The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Engine crack & Cant shift

I was so hoping to just be able to fire up my 53 Chevy 3100 and drive it but I've got an engine leak and I can't shift.

What are my options?

There is a repair along the very bottom of the engine on the drivers side. Looks like a long line of maybe JB Weld or something similar goes all across the bottom. Front to back. There are three pinhole leaks from there. Can I do a temp fix with something or is the engine toast?

Next, I can't shift. I can manually reach into the engine and move the rear shift linkage to put it into what I assume is reverse and first. But the front linkage doesn't want to move at all.

It has fresh fluid. Old fluid was dirty but not as bad as I've seen on other cars. I have used PB Blaster on all the linkage under there from clutch to gear shift. Still no movement.

Clutch seems to be ok as it has a good pedal and when I let it out I can move forward.

What do y'all think? I really would rather not replace the engine because I can't afford to have someone do it and I don't know how. Will a temporary patch work for a truck that isn't going to be driven more than maybe 500 miles a year??
Will the linkage on the transmission free up eventually?

*Eternally optimistic and hoping for good news*

Thanks.

Around here we have an 80+ yr old welder that can weld stuff like that. Preheat, low hydro or nickle rod, cool down slowly-& really needs to be tore down. But a running 235 is a better bet, seems like they are commonly tossed out in favor of some small block.
Try JB weld. Maybe it needs more.
You might even have binding on the shift forks in the trans, you can pull the side cover & free things up usually.

You can probably fix it with J.B. weld. You will have to drain it completly through the plug on the same area at the rear. Clean it real good & apply the weld & let it set for 12-24 hours. If it,s small leaks a can of Bar,s leak might seal it. It is available at all parts stores. Your linkage is probably binding at the pivot that bolts to the steering column right under the steering wheel. A spray lube should free it up.

I put a real heavy wire brush on my drill and cleaned off all the old patch. You can see the crack. Its about 3 inches long. I don't see it going all the way along the engine. Just that 3 inch line. I've cleaned it off real well and am waiting for it to completely dry then will JB Weld it for now. I'd have to take the whole top half off to get to the inside of the crack, huh? Ugh.

The shift linkage looks free and moving on the steering column, lower linkages etc. I think its the part that goes actually into the transmission thats stuck but I've been wrong before. I keep at it with PB Blaster and trying to wiggle it free. I wont force it but, I wiggle it.

I'll try what 64fleetside said and take off the side plate and see if I can free it from inside there. Thats easy, right? *snort*

Thanks guys!

grind the crack into a vee, roughing the area well, then clean w/solvent & JB it-we did it at the machine shop on old blocks for tractors, Model Ts etc..made of unobtainium.

By the way, if you are talking about a coolant leak, you can't get at the inside unless you smashed the block with a hammer. You will see threads on here where people have driven years after using JB Weld on one of those cracks.

You could always cold weld it. What you do is drill a hole at one end of the crack, tap for pipe threads, install the plug. Then repeat, with the next plug about 1/4 into the previous plug, until the crack is completely sealed up. My Grandpa Shepherd used to do this, he had a quarter midget with a Continental engine in it that was repaired that way that used to thoroghly spank 2 engined go-karts at the races.

Thanks guys. I ground it down real good and have put on the first layer of JB Weld and really tried to smoosh it into the crack. Once it sets, I'll be doing another layer, and another.

Thanks for being reassuring about fixing it the "JB way".

Can't say it enought, y'all are AWEsome!

I found that I could shape JB weld pretty well with a small stone in my high speed grinder. The stone does nothing to the metal but it does a nice job smoothing out JB Weld.

Savage,

Concerning the crack....is there no water seeping out of it? Even if you drained the cooling system, it seems like it would still weep for awhile.

Maybe this is a cosmetic crack! Maybe it isn't into the water jacket!

Stuart

There is a company up here in Turlock, Lock-N-Stitch Inc. that repairs any casting from industrial to small stuff. They even have a do it yourself kit and a video, may want to call them, 209 632-2345.
best of luck
Jim

Thanks Jim and Stuart!

Stuart- There is a bit of water weeping out of it. Not a lot, but it's there. It looks to be just plain water. No oil or anti-freeze that I can see.

Jim - If the JB Weld doesn't look to hold, I will definitely give them a call. Thanks for the tip!

Ok, I seem to have the crack taken care of. Now the "can't shift" portion...

Someone suggested taking the side plate off the transmission and I should be able to free things up inside.

My question is, I see the bolts that hold the side plate on right there where the linkage is. If I take that side plate off... Are pieces and parts going to be dropping out at me? Or is everything fairly secure in there.

I'm just worried about screwing it up beyond repair (by me anyway).

When I take that plate off, I'll just be able to get my fingers in there and wiggle things around and free them up?

Thanks in advance.

I would check some other things before I pull the cover. It,s most likely in the linkage. Have someone get in the drivers seat while you watch the levers under the hood on the box on the steering column. In neutral the 2 levers should be parallel. When they pull the lever towards them the the top lever should try to move up & down with the gearshift. When the lever is away from them it should try to move the lower lever. If they are not parralel see if you can pull or push one to line them up. You might remove a rod from a lever on the trans. & see if it will shift by hand. It will only go in one gear at a time so if it,s in one gear it will have to go into neatral before going into another gear. If all this makes sense you are pretty smart but it might get you started looking.

Rsavage. Good luck on the JB weld, I found that the two part JB steel putty works extremely well vs the simple JB weld. Do not us the quick weld on anything other than plastic.

If that doesnt work, either a cold-weld, or actually having a professional welder work on it may be the next step. I had a broken engine mounting boss re-welded by a phenomenal welder with the engine still in the car. Lasted over 100000 miles that I had it before selling the car, still see it around.

I concur with Wrenchbender on checking a few things prior to pulling the cover, disconnect the linkages from the trans, determine if the levers move, then trace the linkage back to determine where things are stuck.

Good news!! The PB Blaster saved the day.

I wiggled it and wiggled it until things finally sunk in. I have all gears now.

Thanks everyone for the tips. I'm so glad I didn't have to take anything apart. Whenever I do, and go to put it back together... I seem to have "extras". Not good!

The JB Weld is drying overnight. I should be able to fire it up tomorrow and see if it works.

I will keep everyones suggestion in mind in case it doesn't hold.

I've done exactly the same block repair last winter, and learned a lot about JB weld. The second time I did it, it worked great. I wrote up at length what I did and posted it, but I can't find my own post using the search, so here is the short version.
Drain the coolant and make sure it is really dry around the crack. That area of the block drains poorly, make sure the drain spigot at the back of the block is open and free. You can even try using low air pressure through the radiator to blow the crack dry, really dry. Clean and gouge (vee- out) the crack and keep in mind it could be longer than it seems. The experts recommend drilling a small hole at each end of the crack to keep it from spreading. Try to warm the block before making the repair, I used a hot air gun. Then I attached a vacuum cleaner to the radiator so the crack was sucking in air as I applied the JB weld. I could see the gunk being drawn into the crack. My patch is holding great! If you might have cut corners on the prep work, don't give up - try again. The stuff should work.
Karl

What Organbuilder says is right on the money. And when you have the suction going on at the radiator and can actually see the JB being drawn INTO the crack you will know that it's going where it needs to be in order to make a good seal. Caongrats on getting the shifter linkage to working. Love that Blaster eh?