I was driving down the highway, about 75mph, when my battery light came on, CEL started flashing, gauges behaving erratically and a message that said , "check gauges". Then the engine shut down. I tried to restart it, but then the battery died. Got it towed home and recharged the battery, then tried to start it. Starter engaged and was turning the engine over and it attempted to start, then quit. Recharged battery, overnight, then tried to restart but the engine seems like it's stuck and not turning. I did have phaser lockouts and new timing kit put in, 4 years ago, and it ran pretty well. The vehicle has less than 125,000 miles on it, wondering where I should start first. Should I first try turning the crank with a breaker bar, remove the oil pan and see if there are pieces in there or start pulling the valve covers and timing cover? What could have been damaged while driving at that speed? It did show a misfire on three cylinders and I thought maybe I had dirty battery connections causing the computer to not work properly, so I disconnected and cleaned them, when I was out on the highway, but all that did was clear the codes. Wondering what could have caused these symptoms. Thanks.

 

Since it doesn't want to turn over I would make sure its not hydro locked with fuel . Mine just missed that by having one injector leaking and another shooting a solid stream . Lay fuel rails out on dry newspaper turn key on with injectors in rail none should leak .
I would also think that pulling oil pan is necessary to look at bottom end and clean oil pickup . Failure to remove plastic guides that were ground up by chains after a guide failure is common . Cleaning that is necessary after timing job . No oil flowing or weak oil pressure destroys all the new parts you put in . If gas got in oil you must change oil anyway some will get by rings .
I would not try to turn it with plugs in . Engine may be seized no sense trying it with plugs in . Then you will know a lot .

 

Pull all eight plugs before I try to turn it over, or can get by only pulling 7. That one in the back, on passenger side, is a pain to get to. And only try to turn it by hand?

 

It only showed misfire on three cylinders, but it could have been random on all eight.

 

Might still be the battery that's stopping it from cranking? Maybe a bad cell? Don't understand why you think engine is locked up. Any knocking, grinding, or banging noticed? I suspect the original problem is separate from the cranking problem, and would try to get it to turn over first. Could take the battery to auto parts store for them to check it.

 

I tested the battery with a multimeter and another alternator/ battery tester.. It shows between 12.5 and 13 + volts, after recharging it. I had someone turn the key while I watched the main pulley, to see if there was any movement. I can hear the starter engaging. The day before, I could hear the starter engaging, the engine turning and attempting to fire. Now, nothing turns and the starter sounds like it's binding up. Waiting for it to stop raining so I can mess with it some more.

 

Okay then.

If you try to turn the crankshaft by hand, but can't, there could be a problem with the starter connection to the flywheel.

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