Seized engine my car was left at the side of the road for 4months because i lost my keys.i took it to the garage for new keys yesterday and they said it wouldnt start.they tried charging it but that didnt work.they said the engine is proberly seized.is there any way to get my car to start.thanks rob

I\'m not familiar with Fiats in particular, but what I am saying below should be rather generic for almost all cars.



If they are saying that it appears to be seized up, I assume that means that the starter doesn\'t crank the engine.

My first question would be this ...... do you know that your battery is still good. A battery can "short" from just setting idle for extended periods like that. Particularly if it were a few years old. When someone tries to jump it, it will show that it\'s charging at a high rate, when all you are doing is heating it up. Be careful. At that point, shorted batteries give off a very explosive hydrogen gas. If you get a spark when connecting the jumper cables, that might be all it takes to set it off. You may want to try a different battery. Make sure it\'s fully charged before putting trying to start the car again.



If the engine still does not crank I would look at two other possibilities. The first is this: Is the starter "locked"? Sometimes when attempting to start a car, the gear teeth on a starter drive instead of meshing, where normally one tooth on the drive fits between two others on the flywheel, the teeth of the two gears actually try to touch tips. This stops the cranking of the starter instantly and gives the impression that the engine is locked. It can happen in cold weather, or if those parts have some wear, or with low cranking voltage.



The second thing is, is the engine actually seized? And the easiest way to check is also one way of checking if the starter is locked as I described above. That would be to put a socket and breaker bar on the bolt head at the end of the crankshaft and try to turn the engine. Now, in doing that make sure you are not just loosening the bolt. If it loosens, just try turning it the other way. If it does move, you\'ll see all the belts and pulleys also turn. That would indicate of course that the engine is not seized. If the starter was locked, you will often hear a "click" as the gear on the starter drive snaps back in place.



I have often seen engines that will seize just from sitting for extended periods. Especially if you live in an area of big temperature changes or high humidity. If that\'s the case, you can usually break it loose by pulling hard on the breaker bar when attempting to turn the engine. Or, if you have a manual transmission, you can try having someone push the car. Turn your key on, put the shift lever in a higher gear, like third. And then as you are being pushed, let out the clutch slowly. The car will either crank over, or the tires will start to slip and the vehicle will stop.



I hope this all helps. If the engine was running right up to the time that it was parked 4 months ago, I would be most inclined to say that you have a bad battery or starter.



Good luck!

Ed