smashed...ideas as usual are quite welcome. im gonna pull the valve cover tomorrow and see if im missing one lol...but this spark plug seriously looks like someone put it in a vice and whacked the eletrode with a claw hammer at an angle, definitely metal on metal contact, and most of the ceramic is somewhere in the cylinder as well >.< so i figure if im missing a valve ill just go ahead and pull the head and see if the motors done for (probably) any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again,
John

 

If something were inside the cylinder, it would make all sorts of noise when the engine was running. Probably got blown out the exhaust valve.

Run a compression test, see what ya get. Easier than pulling valve covers.

Is/was it the correct plug?

 

Wrong plug actually however it was slightly shorter then the ones that actually belonged, clearance should have been fine, still annoying though lol

 

May have been destroyed by pre-ignition as well. Not necessarily mechanical contact. (one can hope, right?) Being recessed into the hole too far is as bad as sticking out to far.

 

appreciate the hope mate, im hoping for the best, outta curiousity if im lucky enough nothing is destroyed except the plug whats the best way i should go about getting the pieces of ceramic out of the motor?