How To Free Up a Seized Engine
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- Опубліковано 2 жов 2024
- Today I am back working on the Austin Healey Sprite known as Barn Sprite #3. The engine is still seized and I have to free it up to continue. Watch as I work through this seized engine and find the solution with a little bit of mystery oil and little bit of force. How do you free a seized piston watch and find out.
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This Week With Cars - Episode 0233
#austinhealey #sprite #seized
Derek at Vice Grip Garage would not only have already freed the engine and is on his way home 900 miles away.
I've done the same but advocate getting the offending piston(s) smoking hot with a torch prior to whacking. Rings seem to release from the pistons sooner. Otherwise put it back to gether with clean oil and fuel and run it hard for a couple hundred miles. It should wake back up if it's going to.
Sir ,Im 64 years old, Been working on cars sense 12 years old, Did my first engine rebuild at 14, And I don't mean rering cheap job, Fitted ring grinding ring to fit, Ported and polished heads,Gauge all bearing, Now I have freed up lots of motors, Some frozen 60 years, Oil does not work, Brake fluid works best, Let it sit 1 month, If the car is standard, 95 % Success rate, Pull the car 40 mph Pop the clutch in 4 th gear.It has freed every motor, There was a ford 3/4 ton sat in woods 40 years, Frozen from the start, Thats why was parked and forgotten, 2Months I left to soak in Brake fluid, First Pull Pop free, Started and drove home 40 miles, So taken apart the Motor every time, You don't have to,, If the Car is worth 70, thousand, It should be dismantled anyway, and rebuilt, There are chances you take, could Brake a rod, bend a valve, but most of the time, it comes free with no Damage, Just trying to Help.
I've got a 59 mercury y-block that is seized. The guy who had it before me pulled the mechanical fuel pump off and left it for 4 years.
Do you add the brake fluid just through the plug holes or or do you dump some down the carb too?
Thanks!
@@CanadianBriar Yes/also add Transmission oil /and even a Little diesel fuel Let it sit ,a week, keep bumping the starter every once and a while. It will free up.
@brianbloom1799 thank you for your response and for the information.
What do you think the odds are that one of the crank bearings is rusted rather than a piston? The spot where the mechanical pump was removed and sitting open is right at the front of the engine. When I look through the hole I can see the timing chain and part of the crank.
I'm in Canada, so this truck has an inline heater for the winter that warms the coolant and heats the block. I've been heating the engine once or twice a day using that. My thinking is that the pistons and block will expand and contract at slightly different rates and hopefully help the rust to crack a bit allowing the oils to oenetrate deeper.
@@CanadianBriar A good way to free up a seized motor is with XcelPlus:
It bonds a lubricant to the metal... so even if you have some scoring it will protect it against excessive wear or seizing.
🙂
You said, pull the car 40 mph and pop the clutch. What do you mean by that? If the engine is stuck or frozen how can you drive the car at 40mph? Thank you.
Steve -- You're one of the Best "How-To" guys on the Tube. Showing Us Noobs things we would never think (block & Hammer) about trying. Definitely "not your first rodeo." Thanks So Much for Making these vids.
Worth noting when using the vehicle itself to try and free an engine, you want to be in your highest gear. First or reverse puts the engine at a huge mechanical advantage over the wheels, or rather the wheels at a disadvantage. Higher gear gives the wheels more usable torque over the crankshaft. An overdrive gear is ideal, because when backdriven it acts as an underive.
Don't know what gear you were in, but I know most people will make the intuitive assumption that you want your *lowest* gear engaged and that's unfortunately incorrect.
LOVE these type of videos! Wish they were longer.
Jesus Loves you (John 3:16) He died for you Put your faith in Him and turn from your sins before its too late.
I've done that a few times using transmission fluid sometimes WD-40 before they had blaster it may take a couple weeks but you have to be patient. Remember put it in 4th gear absolutely do not use a hammer. Patience is a virtue.
50-50 of acetone and brake fluid for a few days, works great for me for over 45 years.
Put it in 4th gear so you can rock it is that what you’re saying?
Marvel? oh sure, we can say that it's the Super liquid 😄
Marvel Mystery Oil. Only the U.S. auto industry could come up with that name/that product. Great video again Steve.
It seems to me there ought to be an ultrasonic probe that could immerse in the oil - or whatever fluid of choice.
Called an Ultrasonic Processor. Very expensive. Would also decarbonize the listings & ring grooves. I've wanted one with a long probe to insert into a plug hole, but again, many thousands of dollars for used ones in the scientific fields.
I have been a mechanic since childhood and professionally for fifty years, in my experience "penetrating" fluids do absolutely nothing unta=il after you've got things moveing, I have seen bolts soaked for weeks in these mirical products and when you finally shift them the threads are still as dry as a bone, I still use them though, it's almost a religion. By the way, I've freed off loads of engines by the hammer and block method, they are usually ok.
I worked on a 50's something MG(A?) with a seized engine. Diesel fuel, time and a breaker bar and one of the cyl. liners popped out!
Time to disconnect the banjo fitting for the oil pump and fill the pump with fresh oil, check oil level and see if oil pressure will come up. Well done Steve! Cheers from Texas!
You make it Look so Easy !
I have done the same with the wood in the past. If you had not tried it I was going to suggest it. It doesn't do the engine any harm as long as you are not too agressive! I am sure it will be fine to put it back togethe now as the bores look ok. Thank's Steve, I always like these sort of videos.
Love these types of videos, very educational and gives confidence to go for it. How handy is the borescope, right? When you need it, you need it. And it's not like in days past where you had to be a specialist to own one, borescopes are SO inexpensive nowadays, yours is a nice scope from a brand name, but cheapo scopes on Amazon are what $20? $25? And they work just fine. Mine connects to my phone, fits right down into pretty much any engine. I've used it on my weed whacker engine, lawn mower, Sprite, Midget 1500, Jeep wrangler straight 6 etc and then turned around and stuck it in a hole in the ground to see who is home and works just fine each time.
Great job. My slant 6 is stuck. Old owner said there was water in the oil so I'm just gonna pull the head. Hopefully it's not junk. Thank you for the video
On a water cooled engine, would circulating hot water through the system expand the cylinder bores by enough to free a stuck piston.... Assuming its not a bottom end or crank ptoblem?
If there is a corrosion issue freezing the pistons you need to be careful. Even when the engine breaks lose, sometime the rings will freeze in their grooves or within a portion of their grooves. As the engine warms up, the pistons will expand on one wall of the cylinder and can freeze up badly. If you have any doubt, pull up the piston, check the rings and clean grooves as needed. If you remove the rings, do it carefully and put them back exactly the way they came out.
Adds to much oil and spills half of it
Then takes away all the oil
Doesnt put the car in 3rd or 4th so the wheels would have advantage over the engine and turn it over
Try's turning it over with no oil to lubricate the walls
Nice job otherwise had a good laugh too mate
love these ond English sports cars
WTF? Who leaves an motor in the vehicle that you are going to rebuild???? For 6 months!
lol
Steve - “Just a little tap”
No one -
Steve - *WHACK*!
Dwl 😂😂
This is helpful Steve. I recently acquired a 20’s Nash with a seized engine. The head is already off and it’s been soaking for a year or so in diesel. The cylinder walls look no worse than the Sprite. I think I will give this trick a try.
По-моему ты хернёй занимаешься,ставь на прямую передачу и крути за кардан нно никак не бей по поршням ☝️☝️🤔так делать нельзя
I marvel constantly at your patience, Steve :)
Good video. Before you remove the rocker arm shaft you should have looked to determine which cylinders were on the intake stroke. Tapping on those would have yielded better results. Also you should have thoroughly lubricated the cylinder walls before hitting this starter. Just my two cents worth from 47 years of restoring classic cars
The base of Mystery Oil is 10 weight oil. There is a reason why it is red, although don't put it any modern automatic transmission.
@johnw6498, I have an old Ford with 55k miles on the odometer which has a 351C and has been garaged and not started in 35yrs. What should I use to spray the cylinder walls for lubrication through the spark plug holes before turning the engine over? Should I fill the cylinders with Mystery Oil for a few days. Is that oil thin enough to travel past the rings? BTW, I do have one of those snake cameras which I can feed through the spark plug holes.
@@Phantoma3 You need to research what to do. Any light oil would be good enough for the cylinders if the engine fires up immediately. However, you need oil in the bearings, on the timing chain, on the camshaft and on the lifters. You can pump oil around by pulling the distributor and using a drill or some other tool to spin the shaft that drives the oil pump. Or, you can crank the engine with the starter or spin the engine with an impact wrench. With the spark plugs out. I have seen videos where someone apparently dry starts an engine that has been dormant for decades. Again, you need to research the issue until you understand totally what you are trying to accomplish, and the cylinders are only part of it. Another pitfall is that there are lot of Dr. Doom types out there who make things excessively complicated and warn you about what will happen if you do not follow their convoluted protocols.
@@anonymike8280 Thanks man, it never even crossed my mind to first get the oil pump squirting oil over the lifters, camshaft and timing chain etc. I want to make sure that everything is lubricated before trying to start it up.
@@Phantoma3 @Phantoma3 Talked to a friend of mine today and he said, take off the valve covers and pour oil over the rocker arms and down the pushrods. This, he said, would lubricate the lifters and get oil onto the camshaft. You should be ready for some oil leaks after it gets running. In that long a period of time, every gasket could shrink. Unfortunately, the rear main bearing seal could be leaking too. The engine itself undoubtedly is as good as it was the last time it ran. Then there's the transmission. It could leak too from the pan, the front or real seal and even the dipstick tube. Don't forget the differential either. It could leak from the cover or the seal. Then there are the axle seals. And, of course, the cooling system. There could be wiring that has deteriorated over that much time. Then there's the fuel system. That could have leaks too. So could the carburetor. There could be a lot to do.
Interesting, with the wooden block directly onto top of pistons!
Orange Kroil.
How can I freeze up Renault kwid engine?
Wow you brought back memories of myself working on Boats back in the late 90's.. We had a 4x4 piece of wood that we called the "Mercury Tool" to free up frozen engines.. Too Funny.
Can't tell you how many UA-cam channels find an old engine (in or out of car) and they immediately see if it will start. Those are channels I never watch again. They are amateurs and for sure they cause damage to the engine cranking on an old dry engine. I restore vintage motorcycles and I always at least pull the valve cover, spark plugs and check for broken parts. Then I use PB Blaster to free up any sticky rings and let it sit with oil in the cylinders. Will pull the head if the engine won't turn over. Sometimes do a quick hone if the cylinders need it. What you found is usually what I find as well. A bit of rust and carbon build up. If still tight, I end up taking the engine apart to check bearings. But easier to do with a MC engine.
Some cars you can slip the bearings out without removing the engine. On this engine you cannot remove the rear main cap to check the crank bearings without removing the engine.
Ah yes ...Marvel Mystery Oil with the addition of Steve's Wonder Wood ! 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Sounds like the girls would go crazy! 😛
"Distilled White Vinegar" works almost instantly. Marine Technicians use for the same use too.
Watch Uncle Tonys Garage , Tony experimented with some old pistons with stuck rings with different oils and vinegar worked almost instantly .
saw that video long before I posted. I am a Master Automotive Technician (former FL LEO too) who had already tried everything in the video you refered to many years before that video was posted along with a few other chemicals not tested in his video too. @@Ratridez
The engine looks good and I'm sure it will be fine. There is less back ache when working on these engines in a Mini, but other than that they are exactly the same. A new head gasket and it will be running. Well done Steve.
Jesus Loves you (John 3:16) He died for you Put your faith in Him and turn from your sins before its too late.
use a mix of gasoline and diesel and its gonna do t faster
First
Could this work on a 3 cylinder motorcycle?
For freeing up stuck engines oil won't penetrate down along between the pistons, rings, and cylinder walls. A good penetrating fluid that works well and is cheap is a 50/50 mix of acetone and atf. White vinegar is a bit slower, but works well, it also removes rust.
Store bought versions work well, but cost more. PB Blaster is a good one for the money. WD-40 is a waste of money for this job.
Marvel Mystery Oil is not an oil like you would think of. It is Methyl salicylate (oil of wintergreen or wintergreen oil) which is used in a lot of different fields but is used as a penetrating oil to loosen rusted parts especially engines.
never seize; thermostat housing
Hi what is that oil i live in europe never seen it here any links? Tks fantastic
You can make something close to it in your country with 75% Mineral oil and 25% White spirit mixed together. This is the product marvelmysteryoil.com/collections/gasoline-engine/products/marvel-mystery-oil
❤ many tks again
You waited 6 Months? 😶
Long as the carbs and the points/etc are fine or are fixed, should be a runner now!
Nice work, Steve! Clearly the rice must be on the off-side of the pistons on this one!
White vinegar works best
What gear do you typically use for rocking the car to get the pistons to move?
It was in 4th gear that time so that I could utilize all the traction the tires could give me.
What amazing skill and patience you have.
Boil some 5w30 oil till it’s about to ignite and tip in the bores after it just starts to cool turn the engine over works evertime dangerous but works great never flat spot a shell or bend a rod with hammer and wood heat expansion contraction even a few times till it move without a hammer 👍🏻
I used Marvel Mystery Oil and Liquid Wrench. When it soaked through I whacked it with a big fence post.
I think he’s done this a few times. I’m pray my Willy’s breaks lose tomorrow. It’s been soaking and diesel fuel an automatic transmission fluid for six months..
Remove head..and crank...tap pistons downward using large block of soft wood
You know if oil leaks past the rings its a bad cylinder because the rings seal the air in the chanber.. the cylinders are lubricated from below.
Berapa lama waktu yang diambil sehingga piston benar-benar bebas?
Your patience and perseverance were the keys to unseizing that engine.Those concoctions they sell are useless and costly.Plain white vinegar is the best and cheapest rust remover on the planet.Its also friendly on the environment.
I would avoid hammer and pour hot oil into cylinders. It will creep past piston and rings.BMC rings wear to a point or split into pieces.
seized engines are tricky .! I have found that if the engine is/was know to rotate . I have heated fuel oil , careful, not to allow the fuel oil to BOIL . This causes the piston (Aluminum to expand breaking the corrosion around the cast iron block and the piston. Then you can do your mystery oil treatment and not have wasted time.
Ive had 3 seized engines in the past, I oiled the cylinders, set for a couple days, then pulled the vehicles with a chain, dumping the clutch in gear. All broke loose.
Coca Cola the way to go 🙈😂
Very satisfying seeing it freed up! I'd like to see much more on this Sprites revival.
Jesus Loves you (John 3:16) He died for you Put your faith in Him and turn from your sins before its too late.
Excellent video. Great to see those Brit 4 cylinder motors spinning over again.
Great info gd video
Hint, use 50/50 mix of ATF and acetone.
Acetone will find its way through and carrie the oil with it.
Atf and acetone works
So does diesel
Mmo works the best imo
Shake it up good. They don’t mix well.And acetone evaporates quickly so only mix it when you need it
Thanks for sharing
I have watched many videos on freeing stuck engines, the prevailing trend is to soak things with penetrating oils of various kinds. That will be needed eventually but if rust or other metallic corrosion is the problem and it usually is, penetrating oils don't measure up to the task of breaking up those bonding agents. Success always comes down to leverage in the right place, heat if possible and an agent that actually attacks rust and galvanic corrosion, then there is a need and use for the various oil solvents for lubrication when moving the stuck parts.
Just my two cents….PB Blaster is useless. ZEP 45 is one of the better penetrants
Great work! I think she'll be a runner now.
One step at the time, there vil always happen something to the end..👍🏻👍🏻😄
This is great, I’m working on my MGB and it’s in the same state. It’s like you’re working on my engine! 😊I have been squirting Marvels in all the holes for a couple of months while I work on the floor pans. Hope I have as good of luck. 👍 P.S. were you rocking it in 1st gear?
That was kick-ass! Glad you freed it up.
One suggestion brother, gloves! 🙃
I seized my engine 😕💀 I drove for 4 miles with no oil pressure
Brilliant channel. I love learning new stuff every time! 🇦🇺🏳️🌈
acetone and atf
When you added the marvel mystery oil in at the end of the video- did you let that sit for a while or just continue to run the starter and let it get into the pistons?
Thanks again Steve for taking the time to make another video! Your one of my favorite channels on UA-cam! Take care and see ya on the next one!
thank you
Another GREAT VIDEO Steve !!! Keep e'm com'in !
I always wanted one of these little cars. So much fun no need to be a road burner.
Will you be selling this little beaut, or will you keep her? Great job!
Selling it
@@ThisWeekWithCars Good luck! I love those little MkI Sprites. We have a '70 MG Midget MkIII. Would be nice if the Midget had an older sister LOL!
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does anyone use Kroil for pre-soaking the stuck pistons? for penetration into tight crevices, I think it is the best. but it is not a high-temp lubricant.
Jesus Loves you (John 3:16) He died for you Put your faith in Him and turn from your sins before its too late
👍👍👍😍
Rings could be rusted in place to piston in compression (particularly the multi piece oil rings). You should use a PB Blaster soak to free them up a bit.
did these not have provision for a crank starter?
I just love whitworth nuts and bolts. So British.
Whitworth was a real pioneer in standardized measurement; also made just an outrageously accurate rifle.
Mix ATF and acetone...
Best antiseize ever
Fab video, really enjoyed it 👍 great to see shared knowledge from a professional. Any chance you could have a flow up video as you prepare and run the engine 🤔
That’s a great way of getting it moving. Slow and patient is the best thing!
Boiling engine oil way better than Marvel for freeing seized bores.
Why didn’t you keep lubricant in the cylinders ?
Great content, keep it coming Steve.👍
Thanks, will do!
Back in the day i used atf . This never failed me. Lucky ?
just a thought: a block heater?
Good content, always enjoy when Steve uploads new content. Always informative.
Heat
And how would you free the engine if it rests at TDC?
If you're interested I can tell you how us real mechanics free a stuck motor. Jerk the plugs and valve cover. Back off the valve adjusters so the valves are all closed. Break the porcelain off the spark plugs and braze an air line fitting into it. Pour in Marvel because it's thin. Hook up the air line and go do something else. Come back tomorrow and get it running. Ben
Why not just use a compression tester hose that most people have. It already has the airline fitting, at least my Actron & Craftsman do.
@@chrispompano good idea! Never thought about that. We always made the hoses(s). I might see about buying a couple. Nobody does compression checks anymore.
CLR works when oil fails.
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