Engine that won't turn over

Aug 7 21:27 UTC 1998

We finally got the hood on my truck open last night and tried to jump start
it.  The truck hasn't been driven since March or April, and has a dead
battery.  At least, I thought that was the extent of the problem.

When we tried to jump start it, the engine wouldn't turn over.  I would turn
the igniton key and the truck would shake a bit, while the interior lights
would go completely dark.  The starter motor would make a noise like it was
starting to turn the engine over, not getting very far, and then not being
able to move it any farther.  My immediate thought was the clutch not
releasing, but I tried putting the truck into neutral and still had this
problem.  I stopped after four or five tries, not wanting to damage it
further.  The jumper cables were extremely hot a that point, so it must have
been sucking a lot of current.

Is my engine likely to be dead, or is there something else I should be trying
on this?  I have until Monday to get it out of the parking lot at my old
apartment.

response 2 of 19:

Aug 9 04:03 UTC 1998

  I was going to suggest the rolling start, but I thought the better of it
when I read of the motor not wanting to turn over. My dad was a big fan of
the rolling start. He usually could be found in cruddy vehicles.
  I'm glad it's working. 

response 4 of 19:

Aug 10 10:33 UTC 1998

I doubt that stuck cylinders was your problem.  If it had been stuck cylinders
the tires would have stopped turning the instant you let out the clutch.  More
likely is that there was too much resistance in your jumper cables.  Starters
draw a lot of current!  Like 100 amps or more.  Even .1 ohms of resistance
in the combination of both jumpers and their connections will drop 10 volts!
That doesn't leave much to crank the motor with.

When jump starting a car, it is best to hook up the cables and then let the
running cars alternator put a bit of a charge into the dead cars battery. 
Rev the engine on running car a little bit, for about a minute, to do this.
With the jumpers still connected and the running cars engine reving a
little, crank the dead cars starter.  You will have a much higher success
rate starting dead cars like this.  You want to rev the running cars
engine a bit because alternators don't put out much charging current at
idle.  They do much better when the engine is at about 2,000 to 2,500 rpm.

response 6 of 19:

Aug 11 10:55 UTC 1998

Yeah, that was the intent.  I didn't care about actually roll starting
(although I've done that a fair amount in the past), but unsticking whatever
had been stuck.  Wouldn't want to do that very often!

response 8 of 19:

Aug 16 20:39 UTC 1998

Ok, now I'm confused.

A week ago, after getting the cylindars unstuck, we jump started it and it
started right up, no problem.  The starter motor seemed fine.  The electrical
connectivity to it seemed fine.  Later, without jumper cables, it wouldn't
start at all.  The lights wouldn't turn on either.  Dead battery.  That's
easy.

Today I replaced the battery.  I can turn the lights on, so I'm assuming I
did that right.  However, when I turn the key in the ignition, nothing
happens.  Is there something obvious that I'm missing?

response 10 of 19:

Aug 17 07:22 UTC 1998

No, lights don't dim.  It's really that I turn the key and nothing happens.
No light dimming, no noise, no anything.  I woudl have thought that if it were
trying to do anything, even with not nearly enough current, I would hear
something, wouldn't I?

I haven't tried jump starting it yet.  I should try that sometime in the next
few days.

response 12 of 19:

Aug 21 22:24 UTC 1998

Blown fusible link?  Do they still use those gawdawful things?  They were
always a bear to find.  I've always been amazed at how much an oxidized
connection screws things up, even with a perfectly good battery.  Maybe
the starter switch is bad?  Dunno.

response 14 of 19:

Sep 4 04:34 UTC 1998

This wasn't the problem when Scott was looking at it.  At that point, it had
stuck cylinders and a dead battery.  We got the cylinders unstuck, and it
jumpstarted fine.  This happened a week later, after I replaced the battery.

response 16 of 19:

Sep 5 13:18 UTC 1998

I suggest that Scott, Klaus, and Jim all go over to look at it at the same
time, and maybe the truck will be scared into starting.
What is a stuck/unstuck cylinder?

response 18 of 19:

Sep 8 15:48 UTC 1998

What sorts of things are likely to go wrong with a vehicle that is rarely
driven?  We know about the electrical connections getting rusty so that the
headlights do not work.