I went out again about a half hour ago (after filling the cylinders up with some more WD40 at about 6AM) and had planned just to take the battery out and put it on the charger, but thought, what the heck.. i'll hit it again and see what happens.
Pressing the starter "lever" down by hand engages the gear and turns the starter motor.. yesterday and earlier this morning, it would just go "clunk" with no movement on the main pully on the front of the engine.
More recently, each "clunk" would result in the pully moving just a hair.
So I pulled all the plugs back out (to remove compression) and tried to turn the pully by hand, but I still can't budge it.
So I sprayed more WD40 back down the cylinders, put the plugs back in, and i'll let her soak some more.
For the higher test loosening fluids, which do you suppose would do the least harm to the gaskets and seals? Kerosene, Disel, Marvel Mystery Oil, or PB Blaster?
The last stuck motor I had to contend with was the 230 Dodge motor.. I just stuck a funnel in each cylinder and filled each one up with WD40, let it sit over night, and the next morning she was loose as a goose.. guess when this one didn't behave the same way I got a little nervous about it being something other than rust that was keeping it from turning.
It's a weird situation.. the valve cover is clean, the head is oil free and painted, the thermostat housing is freshly painted.. like somebody put a new head on.. but the rest of the motor looks like it sat with no hood on it in the rain for 20 years.
