Possibke seized engine (1 Viewer)

[Travis Kinney]

Sitting on side of road waiting for AAA.

Just replaced clutch, pressure plate, all new gaskets in tranny and transfer, set timing, checked oil and antifreeze.

Started right up. Drove about 2 1/2 miles and the engine started making this metallic ping.

Then started to lose power. Pushed in clutch and engine stalled.

Got it going again and turned around to head home. Power loss was worse then stalled at an intersection. Popped clutch to get it going and went another 500 feet and she's dead now.

Just turned key hoping starter would lurch me forward showing engine was rotating, but it won't. I hear and feel loud click of starter pushing against flywheel but absolutely no movement.

Do you think I welded my engine?
Can I dump oil into cylinders through spark plug openings and try to turn it over tomorrow?

What's the best thing to do to try and save it?

 

[BlueCruiser84]

Had you done anything with the distributor? Cam drives distributor which drives oil pump. If the distributor is installed incorrectly or backs out somehow the oil pump will quit.

Did you check oil after it died? Are there any oil leaks? Mainly thinking of the galley plug at near the back of the head.

Put it in 4th gear and try to rock the vehicle back and forth. If it is seized though, I wouldn't try too hard to spin it over. Might as well just start pulling things apart.

I have one sitting in my shop that, according to the PO, seized up in a similar manner. Once i started poking around I noticed the dizzy had backed out. I have been soaking it with various products for 3-4 months now and it still won't budge.

 

[Travis Kinney]

That's exactly what it is. Just got a good look at it back at house and dizzy was not seated all the way. I SWORE I would not make that mistake, but I was talking to someone while installing it and was so excited that I got timing spot on, I never double-checked.

I pulled all the plugs and sprayed PB Blaster into each cylinder head.

Have clutch engaged and have rocked it back-and-forth hoping some leverage might help. Turn key a couple times, hoping starter placing pressure on flywheel might help too.

Good Lord, I've poured a lot of money into this rig over years and getting real tired of it. I know I won't get even close to $10k if I sell and I'm easily at $25k into it. Just want the damn thing to run. Engine has always been great, just can't believe I did that! I'm such an idiot. Get too damn excited and then don't check thing. argggggh

 

[Strait Cruisin]

Running without oil pressure will score the cylinder walls but your big issue is rod and main bearings. Without lubrication between the crankshaft and bearings, the bearings will melt and start grinding up the crank journals.

You need to tear it down to see but most likely its a boat anchor.

 

[71FJ40]

Running without oil pressure will score the cylinder walls but your big issue is rod and main bearings. Without lubrication between the crankshaft and bearings, the bearings will melt and start grinding up the crank journals.

You need to tear it down to see but most likely its a boat anchor.

x2

You can also carefully cut open the oil filter and see how many metal shavings are in there - that will give you some insight as to the extent of the damage

 

[Travis Kinney]

What's the next step to assess damage?
Do I remove the oil pan and look at cam?
Can I unbolt the piston rod base and visually inspect crankshaft bearings?
I will cut open the oil filter tonight and report back.

(How the heck do you edit the subject line in a post??? Possible NOT possibke)

 

[Pighead]

Drop the oil pan, start removing rod caps, then main caps...

 

[cjgoode]

I do not see any point in opening the oil filter, if the oil pump was not working why would anything be in there.

 

[BlueCruiser84]

If you find that the bearings are toast you may want to find a complete engine in your area. If you are patient you can find a great deal. A rebuild kit for a 2f is, at the very least, $400. I grabbed a fully dressed running 2f for the same. Then you can at least drive your rig while you slowly rebuild the motor you have. Or drop a running 2f in and sell it...

I am literally going through what you are only I bought the rig this way. 'Tis a shame to say the least. It looks like the PO tightened the Dizzy down on top of the oil pump gear so it was still able to spin the pump, but after a couple hundred miles things loosened up enough that no oil was getting through the motor.

I would pull bearing caps and assess the damage. Look up into the cylinders from the bottom. Lots of good info on here if you dig around.

 

[zags]

You may be able to salvage the engine if you are in a bind. I am not saying this is the right way, but I have been able to do this a couple of times over the years with success and the engines ran fine afterward. Odds are that that the bearings overheated and seized themselves to the crank. The rings may have survived as they tend to hold oil well and get lubed by oil splashing up from the crank. The bearing material is much softer than the crank, and can be sanded off. You will have to pull the motor and remove the crankshaft. Sand the journals with emery cloth by pulling it back and forth from different directions until the bearing material is removed. Start with something like 320 grit. sand only until the bearing material is removed, then switch to 600 grit for a final polish. A couple small grooves or gouges may be left, and although it is not ideal, you can get away with them just don't leave any high spots. Check with a micrometer. If you are less than .002" below spec., pop in new bearings and Plastigauge them. .001" bearing clearance is ideal, but it will run okay up to .004".

 

[Pin_Head]

Drop the oil pan, start removing rod caps, then main caps...

Exactly. You may just need to polish the journals and replace the failed bearings. Rod bearings go first in my experience.

Every time you fool with having the distributor out, the first thing you verify is the oil pressure. Most of us have learned stuff like this the hard way and once you learn it, you don't forget.

 

[Travis Kinney]

Thanks guys.
Should I start right off by pulling engine or drop oil pan and see what I have? Never done this type of engine work before. Please advise and I'll do it and post picts along the way.

By the way, I did cut oil filter in half. Nothing but nice clear, clean oil. Too true, if oil pump wasn't pumping, then there wouldn't be anything stuck in it anyway.

 

[Pighead]

I'd drop the pan with the engine in the rig...if it's just one bad rod bearing, easy fix.

 

[bikersmurf]

I'd swap in a replacement motor before considering annother rebuild. Both my 1.5F and 2F were going to cost about 3K to rebuild... And thats with a running 2F.

Fj60s can easily be found for $1200ish and 2Fs their own often don't sell when listed for $300 (people pull them in favor of 3Bs).

 

[jkl72-40]

I had that same thing happen. So I pulled the pan, pulled the bearings(removed old and replaced with new), cleaned the crank shaft, checked the oil holes in the rods make sure they are clear. put back everything nicely and we have done 3 road trips since. All is not lost

 

[Travis Kinney]

Awesome guys! You may have saved me a ton of time.
I'll drop pan and start unbolting caps to see what the damage is.

 

[josepha340]

had a similar problem after mating gear box on 3F engine, seems the spline did not fit in the pilot shaft bearing (which was new). after removing gearbox, engine moved freely, since it happened right after changing clutch, i would look closely at that before pulling eng.

 

[Travis Kinney]

Ok, reporting back.
So sad taking off oil pan! I did a great job cleaning everything, gasketing, sealing, etc. Didn't want to come off and was sealed great. Oh well.

Nothing in oil, like chunks of metal, so that's good.

Now I need help on how to remove main bearings.

Please help me with correct naming. I'm looking at Specter images and I think I have it right.

First image
Do I have these labeled correctly?

 

[Travis Kinney]

First rod bearing popped right off and I can push piston up and down. This is cylinder #6.
I can wiggle the #5 bearing, but can't get it off. I tapped on threaded rod ends using a piece of wood and switched to a brass drift pin. How hard can I hit these? I think the piston is moving, so hope to push it up by tapping on threaded bolt ends until the lower bearing section pops off like it did on #6. Is that the right approach?

The rod bearing surface seems a little scored, but not too bad??? Should it be glass smooth?

 

[Travis Kinney]

Main bearing closest to flywheel. Bolts at A came right off. Do I need to remove bolts B?