FYI, this is cross-posted in the Tech/Misc forum.

like the topic states, i have the motor taken apart down to the shortblock. the cylinder walls have a little surface rust, although i've already cleaned the walls and pistons very well. i maxed out my breaker bar's torque reading at 150ft*lbs and kept going a little and the crankshaft still wouldn't turn. smells like trouble to me. i WD-40'd the cylinders, but still no go.

BTW, anybody want to give me a good method for installing ARP head studs? i think i have it right, but i want to make sure as i've never used ARP bolts before.

 

Blow the WD40 out with an airhose and douse the pistons with Marvel Mystery Oil. Let it soak down thru the rings for a day or two and give it a try. MMO has freed up more than one tractor that moisture caused the ring packs to seize to the cylinder walls.

If that doesn't work in a few days, break her down and see what the real problem is.

 

mystery oil is some good ****. I probably woulda called password back after i coudnt get it to turn over let alone tear it apart. They might not help you out now that its torn apart.

 

most places tell you they won't honor a warranty unless all sorts of stuff is replaced, including head gasket. in any case, i only intend to use the shortblock, hence stripping it down to the shorty. if they refuse to help me i'll plaster them against the walls of H-T. it wasn't WD-40 per se, it was Liquid Wrench. but it's not going into the car for another week, so i'll let it soak and see if it loosens. i KNOW it shouldn't be this hard to turn.

where do i get this "marvel myster oil"? i googled it and i see it's an oil/gas additive supposedly like lucas or something, and i see places that sell it, but i want a place i can go and buy it, not wait a week to get it from eBay or some online shop.

 

I still use the can my Dad had that I inherited...a little goes a long way. I think I saw it at Advance Auto Parts the last time I was there.

Verified for you... checked their online catalog... so Advance Auto Parts carries it. I'm in the northern midwest...

 

pep boys has it also

 

thanks guys i'll grab some on my way home tonight, and i'll put it in the cylinders tomorrow morning when i get back here. then by next friday when it comes time to put it in it should be all ready to go. of course, i'll give it a try before pulling the car all to pieces. there are other things going into the engine and transmission at the same time, and i want to roll them all into one bother. i don't want to do everything else then find i have to remove it all again to put the shortblock in later because i couldn't get it to turn over.

 

update: the MMO didn't really help after a day and a half. i'm waiting until 3 days which will be this afternoon, and after that i call it quits on this motor. i talked to password and they weren't happy that i had removed the head but they agreed that if i can't unfreeze the shortblock they'll exchange it after seeing pictures. so i'll get some pics and post them up, too.

it just bugs me. password says, like all other engine importers, that they compression test their engines before shipping them out. but how can they compression test a motor that won't even turn over?
this isn't something that happened in the past week. if it was, there would be hardly any rust, and whatever water started the rust would still be there because it wouldn't have had time to evaporate or combine with iron into rust. it just bugs me that a company with a good name would say they compression test their engines before they ship out, and here i go getting a frozen motor.