Let's play "how screwed am I?"

So here's what it sounds like:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/s9zgcrdienpqo02/Bessie start 1.MOV?dl=0

You've got to listen close; I was in the cab. It's quite a bit louder than it sounds here.

I tried to get it from outside the cab, but it wouldn't even turn over:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/6k9xqtmw0nwdkjy/Bessie start 2.MOV?dl=0

 

Well, heck. I wish I'd seen this before I tried again. This is the sort of info I was looking for.

 

I hate to say this but that sounds locked up !!!!!

 

Pull the oil pan drain plug and if you had water fill a cylinder (s) you will see water come out prior to any oil as water is heavier !!!

 

Not turning over isnt a good sign unfortunately.

I would pull the plugs and try to turn it over. See what comes out of the cylinders. With any luck your old starter and battery isnt strong enough to cause any internal damage, if the engine was actually hydraulically locked.

And maybe drain the oil like @US Marine said. See what comes out of there too.

 

So it froze to death.

I had it towed to my mechanic, and he got it started, but it's spitting coolant out of the tailpipe. Likely the head is cracked. He recommends a whole new (used) engine, because there's no telling how much more damage there is.

 

Ouch, sorry to hear that

 

Has it ever overheated at some point over it's life? Not common to hear about this happening on a 3.4l, unless it overheated at some point

 

Damn, that sucks. Improper mix of coolant and it literally froze, or just bad luck whit something else?

 

In its life? No idea. I've only owned it for about a year. No overheating issues since then, though the coolant was getting a bit low. I never added any, because I was still figuring out what I should add, and in the meantime we had 12°F nights. I guess the existing antifreeze wasn't up to the job.

 

Must be the former. I never added coolant to it; it had been getting low, but I didn't think it was urgent.

 

So—any thoughts? Advice? Is he right that I should get a new engine, or can I replace the head and test the rest?

 

How mechanically inclined are you? If not so much, then how much are you willing to spend on this project?

To answer your question directly, if nothing else is jacked up as the result of cranking with fluid in the cylinders, then theres no reason why that wont fix it

 

When you say "Can I" do you mean "Can he"?

You're going to have to trust your mechanic or your own skills at some point.

 

Depends whats actually cracked. Most times the pressure cracks the cylinder walls. could be the head but could be asking for more trouble. also if it compressed the liquid in the cylinder it could have bent a rod or even the crank...prob cost more to fix that engine than it would get a new "used" one.

 

I'm willing to do the work if I can afford the tools, etc., and it's within reason for me to do, but the question is, how do I find out if there are other problems?

I've turned into a half-decent shadetree mechanic out of financial necessity, but I've never delved into an engine before, so I don't know what I'm getting myself into.

 

It's not about skill, it's about what's possible (or reasonably feasible). My mechanic seems to think there's no real (economical?) way to find out if there's further damage, so we might as well get a new engine. Is that the case? Or is there another way?

 

Yank it out, totally strip it down, and inspect everything. That's about the ONLY way to be sure you can spot EVERYTHING that's wrong...or WILL go wrong in another couple of thousand miles...

 

yep exactly. Only way to see what happened is to take it out completely and take it all apart. If its something major such as bent rod it will show up as soon as you start it