Technical Startup after23 yr rest

Working on getting a 383 ci Mopar started after a 23 yr nap in heated dry garage. I removed spark plugs & juiced cylinders up with combo of Stabil, tranny fluid, WD 40 & let it marinate overnite & tried to turn over. Solinoid kicking & sounded a little weak. Understandably after 23 yrs engine stuck & starter won’t do it. Suggestions on breaking free before pulling apart? I’m thinking if frozen beyond starting will need at min a short block rebuild anyway so why not try to break free & see if it will run?

 

Gonna need to sit longer than overnight...also try “rocking “ it by hand..good luck

 

Let it set for awhile couple days then pull the plugs if you haven’t already, and rock it by hand gently if it doesn’t move redo the mix and let it set again than try by hand. The thing here is patience. It sat 23 years it can set a little longer.

 

I'd let it marinate some more and while waiting I'd try getting a breaker bar on the crank pulley if you can and every time you think of it give it a little pressure in one direction and then the other. You might get pleasantly surprised and find it breaks loose.

 

I sat 23 yrs. Don't be in a hurry.. few weeks / month... Don't be an idiot an get a bigger breaker bar... I had a stuck 365 caddy... The second best feeling when I felt/saw it move! I was prying (screwdriver)back forth on flexplate , Standard is easy as mentioned..

 

Fill the cylinders with a 50/50 mixture of acetone and automatic transmission fluid. Proven to work better then anything else.

 

If you don't have acetone laying around, I've always used lacquer thinner, Which has it in it, an other useful seeping helper's

 

As everyone has suggested it took years to get stuck it's going to take longer than over night, make sure to remove the spark plugs while trying to get the engine freed up and turn the engine using the crankshaft nut with a larger breaker bar, rock it back & forth and if your lucky it will free up but it's going to take time. HRP

 

After all those years if you do get it unstuck the next thing to do is drop the pan and scrape out the asphalt that has formed in pan and over the pump screen before you ever try to start it.

 

Will ad some more tranny fluid mixed a little heavy on acetone as there’s some tranny f in there already & Focus on patience, not usually one of my virtues

 

If its an automatic trans car pull the dust cover off the bellhousing and pry on the ring gear teeth. You can generate a lot more torque than the starter can, or a breaker bar on the crank bolt will provide. You can also do this on a manual trans car if the rocking in high gear doesn't break it loose.

 

THIS/\ Trying to turn it with the crank bolt if it's stuck very bad will only over tighten the crank bolt or loosen the bolt. Been there, done that.

 

if patience isn't a virtue (I suffer the same malady), just go ahead and take it out and take it apart, since you probably need to fix whatever has it stuck, anyways.

 

When setting in the vehicle with a V8 you cannot get a total cyl fill thru the spark plug. the pistons that are near the top the upper portion will still be high and dry. Pull the valve covers and remove the rocker arms so all the valves are closed. install the spark plugs Then fill the intake manifold full of your preferred soaking mix. then depress the intake valves and that allows each cyl and combustion chamber to become 100% full of lubricant. Remove the oil pan. Its likely to be full of crud and need cleaning anyhow. With the pan off You can visually see if your soak is making its way past the pistons and rings. after a time remove the spark plugs and using compressed air and a blower with a fairly long section of tubing attached blow as much stuff out of the cyls as possible. Then make or buy a tool to screw into the spark plug hole and hook your air hose to it. the compressed air will force some of the remaining oil down past the rings. And take a deadblow hammer and squarely tap on the valves of that pressurized cyl. The momentarily release of air will blow crud from the valve seats and passages. Jeff Bradshaw. From Elderly Iron has a video of waking up a Pontiac 389 engine. I think he shoulda pulled the oil pan. But everything else he did was OK.https://www.bing.com/videos/search?...324FBAF1C76A5E82DFEE324FBAF1C76A5E8&FORM=VIRE

 

I learned that lesson the hard way. And its something I do even on engines that haven't stuck or been out of service for any tangible amount of time. The pictures are a prime example of what I commonly find.

 

Iodine works better than any oily stuff. Dissolves rust quickly.

 

I never heard of that before. I will give it a try. If water is present I used brake fluid. The brake fluid will absorb the water. Then you cand blow it out of the cyl with compressed air. then get a propane torch and stick the flame into the spark plug hole. that will dry it out. then I use trans fluid mixed with acetone or diesel. Pour it into the still heated cyl and the heat thins the soak so it can penetrate better. If you watch Jeff,s third 389 video you can see the air hose hooked to the cyl and open the valves trick.

 

As so many have talked about the crud in the oil pan I drained the oil & removed. Oil looked new & oil pan was almost pristine with less than an 1/8th” of slightly yellowish brown praffin build up in bottom. What u’d Expect to drop out of the oil after so many yrs. The Ride had been restored at some point pre-storage. The gauges were obviously new as well & speedo has under 5K miles. Obviously not 100% sure but thinking engine has under 5K since resto too. A little more sure since dropping the pan.
With regard to Old Wolf’s suggestion about removing rockers filling cylinders through intake. While I agree it’s a great way to insure lube penetration its more work or as much as pulling the heads & peeking dealing w what’s seen.

 

My big block Chevelle (since sold) sat for a number of years with no problems when parked.
Soaked it in Mystery oil and transmission fluid mixed with brake fluid for 10 months.
Still would NOT turn over with a breaker bar.
Gave up.


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Good to hear that the oil and pan looked good.

If you can get your hands on one of these, it can save a whole lot of disassembly...and help scratch the impatience itch!


It will be able to show you if the cylinders are relatively clean, and you can run it through the intake runners as well to see if you are dealing with invaders that like to leave puddles of mouse piss everywhere!

 

I’ve been meaning to buy a flex optic cam like that. Must have a light source incorporated into the flex tube?

 

there are a lot of different types available...been a few years since I bought one for $10, and I hardly ever use it, but it's nice to have

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/borescope-buy.984970/

 

probably got condensation in it, pretty normal. The rusty coil is a clue.

 

Yeah, the light source is in the tube, with the camera.

I was able to use it to diagnose a bad cam in and O/T vehicle recently. Being able to see the cam lobe was the difference between a $2k repair and $8k! :0

 

Reporting back. Engine unstick cocktail worked. I let sit since last Monday w diesel fuel, tranny fluid & wd40 cocktail couple ounces in cylinders . Hit key tonite & she spun free! I’ll change oil & try to fire up tomorrow! Feeling good

 

Laugh if you will... But... This stuff works.

I have around 31 or so Flathead engines laying around here. Some were left without cylinder heads on them for years. So far I have tried Acetone mixed with ATF(didn't work), Marvel Mystery Oil(Didn't work), and some olive oil concoction(didn't work). Keep in mind that this was all attempted on 2 230's I have that soaked off and on over two weeks with no success! One day, I was at the hardware store and saw this WD40 stuff. I read the can and laughed and thought what a joke! Then I thought, $7 hmmm, what do I have to lose? I bought a can and soaked the cylinders until I seen this stuff to seep past the rings and drop below the top of the pistons. Grabbed a breaker bar and wiggled the crank back and forth until I could get two revolutions. I thought, Okay one down, next! Second engine was a success... Then I drug out a 237 that was exposed to the elements up in Idaho for 30 years. Filled the cylinders, sprayed the rusty valve stems in the AM. At lunch I found two cylinders bled past the rings, filled the two and sprayed the valves again, went to the hardware store to buy a second can. Came back and one more bled past, topped off those 3 cylinders again. After dinner, 5 of them were drained, I refilled the cylinders again and wiggled the engine, I got it to move about a 1/32" of a turn. I resoaked it and came back at sun down. Last attempt was a complete success! I am a believer in this stuff, but I know that Mopar engines are different than the others and have a large crankbolt in them. That could have contributed to my success as well...

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Looks like I responded late... Oh well, great news!!!

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Another thing to watch for.. ( ask me how I learned this one ) valve guides and stems get gummy from old fuel, especially intakes are prone to hang up and bend pushrods or worse.

 

An old timer I knew who was into boats swore by diesel fuel alone. I have yet to try it but it creeps in very well, maybe that and some MMO thrown in with it.