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Seized 1275cc, What the...?

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theleisure

theleisure

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I'm in the process of tearing down a pair 1275's I bought last weekend. One of them is seized but has a cam in it that is supposedly pretty hot so I'm tearing that one down first.

Check out what I found in the cylinders when I removed the head.
cimg2688.jpg

cimg2691.jpg

cimg2690.jpg

What the heck is that? There's no visible damage to the pistons, valves or head but that stuff is definitely metallic. What could it be? I haven't opened the bottom end yet so maybe it's something from underneath. I have no idea. This is the first motor I've ever dismantled and I'm pretty surprised but what I'm finding.
 
It looks like it was full of water.
 
PO didn't mention that. He said that the previous previous owner told him that it seized due to overheating. maybe it seized up <span style="font-style: italic">and then</span> flooded... I'll post more pictures as I dig into it.
 
Water for sure.
 
A blown head gasket will allow coolant to enter the cylinders. A really bad blown head gasket could allow enough water on an intake stroke to enter a cylinder that the engine will hydro-lock (can't compress water, 'member?). Could also be a crack in the cylinder or the head. But I have torn down enough water-logged engines to know what I am looking at.

So, just throw in some WD40 and let it soak. Then try to work it loose by tapping on the pistons or tapping the counterweights of the crank to get it toi rotate, then you can remove the caps and pound out the pistons & rods. If this thing did hydro-lock I would be leery of using the rods again without a good check (for straightness, roundness of the big end and a magnaflux). Same with the crank. Have the block magged in case it is OK. Hopefully the cam is not damaged by moisture but it could be rusted because the water would be in the crankcase as well.

Good luck with the cam.
 
mrzippy said:
try coca cola in the cylinders
Click to expand...

You know, I have heard that more than once. Never tried it, but it's worth a try.
 
it works learned it in auto restoration class put coke in jugs and let it sit afew days then put the low part of crank on a block of wood then take a 2x4 on the top of the block and tap it with a heavy hammer along the length of the block not to hard after a couple days of that she should free up
 
You can put the head back on and cut off a spark plug so that it is just the threads, then tap it out to 1/8" pipe threads and screw a grease nipple in that. Then buy some cheap tubes of grease and use hydraulic pressure to free the cylinders. I have done this several times. It beats beating on things.
 
So i put a big socket and wrench on the crankshaft pulley nut to get that off in order to get to the timing cover. First time I really yanked on it the motor freed up. Dang. Well, I guess that's good. The thing is is that all I really want out of this motor is a good cam. Now I think I need an impact wrench to get that pulley off.

I also flipped the motor over and took off the pan. No immediate signs of water down there. everything looks pretty oil covered with only minor surface oxidation in just a couple places. One place that seemed to have it pretty regularly was the long part of the rods and even there it looks like minor surface rust.

Does this go with the underwater theory or the head gasket theory? After the underwater theory was mentioned I looked at the outside again and noticed the weird mud on the oil filter pipe. It's in other places too. You can see it in the pictures above. I'm saying underwater too but where did all of that crap in the cylinders come from if the bores are perfect and the head isn't all that rusted?
 
Coke will also clean a greasy windshield.
 
weird mud on the breather coule very will be "milkshake", homogenized oil/water, after it goes through the oil pump a half a zillion times.

Add 1 gallon water to the same amount of oil, and it will come out the dipstick hole, breather, everything.

Bets are not so much flooded as overheated blown gasket, and run water into the cylinders, past the rings, into the oil.....
 
I've sent both the Coke idea and the grease gun idea to my brother who is trying to get the motor in his Jag unseized. Thanks for the timely tips.
 
I had to mess with sieze motors more time than I like to remember, needless to say none of the remendies worked for me, I end up knocking the rods and piston out, what happens is the ring rust weld themselves to the bores.
 
mrzippy said:
try coca cola in the cylinders
Click to expand...

Marvel Mystery Oil; "FOR SURE"!!

Russ
 
Silverghost said:
I've sent both the Coke idea and the grease gun idea to my brother who is trying to get the motor in his Jag unseized. Thanks for the timely tips.
Click to expand...


There is not enough phosophoric acid in Coke to do much good if the motor is actually seized up bad enough to need acid in the first place.
Save it for the corroded battery cables when the car wont start in the WalMart parking lot.
 
I seem to remember diesel fuel being recommended for "unseizing"? No idea.
 
Hap Waldrop said:
I had to mess with sieze motors more time than I like to remember, needless to say none of the remendies worked for me, I end up knocking the rods and piston out, what happens is the ring rust weld themselves to the bores.
Click to expand...
You put the hydraulic to it and it will budge. A grease gun puts out 5000-7000 psi if working right. Figure that across the square inches of the piston and its a lot. Pick a piston that is half way down for full effect. Pull the rockers so the valves are shut. Once it breaks loose and your turn the crank with a wrench and pull that fitting out, the grease will squirt out like play dough. Grease is too thick to leak by. Something will have to give. I would stand to the side while doing this :wink:
 
Well, he's got this one freed up now. FWIW, the last time I had to get a crank bolt pulley off, impact wrench wouldn't do it (not the best electric one, I'm sure a decent air one would have no problem). I jammed a big flat screw driver in the flywheel teeth and put a 5' length of pipe on the handle of a hefty socket wrench, it finally gave up and came off. It's all about torque baby, leverage.
 
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