Picked up an '04 R53 that was sitting for a very long time. I've been trying to diagnose engine issues recently, as the car refuses to start. When I put the key in the ignition and turn it two clicks, I get full power to all internal electrical components (lights, dash gauges, etc.) and an audible hum which I believe is the fuel pump. However, when I turn the key in an attempt to start the car, I get one single solid click and the electrical internals dim for a second, but the car won't start and the electricals all come back on. I know the car had been sitting for a while and I'm aware that there's a myriad of things that could be wrong.

I started with the battery, but the car has been hooked up to a trickle charger that has filled it up and even when I tried to jump it or used a battery from my running R53 it still has the same issue.

Tried manually turning the crank pully today, but it refused to budge, so I'm thinking it might be rusted; I'm hoping to check the alternator and other pulleys as well to see if they're seized. Heard removing the spark plugs might make this easier?

Here's a YouTube video of the starting symptom noises:
Any other specific suggestions/recommendations on how to proceed would be greatly appreciated. If I can't get this sorted I'll probably have to just part her out, and it'd be sad to take another R53 off the road.

 

One of two things:

1 - the starter motor isn't turning, it could just be that the solenoid isn't throwing the gear out to engage with the flywheel
2 - the motor is seized - I don't like the sound of not being able to turn the crank pulley, although it's pretty hard to turn those by hand

Is it a 6MT or an auto? If 6MT you could always try pushing it along the road in neutral and when you have some speed pop it into second and drop the clutch. Of course it it's seized that would put a lot of stress on lots of components, but it will also let you know if the motor internals will move...

Ian

 

Squirt some oil in each cylinder via the spark plug holes and let that sit awhile. You should be able to turn the crank. You just need to get leverage with a breaker bar and/or pipe extension. I would do that initially with the plugs out so there's no compression.

 

Manual or auto trans?
Do you know why it's been 'sitting'?

There's a pretty good thump at the 40sec mark - it sounds to me like the starter trying to engage.
So the engine could be 'stuck'.
Try taking the plugs out, a squirt of WD40 in each cylinder, put a chalk mark on a pulley, put the car in gear & rock it backward & forward just a few feet - might free it up.
(Similar to Ian's idea but less stressful!).

 

I'd do what MVPeters suggests, but just in case you don't realize, you want a high gear, not a low one. So put it in fourth or even sixth and try to push it. The engine should turn.

 

Its a 2004 S, so its manual

 

Thanks for all the advice – I'll try pulling the spark plugs and putting WD-40 or Oil into each cylinder today. It's a 6MT so I will probably then try putting it into a high gear and pushing it back and forth first, and if that fails to work I'll likely try pushing it down a driveway and popping it into gear. After pulling the coil and wires I noticed there's a little rust in one of the cylinders, looks like surface rust but I was surprised to see that given its a CA car and wasn't sitting with an open hood or anything. It's been sitting for a while because it was passed off between a bunch of parties and ended up in the hands of a guy who planned to fix it but didn't end up doing so. I figure the gas is probably bad as well and that the oil is probably gunked up, so I might try changing those soon as well.

Update: Got more info from the original owner. He said the car hasn't run since 2015 and that it has low compression – Any idea if that would play into the engine not starting at all? Sorry for all the questions, I'm very new to this and only know what I've been able to read online thus far.

 

Update: Marked the crankshaft pully with chalk and tried rocking the car in 6th - car rocks to some extent but won't budge forward, and the crankshaft pulley wouldn't move at all. Seems like the engine might just be seized.

 

I'd keep trying. Until the engine turns there's no point worrying about the gas or oil.
If the PO knew about low compression, the engine must have been turning over, so I think it's 'stuck' rather than 'seized'.
Try some more WD or PB or Kroil or diesel soaking in the plug holes & try again. 3rd gear was always the traditional one for bump-starting!
You do need some speed - 10mph or so - can you tow it any distance?

 

Marvel Mystery Oil is what people use to unstick engines. WD-40 is not a penetrating oil but more a water dispersent.
Leave the plugs out so you don't hydro lock the engine.

 

Low compression likely is not a good thing. Combined with rust in the cylinder would make me suspect a head gasket (water leaking into the cylinder from the cooling system). The thing is, head gaskets don't just fail, so something must've happened to it, and most of those kinds of things can be hard to recover from.

Ian