Is the engine in the frame, or on a maintenance stand? Sometimes it's difficult to get a good pry on the flywheel if the engine is still installed. I like to use the chisel-shaped end of a shepherd's crook wrecking bar at least a couple of feet long, between the edge of the bottom of the bell housing and the starter ring gear teeth. Those teeth are pretty tough- - - -you can put a lot of force on them without doing any damage. Once the flywheel begins to move, even a little, be patient and keep working it back and forth. Have fun! Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt! There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
I agree with “Gdads51”, you need to empty out the cylinders and replace with a 50/50 mix of acetone and ATF tranny fluid, then follow ”Hotrod Lincoln’s” advice ad pry it back and forth with a big crowbar. Again, patience is your best tool in your toolbox to free this engine. May take weeks, Good Luck!ðŸ€
Last edited by Phak1; 04/18/202311:39 PM.
Phil Moderator, The Engine Shop, Interiors and Project Journals
1952 Chevrolet 3100, Three on the Tree, 4:11 torque tube Updated to: ‘59 235 w/hydraulic lifters, 12v w/alternator, HEI, PCV and Power front Disc Brakes Project Journals Stovebolt Gallery Forum
Understood fellas I appreciate your advice I will remove the vinegar and replace with the 50/50 mix of atf/acetone mix Not in a huge hurry But would really like to see some movement. I have not pride hard on flywheel as not wanting to snap tooth . But definitely trying to work it back and forth . I’ll go back to the atf acetone mix and letter sit . I’ve got a million other things I should be doing anyway!!! Thanks again Ron
Engine is still in truck . I’ve only removed plugs , passenger rear fender , and running board to straiten ᠁ I admit I’m not paitient I need to add the 50/50 acetone/atf mix and let it sit
I can understand your desire to avoid unrequired disassembly but in reality you are just buying time until you need to take it apart. I cann't imagine that once it does move (assuming that it does) that you will not be taking it apart anyway.
Ron On your valve guides spray or squirt inside your valve springs directly on the valve stem in there,right at the top of the guide. Kinda hard to pry at them , for fear of tripping the keepers. Might make a tool as Hot Rod said to move them.
I had one just like this that was stuck. The real problem was the valves.I found out which ones were stuck by prying down on them between the rocker tip and the top of the valve stem. I tried spraying some lube on ,but not much luck. I was able to move the rocker out of the way and used a handheld propane torch on one valve that was easy to get to. I was careful not to over heat. Keep touching the valve spring and valve tip as a heat indicator, by heating,tapping,prying etc, I was able to get the feel for how it was going. Got several of them free, and was able to start the engine. I also like to overfill the crankcase with atf in order to flood the rear main seal. I think if the cylinders are rusty, the piston/cylinders will be damaged. This 216 had an 80's inspection sticker on it so it was resting a long time. I think the valve sticking issue may be the whole culprit.
She’s still sitting᠁.soaking , I honestly havnt checked it or attempted to manually turn engine as I’ve been pretty busy . Will keep updating this thread. I appreciate everyone’s input Keep it coming Thanks Ron
It took me three months of soaking and prying on a spray oiler 235 before I could finally get a full turn of the crankshaft. Eventually, we got it to fire up on a run stand with no disassembly whatsoever. It was used as a diagnosis and tuneup training aid in the high school auto shop course I taught for several years, before the school system finally closed my program down. It's still in storage, waiting to get rebuilt "one of these days"! Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt! There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
Ron Burgundy In place of vise-grips on your valve stem use a 3-jaw Jacobs chuck,it gives you a death grip on the stem and a "handle " that wont scuff the stem up like vice grips. If the chuck is on your drill guess you could spin the valve some and lube it. Could use the old rope in the cylinder trick if you take the valve spring off.
My 216 was stuck when I drug her home and had similar difficulties. I could not get enough leverage to unstick the motor via the engine, so I lifted one of the rear wheels off the ground, popped it into 4th, and strapped a 2x4 to the tire and started rocking the wheel back and 4th. This puts a much higher torque on the engine and personally, is way easier than digging around in the engine trying to spin stuff. I tried for probably about 4hrs on the engine side, and it took about 4 mins using the tire to rock it back and forth before it popped loose finally.
CBall I used a piece of 2 inch pipe,my son could just see over the fender,he said well the fan moved. Later we had a good heater and I would let him drive all over our hick town in the cold months after dark.
I actually tried to rotate via the rear wheels She is currently sitting on jack stands and I attempted to rotate driver side but of course passenger side kept turning opposite direction via spider gears I didn’t get real aggressive. I tried to prop a pry bar in between lugs on passenger rear wheel but never could get much leverage so I quit I may attempt to rotate again via rear wheels soon as I can Thank you
Leave one wheel on the ground, or stack up concrete blocks or somethinng similar under one rear wheel to give it some traction, then strap a LONG lever like an 8 foot 2X4 to the other wheel. Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt! There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
Havnt messed with here for a while but I’m definitely gonna spend an hour or two this week either adding more ATF acetone mix to cylinders and or attempting to rotate engine via rear wheels “gently” kinda !!!
Before attempting to turn an engine over, lube the valve guides with oil, tap each one to make sure valve is not stuck, otherwise bent pushrod might occur. Rubber hammer or 2 x 4 would suffice!
Ed
'37 GMC T-18 w/ DD 4-53T, RTO-610, 6231 aux., '95 GMC running gear, full disc brakes, power steering, 22.5 wheels and tires. '47 GMC 1 ton w/ 302, NP-540, 4wd, full width Blazer front axle. '54 GMC 630 w/ 503 gasser, 5 speed, ex fire truck, shortened WB 4', install 8' bed. '55 GMC 370 w/270, 420 4 speed, grain, dump bed truck from ND. Works OK.
I havnt tried to turn er over to much lately And have definitely not tried 2x4 at the rear wheel method but I have continued to add ATF mix to cylinders Still appears last piston up against firewall holds fluid the rest drain down . I’ll check it hopefully sometime today and report back I’m thinking something is wrong with back cylinder. Piston or valve trane ?
I havnt tried to turn er over to much lately And have definitely not tried 2x4 at the rear wheel method but I have continued to add ATF mix to cylinders Still appears last piston up against firewall holds fluid the rest drain down . I’ll check it hopefully sometime today and report back I’m thinking something is wrong with back cylinder. Piston or valve trane ?
The fact that one piston behaves differently (holds fluid) than all the others makes me think piston.
You could back the valve adjusters WAY off and make sure they all come closed if you’d like to eliminate the valve train variable. Or quicker yet, just remove the rocker shafts.
Actually 2 cylinders/ pistons 5 and 6 Or which ever 2 are closest to firewall. I’ve currently got a 5 foot piece of angle iron on driver rear axel and pipe propped on passenger side axel against concrete shop floor I kinda gently jacked angle iron up with floor jack Not enough pressure to snap lug nuts But I’ve definitely got some pressure on it !!! I’ll let it sit like this till it ether breaks or breaks loose and or I’m able to mess with it again, which could be a while .
Wow, you've been at this for 4 months or so. I'm thinking you're probably going to have to pull head and/or engine.
I wonder if a product like Evaporust or a similar product can be poured into the stuck cylinders? I have no idea if that could be harmful or not but it might be worth looking into to cut through the rust holding those pistons in place.
1950 Chevrolet 3100 (Ol' Roy) 1939 Packard Standard Eight Coupe (The Phantom) | 1956 Cadillac Coupe de Ville (The Bismarck) | 1956 Cadillac Sixty Special Fleetwood (The Godfather) | 1966 Oldsmobile Toronado (The Purple Knif) | 1966 Ford Mustang (Little Red) | 1964 Ford Galaxie 500 coupe | 1979 Ford F-100 | 1976 Ford F-150 (Big Red) | 1995 Ford F-150 (Newt)
Ron (OP) ... Hopefully by now you've been able to read the Tech Tip on bringing a dead engine back to life? The one Peggy gave you the link to?
But as Otto says, after months of soaking and no joy ... we may be beyond hope for this engine coming back to life without a teardown ...
John
~ John
"We are not now that strength which in old days Moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are"
1948 International Farmall Super A 1949 Chevrolet 3804 In the Legacy Gallery | In the Gallery Forum 1973 IH 1310 Dump 2001 International/AmTran RE3000 "Skoolie" 2014 Ford E-350 4x4 (Quigley)
A great checklist. This TT was from a compilation by the Stovebolt Collective.
~ Peggy M 1949 Chevrolet 3804 "Charlie" - The Stovebolt Flagship In the Gallery || In the Gallery Forum "I didn't see this one coming. I don't see much of anything coming. :-O"
I havnt really been at it ᠁ Truck sits rite inside my shop I walk by it everyday᠁. Had a few minutes yesterday and that’s when I put the angle iron on rear axel with jack and grabbed my ol trusty flashlight and seen cylinders 5 & 6 still have ATF / acetone mix . I may have spent 15 minutes with the angle iron and jack persuader !! I’ve thought about pulling the head as I’m real good at “unbolting” stuff . At least then I could get a visual on pistons and cylinders. I do occasionally take dead blow to top of valves to make sure they are free and occasionally spray PB on valves and pushrods. When I smack valve on #6 cylinder it’ll shoot ATF out the spark plug hole so I’m guessing valve is not stuck ? I’ll most likely remove head next rainy day ᠁. I’ll keep posting in thread Thank you
Before you pull the head, you need to get under the truck, pull the flywheel pan, and with a really big screwdriver or a flywheel turning tool, you need to try to gently budge the motor by prying a bit on the flywheel to move to motor around just a bit, get it started. It needs just a tiny bit of a jolt to brake it free. If you can’t move it at all, then I do think you might have to pull the head.
