Car will not start **NEED HELP**

[jazzystang]

Need some helpful advice. Car will not start. It doesn't even crank. I still get power to all of the car's electronics though. Car is a 2008 Mustang GT with a 5-speed. About 54K miles.​

List of mods are: ​

Pypes long tube headers​

Pypes shorty H-pipe & Pypes pype-bomb muffler delete​

No cats & no mufflers​

BBK CAI​

GT500 Throttle body​

RAM Clutch & RAM Steel Flywheel​

Hurst Billet Shifter​

SCT Bama Tune from American Muscle with 93 octane​

I was driving, then heard a loud screeching noise. I pulled over within a few blocks once I knew my car was making the noise. After I cut the car off, it never started back up again.​

Checked oil level...oil level is fine.​

Removed the battery and had it tested. Works fine.​

Checked all the battery terminal connections. All good.​

Removed the starter and had it tested. Works fine.​

Raised the rear wheels off the ground, put the car in neutral and rear wheels spun freely....so the problem isn't in the rear end gears.​

I tried to manually turn the crank from the front of the engine with a socket wrench, but crank did not budge. The car is in neutral, so the crank should turn freely....but it doesn't. I even removed the accessory pulley belt thinking maybe an accessory pulley froze. All pulleys spin freely....except for the crankshaft pulley.​

Something is preventing the crank & flywheel from turning and starting the car. At this point, I'm starting to think I might have internal engine damage or a broken oil pump. But before I start tearing my engine apart I want to get some insight on possible causes & solutions. Anyone has any insight?​

 

[tr7driver]

You have eliminated the front accessories and starter. I’d take a look at the throttle body to make sure it is intact and nothing was sucked in. Then I'd start looking to see if the starter solenoid is jamming, then move to a clutch/flywheel inspection before digging deeper into the engine.

 

[jazzystang]

Took my CAI and inspected the throttle body. Nothing wrong with the throttle body. Starter solenoid is not jamming either, works fine.
Some people have mentioned that my flywheel might be cracked or have loose bolts. Will need to take a look at the flywheel. Honestly, I hope the flywheel is the problem. That's an easier and cheaper fix than the engine itself.

 

[Noobz347]

Pull the plugs then check to see if can hand crank the motor.

 

[jazzystang]

Finally had time to work on this problem today.

Drained the motor oil. No metal shavings or debris in oil.
Pulled out all the spark plugs. Engine still won's turn by hand at the crankshaft pulley.

Any other suggestions before I start pull out the tranny and/or motor?

 

[jazzystang]

Good news!

My engine was not seized or locked up internally. Took the transmission out to find out one of my pressure plate bolts came loose and locked up the transmission/flywheel from turning. It must have got wedged up in the transmission somewhere. I was able to manually crank the engine by hand and it's turning. All I have to do now is replace all my pressure plate bolts and put everything back together.

My clutch/flywheel are fairly new and have less than 4K miles on them. So I do not plan on changing those parts. However, is it necessary for me to resurface the flywheel?

 

[95PGTTech]

Necessary? No. Advised? Yes.
Good job on the common sense method of diagnosis.