Trying to get a siezed engine to turn over, any ideas?

[Doubletrouble 10]

I have a '46 Farmall H that belonged to my grandpa. She's been sitting awhile so water made it's way into the cylinders, mainly 2 of them. I have her sitting half way up some car ramps in 1st gear to keep tension on the engine and been soaking each cylinder with several things, oil, pb blast, liquid wrench, and even some turpentine. So far she hasn't broke loose. I've heard that a 50/50 mix of acetone and trans. fluid is a good mixture to use for this. Any other advise out there would be welcome.

[grnlark 487]

Trans fluid usually works well. You might want to pop the head though if its really that stuck and see what the bore looks like. It might be worse than you think.

[WheelHorseSteve 56]

I've heard of relatives in Ireland having success with Coca Cola! (scary that we drink the stuff )

[SousaKerry 501]

I don't think Coke would be a good choice as what makes this work is the phosphoric acid in it. Phosphoric acid and aluminum don't get along well, neither does iron for that matter. Take the head off and do some inspection then you can get the penetrating fluid where you need it. Also while the head is off put a wooden block in the bore and give the bock a few good whacks with a hammer.

[groundhog47 347]

Have you tried reverse rotation, put in reverse (try low also) and rock (not agressively) moderately, or tool turn backwards. I've had luck with that on B&S and Tecumseh, but if you are talkin' multi cylinder, haven't tried. On the upstroke just b4 coming to full rod toggle it seems more vunerable on friction lock as I will call it, reverse kinda relieves that.

Without internal inspection as poted above you may chip rings and scratch cylinder, other internals siezed. May have killed valves, or stems or guides also.

It basically depends on what motor and if parts available. Course the rarer the more caution!

Never disassembled them to see what stuck em. Course customer was askin' for advise only and next time saw said was still ok.

Let us know what you find, please.

[groundhog47 347]

Reread orig post and see IS a multi cyl: if 1 is up and 1 is down (logical wind down) I'd still try the rockin' and of course if gaser you have plugs out or ?compression released? Good luck and hope you get it goin'

[CRE1992 135]

We had something like that happen to an old ford that my grandfather had. Fill up the cylinders with the 50/50 mix or marvel mystery oil, and let it sit for about 3-4 weeks. IT should make its way down passed the rings and free them up in theory. Afterward the ford turned over no problem. However it was a rebuilt a couple years later as the rings has actually rusted to the sleeves of the engine. and created a slight gap that let enough compression into the crankcase that it was noticeable.

[Kelly 1,029]

The H has removable sleeves I'd pull the head and see what you have, you can do a in frame rebuild on these engines for about $500 unless the head needs work, the valves may need to be ground if rusted bad.

[illinilefttackle 399]

I just successfully broke loose a 1959 Johnson SeaHorse 35 Outboard that belonged to my father-It had been buried in junk in one of my sheds for 30 years- I used "AEROKROIL"..I had tried everything else acetone, ATF, kerosene, diesel,you name it-the AEROKROIL broke it loose in a week. Its a spray can , just like PB Blaster except industrial strength. Thanks-Al

http://www.kanolabs.com/late/

[Rock farmer 41]

If there is water in the cylinder, all the stuff you mentioned will just sit on top of the water

And not help you at all.

I'd pull the head and access the situation in the light of day.

Joe

[MR49 20]

Hit it with a BFH lol. No just kidding I have no idea. But these guys know some good tricks. Ill stay tuned to see what works for ya.

[sorekiwi 761]

I'm a big fan of ATF as a penetrating oli, sometimes thinning it down with acetone or another solvent. I'm also a fan of giving it some time to soak in.

[Doubletrouble 10]

Well today I bought a quart of acetone and mixed it 50/50 with atf and completely filled all 4 cylinders. it is still sitting on the ramps to keep tension on the crankshaft. I also dropped the oil pan this evening to inspect the lower end and was suprized. The lower half of the cylinders look good. I've seen worse on a car engine with 80,000 miles on it. Shockingly clean for a '46. I have to be patient now and wait to see if this mix works. Patients isnt one of my strong points.lol

[6wheeler 603]

We have a 300 IH that was stuck. Filled the cylinders with diesel fuel and let-em soak for 3 weeks and gave-em a couple of love whacks (with a wood block in the bore) and a 16 lb. maul. They popped and voila !!!!! Pulled the pistons. Pulled the sleeves. And about $500.00 bucks later (had to rebuild the hydraulic pump too)? We were in business. That was 10 years ago and it still runs awesome on the auger loading trucks. Did the same thing on an "A" John Deere. Its still running too. Got both tractors for free at the time, so we have a total of about a grand in the two of them. Good Luck. Pat

[Doubletrouble 10]

i was working on her today. I think I will end up pulling the head, I found some rust build up around 2 of the vavles and I wont feel right if I dont fix it. I'll probably end up at least replacing the rings. if I do have to go as far as pistons and sleeves, How difficult is it to remove the sleeves? I've never re-sleeved an engine before.

[SousaKerry 501]

Count on pulling the engine. You need a good press and the proper adapters. I would take It to an engine shop to have it done.

Splitting those IH tractors is always fun(not) I would find an IH tractor forum they are going to be far more helpful then a bunch of WH guys.

[AMC RULES 37,130]

Oh man....I was a BFH fan.

Now we'll never know. :ychain:

[6wheeler 603]

You Do Not have to pull the engine. I made a sleeve puller out of 1" ready rod and some 1/2" plate steel and some 3/4" plate steel. I ran a nut up 2" inches on the ready rod and welded it solid on the top side(so the bottom side stays flat). The bottom piece 1/2" plate, is cut round, the same size as the outside diameter of the bottom of the sleeve. The top piece is 3/4" plate that is about a foot long and 4" wide. Drill a 1" hole in both pieces. Its a bit tricky to get the bottom piece in around the crankshaft but it can be done (you will need an extra hand for this) put the rod in and put a nut and lock washer on the bottom. Then put the top piece( 3/4" plate) on running lengthwise with the block. Put 2 pieces of straight stock under the ends of the top bar on top of the block(across the block, outside of the sleeve to be pulled), I use 3" channel for this part, but you can use wood too. Then snug up the top nut. Make sure the bottom piece hasn't slid out of place as it has to follow the sleeve out of the bore. Then start tightening, use a socket on the bottom nut to hold it til it tightens(this will keep the ready rod from turning). My parts may be overkill on size but I wanted to be able to really crank on them if necessary. I think when you pull the pistons you will find that honing won't be enough because (in my experience) when they are "stuck" it generally pit the sleeves up pretty bad. It may take some time to get them to "pop" loose but it works. It doesn't hurt to spray some WD-40 or penetrating oil on the exposed part of the sleeve in the crankcase either, and keep tightening. They will come. Good Luck and have fun with it. Pat

[Doubletrouble 10]

Thats sounds like it's do-able. I've never done it though. After getting the head off today I finally saw what the problem is. The #2 cylinder musta had some water collect in it at some point. There is a light rusty ring about a 1/4 in up from the piston top. She is still stuck tight for now. I soaked up all the stuff I had in the cylinders with shop rags so I could get some penatrant right down on the trouble spot. I'll leave her sit for awhile and go out and try to give her a nudge every couple days to see what happens.

[Doubletrouble 10]

I have all 4 pistons out!!! I ended up removing the 3 that weren't stuck so I could get better access to the #2 (the stuck one) I removed the bearing cap and rolled the crank out of the way. The I got out the BFH and a block of wood and alternated from top to bottom. she finally gave up and moved downward, I then cleaned up the top of the cylinder with a hone and oiled her up and popped it out the top. After removal I beleive I can hone the cylinder to clean it up good and should be able to clean up the piston and rings and reuse both.