Rebuilt motor stuck

[01vette]

I rebuilt the motor in my 36 chevy about 12 years ago. I drove it about 30 miles before I stored it. Now it will not turn over. Any ideas why or suggestions before I tear it apart??:eek:

[Guest Bob Call]

Pull the plugs and squirt something like Marvel Mystery Oil, ATF/diesel mixture, or a similar solvent in to the cylinders and let it soak for at least a week. You only need to squirt in enough to cover the top of the piston mayby a 1/4 inch like about 4 oz. Then try to turn with a breaker bar on the crankshaft nut. May have to repeat a few times. There are several different opinions on what solvent to use. Do a search for stuck engines and you should find several threads discussing this subject.

Edited January 2, 2012 by Bob Call (see edit history)

[cobravii]

The motor in the 64 Electra I got from my dad was a similar situation. He rebuilt it, put about 20 test miles on it and parked it for about 15 years. It was stuck when I got it. I was tempted to put a bar on it too but changed my mind and stripped the heads off of it.

I found out that it was the valves that were stuck in the guides. The pistons were stuck too but not near as bad as the valves.

I would have caused a lot of damage had I tried to force it over with a bar. As it turned out I broke one of the guides anyways because it was so stuck.

Not to say that trying moderate pressure on a breaker bar isn't something to think about, just don't go crazy on it.

[Guest noncompos]

Why: Depends. Engines can sweat internally due to temp changes, build up moisture, rust. Same with any mechanical parts enclosed (trans, diff) etc.

What to do: Depends (on what is stuck and how badly). Also depends on how much damage you want to risk internally. Since 36 Chev parts no problem, it's not like you're prying on an old Weidley or Hinkley.

Search some of the Ag sites like ytmag and smokstak, and you'll find dozens of cocktails to try, and dozens more opinions on how liitle or how much to pry on them. Lots of Ag eqpmt only used few times a year, lots of stuck engines.

Probably ought to soak the valve train on top too. Good luck.

[paulrhd29nz]

Drop the pan and have a look for signs of moisture on the cylinder walls and in the oil pan. Reach up and give the rods a wiggle. If all looks good most likley stuck valves or rings.

[pacerman]

I vote for adding lubricant to the cylinders (Kroil, MMO, acetone/tranny fluid mix, whatever) and letting them soak for several days. Then pull the mud pan and try to turn the engine with a big screwdriver prying on the teeth of the flywheel. You'll get good leverage and won't risk stripping out the balancer bolt or overtorquing the balancer. If it still won't budge, I'll pull the head and see what you have. Joe

[Mark Simmons]

01vette, I've dealt with these Chevy inline sixes for decades, gaskets and parts are plentiful. So just bite the bullet and tear it down. I've done the oil/solution tricks over the years with varying degrees of success.I suspect the compression rings are being held in place by a rust ring from by condensation over the time the car was in storage. I've seen this many times over the years and while not deadly once the motor is broken free it will lead to a shortened engine life in the least. Hope this helps. Mark

[Guest Bob Call]

I might have to agree with Mark about tearing it down. Back in the day (50's) I tore down and reringed, and inserts on later models, right in my driveway. I remember on a 58 Chevy having to loosen the front motor mount and raise the engine to get the oil pan off. On a 51 pickup I had a rod bearing go bad. Pulled it apart in the driveway and called a guy with a portable crankshaft grinder and he turned the bad rod journal in the truck right in my driveway. These stove bolt sixes are about as basic as you can get on a gasoline engine except maybe for a Briggs and Stratton lawn mower engine. Parts and gasket sets are readily available and inexpensive.

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

I agree. Simple and easy to work on. In my teenage years, a long time ago, I could tear one down, overhaul mit and put it back on the road in a day if bore and journels miked out. Most did.

Ben

[Guest Bob Call]

We didn't need no stinkin' mic's. Just a ridge reamer, ring compressor, and a basic set of wrenches and a borrowed torque wrenchand a screw drive for those 1/4 20 screws.

[Ovalrace25]

Just pulled an engine out of a 69 Mustang Mach 1 that was in storage for several years. It was STUCK-TIGHT and I did not want to hurt anything, so out it came.

First thing I saw was that it had been rebuilt and not many miles on it. BUT It had been stored in a HOT Metal Building in Florida. The building had a sugar sand floor (no concrete).. Now, inside the engine looked real fresh, but the cylinder walls BELOW THE PISTONS had sticky dark stuff on them and the oil pan had the remains of black burned oil... This engine had NOT been painted when it was last put together so there was no external paint to look at for help in just how hot this thing got. But I was told the car was driven into the building and then just sat. The guy that drove it in, told me he could not imagine that the engine was STUCK because he had it rebuilt shortly before it went into storage.

So-- What I think happened is the heat coming off this sandy floor was enough to slowly COOK the oil in the pan sending fumes up through the engine.

IF I had flushed it out, I am not convinced I would have removed all that sludge from the pan and it would soon plug up the oil screen.

I got 7 cars out of that building. ALL had tires rotted from sitting, gas tanks, fuel lines, brake systems all were full of cooked-dry-paste and sludge. Amazing what the long-term low heat slow cooking can do to cars!

[Guest bofusmosby]

Living in Florida all my life, I believe that there has to be another reason why this happened. Since this was inside a building/structure, then even though the heat inside may have gone up, I doubt the sugar sand itself would have gotten hot enough to bake any of the oil. Now, if it were in the sun, that's a different story. I believe that the heat was generated from the heat inside the building, not the sand. That would have stayed quite a bit cooler.

[Ovalrace25]

You are probably right. I worked on the cars inside that building for two days. Man it was a cooker in there! My feet were also HOT, but heck, I think I was suffering with heat stroke, so I have to agree.