This morning, I woke up to 10-12 degrees temperature in the deep south of Columbus, GA. When tying to start my 2003 Dodge 2500 HD truck, it had trouble maintaining a consistent idle speed. I had to hold the gas pedal down a bit to keep in idling at 2000 - 3000 RPMs.

The truck stalled several times. Each time, I restarted with the idle really being rough. Eventually the Electronic Throttle Check light came on. Finally the truck stopped and would not start.

Thinking it might be the battery, I jumped the truck with my other vehicle. When trying to start, the engine would turn over, but make a really bad grinding/grating sound in the engine compartment. After several seconds, the engine stopped turning over.

I tried this 3-4 times (charging the battery with another vehicle and then trying to start) with the same results. Initially I thought perhaps the alternator was going bad, but now am suspecting that it may be the starter.

In addition, I did the test to find any DTS codes. All that came up was donE.

I would appreciate any thoughts from anyone on their thoughts!

 

Im in Albany so I can relate to the cold we have been having. With that being said, do you have good antifreeze in the rad/block and did you crank it up periodically to make sure it didnt freeze up?

 

I did not crank up the engine since Tuesday night when it started snowing. So it was down in the high teens by Wed morning, warmed up to about 34 degrees during the day and then down to low teens Thursday morning when I tried to start it.

I probably should check the antifreeze to see what the freezing point was. Kinda concerned that perhaps my block cracked. Is that what you're thinking?

 

Not so much as a cracked block but just maybe frozen pump or pulleys forced to turn?

Hard to say. But the temps are rising tomorrow. Let us know how it start and runs

 

We'll, the warmer weather did not make any difference. Will look into this tomorrow (Sat) in more detail to see if I can determine anything.

 

Could be moisture in the fuel lines causing rough idle then no start condition.
For your starter, the cold and hhot temps really tests a starters ability to function properly. It may not have been fully extended when starting and/or just had a hard time turning over a motor that is stiff/locked.
Cracked block wouldnt stop car from running. I have standard 50/50 mix and it's hit -10*F a number of times this year and -20*F twice. Haven't had an issue yet. Coolant takes a looooong time to freeze if your on the edge of its ability.

I would try to rotate your engine by hand using a socket on the crank pulley. See if you can rotate it 1/2 turn or so. May be tough if its nearing it's compression stroke so dont be too alarmed, but if you cannot rotate it at all, you have other problems.

 

Well, I took the alternator, starter and battery out and had them checked. Everything checks out ok, but battery could use some charging. Next step will be to see if I can turn the engine by hand. I tried this afternoon, using a socket wrench, but it was difficult. Did not turn much, so thought I would find something longer to insert the socket wrench into for more leverage.

Depending on whether it rains or not, I will do this tomorrow.

I guess if I cannot turn it with even more leverage, I will have to have it towed to a garage.

 

Quick question for someone who knows the answer. I tried turning the bolt on the crankshaft pulley, but turned it counter clockwise (looking at the pulley from the front). The bolt turned, but the pulley did not. Wondering if I was actually loosening the bolt, and should have been turning the bolt clockwise?

Thought about this hours after the fact, so I thought I would ask the question to confirm before i tried turning again.

 

Latest news is that my engine is broke. A broken rod or something. Have decided to get a reman engine to replace it. Big bucks!

 

So maybe the block was frozen and when you hit the starter it broke it loose, literally?

So before the cold freeze, it ran fine?