Hey guys, new to the forum. Recently went from a third gen Z28 to a 2001 Trans Am WS6. I am located in South Carolina currently, and if you've been following the news, you know we've had a little bit of rain lately. Unfortunately, as I am going to college out here, my car sits outside with no cover. On Monday, I go out to start my car for the first time since Saturday evening. Up until Monday, everything with the car was great. I hop in, put the transmission in neutral, clutch in, turn key (lights, gauges, etc. all reading and acting completely normal) and all goes well for two seconds before I here a loud CRACK BANG. Terrified, I immediately stop cranking the car.






I crawl under the car and see that the starter has just killed itself, cracking the little bolt ear that holds the short bolt. Worried that the block might've cracked as well, I take the starter off and see that the block is absolutely fine. The starter mounting ear just falls right off. So, I go to autozone and buy myself a starter, just some cheapo Duralast. When I get back, I pull all the spark plugs and the airbox. I check both for any signs of water, thinking I might have some hydrolock on my hands. The #3 spark plug is indeed wet, but only slightly and all others are perfectly dry. The airbox/filter/throttle body/intake are all dry as a bone. Crossing my fingers, I install the new starter to try and force the water out of the spark plug holes. When I go to turn it over, it gives me a slight grinding noise and then just stops dead, with the key turned all the way as if I'm cranking it. No THUNK or CLUD or anything like it hit something, just stops. I stop cranking it, go below the car, remove the starter, look it over. reinstall torqueing both bolts appropriately and examining all wiring connections. Everything looks normal.
Before I go to crank it again, I clean up my battery terminals. They look shiny now and the headlights, interior lights, and radio work great. So I go to crank the car, and the starter just spins, or at least sounds like it's spinning. Go under the car, reinstall it again and go over everything, same thing. Just spins. Now, after every unsuccessful cranking, when I turn the key all the way to off as if to remove it, my speedo and tach gauge needles simultaneously go to about 3/4 around their respective circles and then go back to rest. This happens relatively quickly and has NEVER EVER EVER happened before.
I need help fellas. Is my engine hydrolocked? I don't know because I can't even turn it over (very limited on tools right now, can't turn it by hand) and even if I could, my starter won't engage. What gives? Any advice?

 

might have ripped teeth off of the flywheel. I bet it was hydrolocked from the rain. you need to put a breaker bar on the harmonic balancer bolt and see if you can turn it over by hand.

 

Your intake manifold bolts are loose too, that how the water got in.

 

I'll check the intake bolts. The flywheel's teeth seem to be fine, at least the part of it that I can see through the starter's hole.

 

Pull all the spark plugs, and spin the motor over by hand. Get back to us with the results

 

Alright so I went out and got a 24mm socket and spun the engine by hand, it spun rather freely! Maybe I'm out of the woods with the super bad stuff. However, that being said, the starter still will not engage. It just spins, or sounds like it is. I thought these LS1 starters were simple, two bolts, tighten them up, and go on your way. But it won't line up, I guess.

 

Just be patient when installing .or return it for a new one

 

Well you may of killed the new starter... Did you pull the plugs and make multiple turns of the motor? If so did any water come out of the plug holes? Have you checked your oil level?

 

For the sake of anyone else having this issue: turned out to be a bad starter. That's the first non-AC Delco part I've attempted to put on my car, and it will be the last. From now on it's all AC Delco all the time. Never had bad luck with those guys, and they are worth the premium.