I drive very little...maybe 20 miles per week! no check engine lights. was driving and car stalled. was able to restart. started engine a few days later and a screeching noise was coming from the belt side of engine. sounded like metal against metal. sound went away. last night started the car for a short trip, car running fine then stalled. couldn't restart. battery seemed weak. towed car to auto-electric shop that I trust. engine was low on oil so added a couple quarts. shop says battery, starter and alternator are fine. can't diagnose problem but thinks the engine has frozen. I don't agree with this idea. anyone had a problem with car stalling and found the solution? thanks.

 

Check to make sure your AC Compressor Pulley has not started to Sieze. When mine fully seized, I tried to start the car and actually ended up snapping the crank pulley right off. And when I did try to start it, it sounded like a dead battery. But if the shop (and you trust them) says battery, try that first...sounds logical I guess. I'm just concerned about the screeching sound you describe...sounds just like what mine did when my ac compressor pulley seized.

 

thanks for responding 2bros-GXSR. did you mean your A/C pulley snapped off (rather than the A/C pulley causing the crank pulley to snap?). in my case, the auto-electric shop says my battery is fine, alternator is fine and starter is fine! they say they tried to rotate the crankshaft by wrench and had difficulty. I don't think there's a problem with my crankshaft rotating--given that the engine was running and starting fine. my problem was the car began stalling and then I could not restart the engine. I sense the battery seems weak but the auto-electric shop says battery is fine and they tried starting engine with two batteries but it wouldn't start. for all I know, my problem is fuel related! I haven't a good sense of why the auto-electric shop is telling me the crank is hard to rotate with a wrench. they say take car to a mechanic rather than an auto-electric specialist.

 

I tow the maxima from the auto-electric shop to an engine mechanic. he is able to start the engine and says he isn't hearing any unusual noises but something is wrong with the crankshaft's rotating ease. says the starter motor puts out a lot of force when cranking the engine. I want to leave the car overnight and hope the engine starts in morning. the car stalled and couldn't be restarted just once. (the bunch of prior stalls, I was able to restart the engine). mechanic doesn't think water is getting into the cylinders as a reason for the car stalling. mechanic doesn't think there's a sensor which is causing the engine not to start.
i'm unknowing what running the engine low on oil might have damaged to cause the present situation which was "car stalling while running" which led to one episode of "car won't start". (starter, battery, alternator are good). I want to ask mechanic what he had to do to get the car started besides "top up with oil". as far as I know, the car started up without difficulty when it got to the mechanic.

 

Nope, the AC pulley being seized caused the crank pulley to snap right off. Sounded like a shot gun blast

 

here's an awkward finding! my car was low on oil. I think the stalling and the eventually not starting (engine not cranking although starter good) was related to oil not having gotten throughout the engine. after towing the maxima from auto-elect shop to mechanic, the car started and hasn't been stalling. I don't know if there's a sensor which shuts the motor off if oil is too low, i'd gotten just one low oil light on. but my emphasis here is the concept of low oil causing a stall or non-crank. hoping I did not cause too much damage to the engine while it was low on oil.

another interesting aspect-- when I got in the car the check engine light was on. reading the flashes, 05-05 which translates to "no code". i'd never seen my check engine light on and a 05-05. I suppose the mechanic attached his code reader and got a no code, and after that I saw the 05-05 (assuming mechanic didn't reset the computer). also noticed my radio presets were erased so I suppose they'd disconnected the battery for a short time.

ah, so let's decide how much I should pay the mechanic. originally he said his diagnostic would be $95. But he can't give me a reason for the car having stalled and not starting once. what is fair amount for me to pay the mechanic? (I took the car off the street on Sunday after having attempted to settle my bill on Saturday. a different guy was at the office on Saturday but he wouldn't settle for less than $95.) I feel I'm being reasonable for my wanting to pay less than $95 given the car started and they can't tell me why it wouldn't start before the car was towed to their shop. what do you feel is reasonable for the "parking valet" having started the car without any work being done?