motor stuck

[justjoe]

Left pb blaster in it for a week and now I can get the motor to rotate, but the starter will not spin it with the plugs out. The motor is tight. I put it back on the lift and got under it to make sure there was no binding in the flex plate or starter, that looks good. I was even able to stick my finger behind the inside starter stud and make sure it was flush. The flex plate is lined up with the drain plug. Thanks for the reminder and I can rule that out.

My next step is to remove the pan so I can look up into the cylinders to see it rust is causing the binding. I also hooked up a electric drill and spun the oil pump for ten minutes and had good oil pressure, and it was still tight. At this point I am thinking that the permatex engine assembly lube turned into thick grease or something in the past 2 1/2 years and causing a drag. Won't know until I pull the pan.

Thanks for your input, will keep you posted

Joe

[Straight80]

Joe, what type of piston rings are in the engine. Cast Iron, or Chrome Moly Rings. Cast iron rings take forever to seat and like to rust fast when not in use

[justjoe]

I pulled the pan to get a good look at the under side of the cylinders and some light rust does appear, but that does not mean it could be worse above. I believe someone posted you are going to pull the head and he is right. that is what I am going to do. I also pulled a few rods and re-checked the torque, all ok.

This engine had an ugly history. When I bought the car I was told that it had a rebuilt engine, and I was highly suspect to that information. It did have a couple of stuck valves and bent push rods from sitting. After that was fixed I did get it to run very poorly. The motor locked up. I tore it apart and found, yes it had been rebuilt but someone had the crank journals turned 20 under and installed 10 under bearings. Three of the rods spun (I wonder why?) . The top end of the motor looked good, it had a fresh 20 over bore new rings and pistons.

I had the crank turned 30 under, bought 3 new rods and had the others checked out. I left the top end alone, I checked the end gap and a few of the rings and everything was ok. I did not glaze break the cylinders because I was not changing the rings. Originally I doubt if this engine ran 10 minutes in it's previous condition. The bores did look like a pretty rough finish, but I assumed it would break in. During assembly the engine turned over slightly tough, but with enough oil it would spin reasonably easy. I assumed a break in would be necessary.

I believe these are cast iron rings, along with the light rust it must have caused a huge drag along with the rough bore finish.. It may also possible that the corrosion got behind the rings and locked them. I intend to pull the pistons and rehone the cylinders with a 400 stone and replace the rings. Are 248 engines available with moly rings? and what would be the advantage? would it reduce friction? If that is the case is this something I might want to do.

Has anyone used moly rings in a straight eight?

input would be helpful

Joe

[Straight80]

Joe the cast iron rings take forever to seat. My suggestion to you is when cleaning the cylinders, use a berry hone for the size of you cylinder. Use plenty of WD 40 of something you prefer for breaking rust loose. Try to use a drill that doesn't go faster than 700 RPM's. put the hone in the top of the cylinder, as soon as you squeeze the trigger go all the down and back out completely. Check the wall, the berry homes are the best and cut the fastest. If the cylinder is not completely cross hatched do it one more time should be all you need. Try Bob's Automobilia in California for the rings, the pistons should be stamped on the top as to what size they are. I hope I helped you out. Talk to engine builders about the Berry Hones

anthony

[justjoe]

I took the head off and pulled all the pistons and rods. The cylinders were perfect, no rust what so ever and the motor is still tight. I cracked loose all the main caps and it is still tight. It is the dynaflow. It turns about 180 degrees and starts to get tight and then binds. I was the one who rebuilt the dynaflow and I am sure it is ok, what I am not sure about is the alingment of the dynaflow to the engine. The bell housing, (the part bolted to the block and the starter bolts to) was never removed so I assumed that it was never messed with and did not need to be set. The dynaflow manual shows a procedure to check so it is lined up, I never did that.

What I think is the problem is the bolts that hold the dynaflow to the engine, they may be the wrong ones. One of them appears to be a machined bolt, the rest are not. I suspect the correct ones are missing. These trans/engines do not have dowel pins but instead have machined bolts. I need to find someone with the OEM bolts that hold the trans to the engine. Does anyone know of who would have these in stock?

Any help on a supplier or advise would be welcome

Thanks Joe

Who ever posted it was most likely the trans, you were right!

[nali]

Bolts would have to be really long to avoid the engine turning ..
I can be wrong, but I think the trans to bell housing alignment is done because the trans goes inside the bell housing. I m not 100 % sure about it.
Did you check the starter bolts ? The flywheel is closer to the starter than to the trans.

[LONG]

I have mine split right now. here is pix of the stepped bolts. 1/2 shank 3/8 thread. I do suspect that something is hitting the flywheel or it is backwards.

[Straight80]

WOW JOE!
I would never thought it would be the transmission. Unless something was misaligned or a long bolt preventing the converter from turning. If anything at all was learned here. It will never be forgotten, sorry to hear about this misfortune

Anthony

[justjoe]

At this point I am really disappointed in myself for tearing apart a perfectly good engine when it is a trans/flywheel binding issue. Thanks for the photos, I do have one of those bolts but that is it. Does anyone know where to buy replacements?

I really should have paid more attention to this problem, because when I got the car I found someone bolted up the flex plate to the torque converter without lining up the drain plugs, of course it was bent. I got a new flex plate and checked it for run out and it was good. I assumed everything was ok, I should have never assumed anything with this car. Considering the profoundly stupid work that was done this was understandable.

So I will start with the trans bolts.

I will keep you guys posted Thanks Joe

[Straight80]

Joe I would unbolt the flex plate get the crankshaft loose of the transmission then retighten the main bearings. It's just a suggestion.