Have you tried rotating the crankshaft backward? If it goes a little way, then stops suddenly, the best suspect is a jumped timing belt.
I can't find a definite answer as to whether or not this is an "interference" engine. Some of my references say it is and some don't say one way or the other. It could be because there's two versions of this engine; a single overhead cam and a double overhear cam.
When an engine is turned off and coasts to a stop, it usually snaps backward at the end from the cylinder that has pressure building up in it on the compression stroke. That jolt can cause an old, worn timing belt to jump a few teeth, strip a few teeth off, or break. When any of those things happens on an interference engine, some of the valves will be partially open when the piston comes up on top dead center. Those valves stop the piston in its tracks.
When you have the single click from the starter solenoid, accompanied by the dim head lights during the attempted cranking, and the battery cables getting hot, those valves can be strong enough to block the piston's movement without being bent. For that reason, don't force the crankshaft to rotate. You may solve this with nothing more than a new timing belt and tensioner devices and pulleys. Some starters are strong enough to bend the valves, then you'll have a much more expensive repair. The same damage occurs when the timing belt breaks while the engine is running. The valves stop moving, but the crankshaft and pistons take a few seconds to coast to a stop. That's when the valves get bent.
Here's the procedure for replacing the timing belt on the single overhead cam engine:
Images (Click to make bigger)
Sunday, June 9th, 2019 AT 7:49 PM
