The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Frustration with 235 (won't turn over)

All,

Bad morning, went to start the truck and take it for a drive this morning and after starting it sputtered and stopped. Started it again same thing. Tried to start it a third time and it would not even turn over. I crawled underneath to turn it over by hand using the flywheel and it would not budge either direction. The starter will engage the flywheel, but can not turn it either. The battery has plenty of juice. This is a fairly fresh rebuild of the engine with only around 100 miles or so on the engine.

I had driven it around yesterday afternoon with no problems whatsoever. It ran nice and smooth throughout the drive. No leaks noticed under the engine, plenty of oil, coolant, etc... For the few moments it was running this morning before it died the oil pressure was showing 30+ lbs which has been normal start up pressure for the engine.

Needless to say very frustrating. Anyone have some ideas where I might start checking it out?

It sounds like you've got a rod or main bearing tightened up for some reason. Have you tried a pry bar on the flywheel teeth to see if you can get any movement at all? If a bearing has overlapped, you can sometimes turn the engine backwards to its normal rotation and free it up, but it looks like you're going to need to drop the oil pan and inspect all the bearings. Hope it's nothing serious, but I'm not too optimistic about this one! Is it a babbit-rod, or an insert-type bearing engine? From the year, I'm going to assume it's got insert bearings.
Jerry

It is an insert bearing engine. I did not try a pry bar yet, but I did try yanking it by hand both directions with no movement at all. Once I get home this evening I am going to drain the oil to look for the telltale signs of bearing damage, remove the spark plugs and valve cover and see what I can find. I was hoping to avoid dropping the oil pan, but that is unlikely.

I would suggest trying to turn it a bit in reverse to see if it will budge. Maybe there was a sticking valve and the pushrod is wedged somehow.

Sounds like a stuck/tight valve, interferring with the piston. Pull that valve cover! I didn't it swallowed the valve destroyed the piston, went thru the water jacket, etc. Mine was a new rebuild with less than 2 hours on it. I sent the head to the Machine shop they replaced guides, springs, keepers,and only replaced the exhaust valves, I installed a mild cam and I think the higher lift may have put the unworn valve stem into a tight guide, guess which one broke(hint -intake) Now have 350 SB installed. See
http://community.webshots.com/user/zeker6
The reason for the V8 Zeke

Alright, very good news to report after all the fear and frustration. I crawled underneath with flashlight in hand last night. Upon inspection it turned out that the starter drive gear was somehow jammed in the engaged position and would not allow the flywheel to turn. A large screwdriver and a little wiggling of the flywheel and it popped back into place without a problem. Of course, I then found out I was out of gas so still could not take her for a drive. Oh well, it gave me the chance to finish putting together the grill and hanging that so it looks like I have a finished truck now!

Thanks for all the advice and info. I'm glad it turned out to be so easy a fix.

Simple method to dis-engauge jammed starter pinion :

Place tranny in _3rd._ gear and shove the vehicle backwards . this has always worked well for me .