Unsticking an unused engine........

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Try taking the belts off.
If you can't get the engine unstuck turning in one day, pull the heads off.
If the cylinders look clean, fill them with ATF or gasoline and let it sit for a day.

I have ideas of other things you can do, but we are not at that point yet.
 
Ant said:
Try taking the belts off.
If you can't get the engine unstuck turning in one day, pull the heads off.
If the cylinders look clean, fill them with ATF or gasoline and let it sit for a day.

I have ideas of other things you can do, but we are not at that point yet.
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Hit it with a hammer... :lol:
 
Miranthis said:
Thanks for the suggestions. I suppose I should add that none of the spark plugs were rusty at all when I pulled them, so i hope that means the rust is just the usual stuck rings and surface rust in the unsealed portions of the engine. I will be rebuilding this one, but will keep trying at this point to unstick it as having it running, even a little, will make loading/unloading etc. so much easier. Will pull a valve cover to get an idea of the inside engine rust.

diesel engine OIL or diesel fuel?

Jeff-in-KC
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I was told to be sure its "USED diesel engine oil". Cannot speak to the science however it was explained to me that the chemistry changes as diesel is used inside an engine. That chemistry change enables it to eat at rust and lubricate somehow. All I can attest to is that it worked twice for me. Both in 1947 engines that sat for well over 30 and 10 years. Never dismantled the engine at all other than the fuel system and cleaned the carb.
 
Dave999 said:
diesel left for long enough grows mould and bacteria in it... just keep that in mind before eating
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[tongue in cheek] Thanks for the advice. I had planned to disassemble and eat whatever I got out of the engine this weekend, so good to know. [/tongue out of cheek]

Jeff-n-KC
 
Try this, starter, 3 hp and 4.4 gear reduction along with your choice of spray in lubricant.
Stronger than a breaker bar and no chance of breaking off the main crank bolt.
If it doesn't work, you at least have a new starter for after the rebuild

Screenshot_20240711_140946_Chrome.jpg
 
BullyDodge said:
I was told to be sure its "USED diesel engine oil". Cannot speak to the science however it was explained to me that the chemistry changes as diesel is used inside an engine. That chemistry change enables it to eat at rust and lubricate somehow. All I can attest to is that it worked twice for me. Both in 1947 engines that sat for well over 30 and 10 years. Never dismantled the engine at all other than the fuel system and cleaned the carb.
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Gotta find me someone with a diesel i can get some used oil off of. Thanks!
 
Jeff,
I'm in KC and am familiar with the conditions the car sat in. Lots of condensation. I have a 5.9 in the garage that sat in a very similar environment for a decade, and I'm curious if it'll spin.

Rather than pull the heads, I'd like to suggest pulling the oil pan and levering directly on the crank weights, or tapping on the pistons with a piece of wood from underneath. You simply can't get much leverage to break it loose through the crank bolt, as you discovered, and damaging the crank bolt threads is kind of a not-worth-it. The starter has good leverage but not great torque. I've had luck using a pry bar on the ring gear teeth (carefully!) while a buddy bumps the starter, too. Once it goes, it'll probably spin pretty quickly.

I'd give it a run before I pulled heads or planned on boring it. I've brought many many motorcycles back to life after decades of storage, and none of them needed ringed or bored. If it isn't broken, don't fix it. If you run it and the rings ARE bad, you're not going to do any damage that isn't already done.
 
man I dunno either the rings will break or they wont its a hit or miss deal i think...I would think at least two cylinder walls have some heavy scale pitting etc. going on...
 
Go and buy 5 - 10 gallons of farm diesel,,,,,,that will work just fine .
Pour it into the valve covers,,,,just like refilling with oil after a change,,,,,except much more .
Then,,,,like the man said,,,,,drain after about a week .
Then you’ll know .

Tommy
 
Dartswinger70 said:
man I dunno either the rings will break or they wont its a hit or miss deal i think...I would think at least two cylinder walls have some heavy scale pitting etc. going on...
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Exactly the reason why I suggested to pull the heads off.
 
If you break it loose then run it its entirely possible/probable the cylinders could get scored from rusty debris or rusty rings . Then it’s new engine time
Best to pull heads to see what you are working with .
 
You guys ever watch Jennings Motorsports on YouTube? He unsticks everything with acetone and marvel mystery oil
 
AMC Diplomat said:
You guys ever watch Jennings Motorsports on YouTube? He unsticks everything with acetone and marvel mystery oil
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I have tried that (MMO and ATF and Acetone, etc.). This engine WILL get a rebuild regardless, the question was whether in the meantime i could move it under its own power. It's currently in a storage locker near me. But its a PITA to move it right now with no power of its own.

I am tempted to go ahead and do the tear down in prep for the rebuild, but will need to have the body work done before the engine can ever go back in. I am also sure that it will need to be overbored as it was rebuilt around 1973 at about 91K miles. I/we drove it until about 235K miles in 1987 when I parked it after a fender bender. it was running fine, and had plenty of power, but had rear main leak on the clutch and smoked a fair bit. Compression was fairly good, but dropping in a couple of cylinders.

I appreciate all the suggestions and will continue to try what I can as there is no rush at all.....

Jeff-in-KC
 
4eighteener said:
Try this, starter, 3 hp and 4.4 gear reduction along with your choice of spray in lubricant.
Stronger than a breaker bar and no chance of breaking off the main crank bolt.
If it doesn't work, you at least have a new starter for after the rebuild

View attachment 1716274740
Click to expand...

I'd like to see the breaker bar/socket combo that could break the crank bolt !
 
Miranthis said:
I have tried that (MMO and ATF and Acetone, etc.). This engine WILL get a rebuild regardless, the question was whether in the meantime i could move it under its own power. It's currently in a storage locker near me. But its a PITA to move it right now with no power of its own.

I am tempted to go ahead and do the tear down in prep for the rebuild, but will need to have the body work done before the engine can ever go back in. I am also sure that it will need to be overbored as it was rebuilt around 1973 at about 91K miles. I/we drove it until about 235K miles in 1987 when I parked it after a fender bender. it was running fine, and had plenty of power, but had rear main leak on the clutch and smoked a fair bit. Compression was fairly good, but dropping in a couple of cylinders.

I appreciate all the suggestions and will continue to try what I can as there is no rush at all.....

Jeff-in-KC
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I'm sure you can get it to run. You're going to have patience, though.
 
65wgn440 said:
I'd like to see the breaker bar/socket combo that could break the crank bolt !
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The only movement I have gotten with the breaker bar has been twice when the crank bolt tightened. I would not think the crank bolt would break, but that feeling when it seems to break a little, but the pulley does not move is just one of those sickening feelings. :-O
 
Miranthis said:
The only movement I have gotten with the breaker bar has been twice when the crank bolt tightened. I would not think the crank bolt would break, but that feeling when it seems to break a little, but the pulley does not move is just one of those sickening feelings. :-O
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I think it's time to pull the heads off. Or... wait a week for the lubricant to do it's work.
 
65wgn440 said:
I'd like to see the breaker bar/socket combo that could break the crank bolt !
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I can't say that I have ever snapped or stripped one either, but have read it often enough on the forums.
I have been unable to remove the crankbolt in the past with a breaker bar and have used the starter trick with a blocked breaker bar, which gave me impetus for the reply.
The stronger starter with the 6 bolt attachment for the flywheel seemed like a safer bet to me
 
You stated earlier it had a rear main leak on the clutch. Is it a manual transmission car?

If you could get four good tires on it and pull it, you might be able to free it up that way.
 
Have you tried pulling the starter and prying on the teeth of the ring gear on the flywheel/torque converter? You can generate a lot of torque there with a pry bar and not worry about breaking your balancer bolt. If it's stick shift it would probably be easier to remove the inspection cover to do this.
 
413 said:
Vinegar will eat aluminum, so there goes the pistons. This is not something do do if you want it running again.
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A few months ago I bought a 1949 Case SC tractor with a stuck engine. The previous owner had filled it with diesel fuel and had been sitting for months. I got it for a lawn art price because he gave up on it. Long story short, I drained the 6+ gallons of diesel fuel out, took apart what I could and found the piston that was stuck and filled just that cylinder with the Harris 30% white vinegar. About 36 hours later, the stuck piston was out. I don’t think it harmed the AL piston but it raised hell with the corrosion and did reveal all the pitting caused by the corrosion. I’m sure other methods will work, this vinegar one worked great for me.
 
Ok, "my guy" that is doing the work for me (that which I cannot do myself) on the car has suggested I go ahead and pull the engine and trans as we'll be stripping the car to prep for the resto. That will give me plenty of time to work over the engine on a stand in my garage as it may take a year or more to do the body stuff.

Jeff-in-KC
 
Miranthis said:
I have tried that (MMO and ATF and Acetone, etc.). This engine WILL get a rebuild regardless, the question was whether in the meantime i could move it under its own power. It's currently in a storage locker near me. But its a PITA to move it right now with no power of its own.

I am tempted to go ahead and do the tear down in prep for the rebuild, but will need to have the body work done before the engine can ever go back in. I am also sure that it will need to be overbored as it was rebuilt around 1973 at about 91K miles. I/we drove it until about 235K miles in 1987 when I parked it after a fender bender. it was running fine, and had plenty of power, but had rear main leak on the clutch and smoked a fair bit. Compression was fairly good, but dropping in a couple of cylinders.

I appreciate all the suggestions and will continue to try what I can as there is no rush at all.....

Jeff-in-KC
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I would drop the oil pan and look for water. Your rear main seal leak could be a small hole in the pan and dripping down looking like a rear main leak. If there is some water, I would tear it down and rebuild. Your smoke is probably a valve seal cracking, replace them all. A compression drop in two adjoining cylinders could be a head gasket issue. 235 miles, it's probably time for a rebuild anyway. When storing motors I always remove carb and cover intake opening with a cover of wood or metal that bolts on intake and remove distributer and do the same. I shove paper towels in the exhaust ports. Never had a locked motor. Note: I always remove the oil before storing.
 
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