Wont Start!!!

[Disco 1]

So heres what happened. Basically i was driving and it just died. Nice and smooth, nothing rough. I just noticed the tach dropped to zero, then i listened really closely and didnt hear it running. So i stopped and turned it off, popped the hood and looked around. It died once not too long ago because a emissions hose tore and all it took to get it running was to put the old one back on and my first thought was that this had gone again, but everything under the hood looked good. Tried jumping it off and nothing, I later charged the battery on 10 amps for like 36 hours and still nothing. The starter doesnt turn over trying to get it going when you turn the key. All it does is make a clunk sound as if something is physically in the way blocking something from rotating. Anyone have any ideas as to what it might be? Has this happened to anyone else before? Im probably going to drop the oil pan and take off the little bell housing cover and see how it looks under there when i get home tonight. Its hard to tell where the clunk is coming from, with three people standing around the engine they all point to a different place just cause of where theyre standing i guess.

Oh, and i was on the trail when this happened and had to get towed out by a friend in his jeep. About a mile and a half out the trail and another hour and a half back to town.

Thanks in advance.

[Disco 1]

any ideas?

[Disco Mike]

I would suggest you have your battery tested and then charged if it is still good.
The click sound you are hearing from the starter is a low voltage click from the solenoid.
Mike

[Disco 1]

good call, battery is good i believe, it seems to be holding a charge after i charged it up. took the starter to autozone and they said it failed all tests and i needed a new one. could the starter dieing hurt anything else? why did the truck die while i was driving? was the starter drawing power and ran the batt dead? thanks!

[Thor]

Originally Posted by Disco 1

Oh, and i was on the trail when this happened and had to get towed out by a friend in his jeep. About a mile and a half out the trail and another hour and a half back to town.

Thanks in advance.

How did you tow it?

If I remember correctly, N t-case and P transmission or the trans will be running without proper lubrication (don't ask me how, just something I tried to memorize 'just in case'). I think the disaster I heard about was a LR being towed behind a motor home incorrectly.

This could be the clunk.

No idea about the engine.... sorry.

[Disco 1]

when they bench tested the starter it made the same clunk sound, today i took my alternator in and its dead too, thinking about getting a mean green but i didnt see discos listed on the website. i bought a starter for $200 w/ tax. lifetime warranty

i towed it with both the transmission and transfer case in neutral, should it be ok?

thanks!

[Disco 1]

yeah so those were symptoms of the problem, not the actual problem

new starter and alternator, battery is charged and it still makes the same clunk, now i think the starter is engaging and slamming against the fly wheel which wont move. The engine will not turn over using a 250 ft/lb torque wrench thats about two feet long. i suppose i could put a 5ft handle on it but if there is something mechanically broken that will only make things worse. so any ideas or most likely senarios??? things i didnt replace when i rebuilt were valves/springs and such, rocker arms, and oil pump. i would think those would be most likely since i rebuilt everything else 2k miles ago.

thanks guys

[Disco 1]

ok so i dropped the oil pan and everything looks fine from underneath. actually it looks really good still very clean. i also took off the valve covers. there appears to still be a valve inside every spring, but on two of the valves there is some kind of sleeve or maybe a seal that is around the stem of the valve (inside the spring) and it is loose. it can slide up and down. took the rocker arms off as well. then pulled all the plugs again and tried to turn it over by hand. it would turn just a little and then it would get stuck. then i could turn it a little backwards but then it would stop again. Also i can see that the timing chain is still on the crank sproket, but i cant see up to the cam sprocket. So it could still be a broken piece of the oil pump stopping it i guess. ill take off the front cover to see that and the rest of the timing set today. also a valve could have broken and the shaft could still be in position but the head? or whatever the actual valve part is called could be broken off, but there would have to be two of them broken to stop it from moving both ways i think. im still wondering if it could be something in the transmission broken. cause even though its in park or neutral the flywheel is still attached to the transmission so part of the transmission has to be spinning and so there could be something wrong there. So this is where i am so far. I have to get this thing running before august 10th when i go back to school

[Capt. Ron]

Your initial description sounded like a battery. I would have started there and then gone to the alt. Try a NEW battery. What about your fuel pump?

I beleive if something broke off inside you'd know it.

[Disco 1]

well when i pulled that front cover off and opened up the oil pump casing, lo and behold i found all twelve pieces of my oil pump inside. right where i left them. kinda

[Capt. Ron]

oh snap! So can you return the starter?