Doing the unstuck

[Bonnewagon]

Yes, a seized engine. A friend has a 1980 Trans Am w/1978 Pontiac 400 that he bought last year. He bought a ton of parts for it from me as I was parting out my '77 TA. I came to see his and it had a boat carburetor on it! Other than that it ran pretty good and we agree to work on it later. Then the mega-winter hit us and nothing got done until now. Today I replaced the boat carb with a rebuilt-by-me '78 Q-jet and proper metal fuel line. When I went to check the oil- water was at the top of the dipstick tube. It seems the TA shaker scoop had no drain tube so water drained onto the engine and filled the valley pan sump. That eventually rusted and then the water drained right into the engine. I drained 2 oil catch pans of water (gallons!) before a blob of grey oily mud ooozed out, maybe 2 quarts worth. I decided to fill the engine with used motor oil I had waiting to recycle. I planned on starting the engine and letting the old oil scour the rest of the mud out then fill with good clean oil. The starter bumped the engine a tad, then halted. I put a breaker bar on the crank nut but she was stuck firm. Now, this is not the first time I have dealt with a water-logged engine. I usually use WD-40 to lube the pistons and then spend weeks trying to rock the crank back and forth until she breaks loose. I need to go faster this time, as he can't be counted on to maintain a daily ritual of oiling and bumping. What is the BEST oil to squirt into the combustion chambers? I am thinking automatic transmission oil as it is probably the slipperiest stuff known to man and relatively cheap. I want to use something that won't evaporate quickly in case he misses a day or week. Any suggestions?

 

[pagrunt]

Hate to say with that much water in the block it might be better to tear it apart & refresh it.

 

[bob64]

We used diesel fuel to free them up.

 

[Wageslave]

50/50 mix of ATF and acetone.

Although I have to agree with pagrunt, that motor needs to come apart or you could make a bad situation much worse.

 

[Bonnewagon]

Yeah, taking it apart is not happening. This guy is non-mechanical. Diesel oil I use often for cleaning parts and I have lots- that sounds like a winner. ATF and acetone? Would not the acetone flash off pretty quick? Maybe Diesel and ATF mixture? Years ago my '77 TA motor was on a dolly outside and I wrapped it up to survive the elements. Friggin' hurricane blew water up inside somehow and I had the same situation. WD-40 and weeks of persuading with a breaker bar worked and that motor still runs great today. But WD-40 evaporates too quick and I had to apply it daily.

 

[SoFloG]

Marvel Mystery Oil works for me

 

[bob64]

Diesel fuel l learn from my Grandfather. Funny story, so he had an old 52 Chev truck , an it had been parked in his Driveshed for as long as l can remember. So l always liked it an for my 16th birthday he said if you can get it running its yours.

So it was seized, l mean we but a breaker bar on it with a pipe seized! So he pulled out diesel fuel in it an said next weekend we will give it a try, we'll next week and we threw hook up a tractor to it an dragged it out of the shed an down the road an every so often would pop the clutch in 2 gear, well about 3rd or 4th time she was free.

Well we never did get it going, but fun memory!

WD makes another spray, copper coloured can, it meant only for seized stuff. I can't remember the name it's called, it's WD????

 

[64nailhead]

All in all this is a shame. If there is rusted inside the pan, no matter if you get this to spin over or not, then just about every oiled component will be trashed in approx 1000 miles, i.e. cam and crank bearings are at the top of the list.

Fill it full of kerosene and install something on the crank so that you can put a breaker bar on it. After it sits for a couple of days, start working on trying to move it. Keep this going for a week or two. It will work if it spun over less than a year or two ago. But I'd urge you to reconsider not puling it apart.

 

[Bonnewagon]

I believe the last time it ran was last October when I looked at it. The boat carb was not conducive to drive-ability and the T-350 detent cable is missing. I think the water got in without it running at all. . That would mean that the oil pump did not distribute water/oil emulsion throughout the engine. So the parts that were under water were oily to begin with and I am hoping the only thing that actually stuck was the iron rings. If that is the case then that is why I was able to get my '77 running and hopefully this one too. Of course if the engine was full of water all winter than the block would surely have cracked when it was 20 below zero. Since the water was all the way to the top of the dipstick then perhaps it filled during the Spring rains or later. That would mean it is only a few months old or less which would explain the water being tap-water clean when I drained it. I think I will go with the ATF/diesel oil mix. The diesel will penetrate and the ATF is a great rust buster.

 

[pontiacgp]

is the engine hydro locked?