Can a bad throw out bearing seize engine?

[kat]

I have a 302 with a manual 3 speed. I drove it to work today (about an hour) and close to the end of my trip I heard my throw out bearing squeeking/knocking. I could put my foot on clutch pedal and feel it vibrate with the noise I was hearing. When I got to work I had it in neutral and revved engine...no noise.
Coming back from work the noise got worse and worse. I never had to change gears but still like before, I could rest my foot on clutch pedal and feel the noise it was making. When I finally had to slow down to change gears when I pushed in the clutch the engine shut off. I didn't hear a loud pop or anything unusual other than the racket of the throw out bearing. I coasted to the side of the road and try to turn the engine over and the starter is making a loud click but the engine is not turning over. I can put the tranny in neutral and the Bronco will roll. I put the tranny in a gear and it will not roll. Tapped on the starter a few times until my buddy came and picked me up but still nothing. Starter didn't feel warm at all. So the ol girl is sitting along side the road right now and going in the morning (with daylight) and try to take starter off and see if I can turn engine over with a pull bar. I"m HOPING the throw out bearing has something jammed up but I have never encountered something like this. In the past when bearing goes the clutch pedal hits the floor and you have to limp home in what ever gear you can get it in...Any help will be great...thanks

 

[blubuckaroo]

Sounds like a component of the clutch came apart. Reminds me of the car I worked on that had all the flywheel bolts fall out and the flywheel fell off.

 

[Bferrari]

A throw out bearing in itself will not seize your engine. If your engine is seized it is likely something else. Before getting too worried, pull the dipstick and smell the oil. When motors seize it is commonly because of overheating and the oil will smell burnt. Fingers crossed that it is only the tranny and possibly charging system issue (leading to a dead battery). Good luck.

 

[ared77]

I know someone who bought an old Chevy van cheap because it had a locked up engine. He started to check it out closer, when he got it home, and found all it was just a bolt that had backed out of flex-plate and locked it up. Easy fix, and engine was fine!

Good luck!

 

[Teal68]

Oh boy! I hope it ain't nothing wrong from when I put the clutch in! I agree with others that the clutch or bearing would not size the engine. It's either the engine or debris trapped in the bell housing or tranny. I had a piece of the steel that holds one of the smaller coil springs in the clutch plate come loose one time. It ended up jamming between the teeth of the flywheel and starter. Was running fine and was seized next time I went to crank. Was an easy fix, but had me concerned at first.

Keep us posted!

 

[Broncobowsher]

Remember that the throwout bearing should not even be touching the clutch fingers with your foot off the pedal. Even if it does touch (most modern hydraulic clutches do touch) it is only a touch. A bad throwout bearing makes the most noise when the clutch is released (pedal down) as that is where it is loaded the most. I've known trucks to destroy a throwout bearing and still deliver the goods. Start in gear and shift without the clutch.

I'm guessing the engine was going south. Probably a thrust bearing as part of it. As you press the clutch you load the endplay on the crank. You were feeling in the clutch pedal the thrust bearing going out.

Go to the front of the motor and look at the crank pulley carefully. Is it pushed forward slightly?

 

[gotdads68]

I had a starter freeze in the engaged position on mine once from the bendix spring failing and allowing the drive gear to ride on the flywheel until failure, It felt/sounded like like the engine siezed. I had to actually pry the starter out of the bellhousing but then just replaced it and all was good. Sounds like with your starter not being hot that's probably not the case. Hopefully your issue is something not too serious.

 

[kat]

Tyler Im sure its nothing you did...
Thanks for ideas. I agree it really don't sound like the throw out bearing locked my engine up but MAYBE there is a chance (like was said debris) has the starter jammed. I hoping for the best. Headed to the side of the road with some tools to see what I might can find out. I did check the oil when it happened, there was no bad smell and I had plenty of oil pressure while I was driving, I kept a close look at that....

 

[Casey4wd]

This is a complete guess, but I wonder if the clutch is not disengaging and making the starter try to turn the engine/transmission and drive train. If you have not already, you should check all the linkages to make sure the rest of the clutch system is in good order.

 

[half cab]

I just hope it's still there! I couldn't leave my Bronco overnight on the side of the road.

 

[Teal68]

I have been talking to him and texting....Bronco was still there so that's good.

He pulled the starter and nothing was jammed. He also had the starter tested and it's good. Even with the tranny in neutral or clutch pushed in he still can't get the motor to rotate.

 

[Broncobowsher]

Time to pull the engine. Even if it is just a clutch (which I am doubting at this point) you need to get into the clutch anyway. If the transmission holds in gear and rolls in nuetral, pretty good sign that isn't the problem. If I were having an F-it moment I would be tempted to pop the clutch in 3rd gear on a rolling start and see what happens.

 

[blubuckaroo]

Sounds like loose clutch pieces wedged between the flywheel and bell housing.
You may be able to see it with a mirror & light through the clutch lever or starter hole.

 

[Justafordguy]

.Bronco was still there so that's good.

Yeah, that's good. ;D

I would have been camping out on the side of the road if mine died, no way I could leave it.

 

[kat]

Yeah...it was a tough decision to leave it but it was in a well lighted area and I figured if no one could get it cranked..

Anyway...UPDATE....finaly got it back to the house....Like Tyler said...starter is fine..didn't see any debris, pulled back the clutch boot and looked and nothing looked out of place. But I put a pull handle on the crank shaft and try to turn the motor. It will turn about a quarter turn (in nutrual) and stops. When it stops I can see the harmonic balancer moving about 1/4 inch............not good..........guess I need to start looking for a crate engine......and guess paint job will have to wait....

 

[Teal68]

If it will turn a quarter of a turn by hand then I don't think the motor is siezed. Something else is going on. Just not sure what....something between the flywheel and block and flywheel and bellhousing maybe????

 

[Bferrari]

Pull your plugs and look at them. Reading the plugs is a good start. My second move would be to drain the oil and cut open the filter. Look for any signs of metal. This would be an immediate pull and replace situation if metal if found. The last thing I would do is pull the valve covers and make sure none of the valves are hung. Bent valve could keep you from rotating over and could be an indication that the timing chain let loose.

 

[kat]

Drained oil and looked fine...checked plugs and they looked fine (except for one, seems to running lean, probably a bad valve), took off valve covers and looked fine. So decided to take oil pan off.....did not look fine.....broke the crankshaft in 2 right behind the first set of pistons. So Tyler it was your clutch after all the caused the problem............to much grab.....LOL

 

[Skiddy]

ouch, how many miles on the engine. time to upgrade now;D

 

[El Kabong]

Edit -I apparently missed reading page 2 entirely. Sorry to hear how deep it was. Deleting clearly wrong info.