[mrvette]

OK, SBC in a boat, Mercruiser 260 outdrive....the engine turned over about 6 months ago....NOW, i'ts totally locked up tite...prybars, pipewrenches, you name it....tried it ALL.....will not budge.....upon assy into the boat last summer/fall season, it spun freely.....and was taped up tight on intake, exhaust, carb....the whole thing....

but now, these last couple/daze the thing will NOT turn over...period....
we have tried MAX force...nada.....

it was under two layers of plastic, and a modern tarp==plastic/fiber...

no evidence of any water ever in the boat...

we tried pulling the storage plugs and doing WD40 overnight, we tried priming the oil pump early this afternoon....dropped the starter which tries but locks down never spinning....and prying with bars and a stilson on the front crank....nothing...will NOT move....

I wasn't there, but TWO good frineds said it did turn over last fall....

need clues guys...outta ideas....

 

[TwinTurbo]

more info, just an engine, hooked up to v drive or something????

 

[Steve J]

Was it hooked up to the water cooling inlet/outlet?
I'll take a wild stab and say manifold leak allowed water into cyl which rusted up solid. more info would be helpful though.

 

[Firebird400]

I'm not sure how you use it, but can you put a little Marvel Mystery Oil into the cylinders?

When my pop bought his 69 Firebird 400 (which I'll buy from him eventually - hence my username) from the tenant in the apartment above his car lot, the car hadn't been started in over 20 years. The seller/tenant put MMO into the engine before storing it and loosened the spark plugs. All the car needed was a new battery and tightened spark plugs, and it started right up!

Otherwise, I have very little mechanical expertise.

 

[iburke]

Sounds like you have some cylinders rusted... If your lucky remove the plugs and put some good penetrate in the cylinders let it set a day or so and rock the crank to see if it will come free with out breaking a ring or piston. I am assuming it will not move ether direction.

 

[mrvette]

The outdrive is off the boat, the gimbals are in place, but the spline off the flywheel is just sitting there free....engine now all assembled, but locked up tight....

the valve covers were loose, but there is no rust under them....even on the rocker arms...everything clean as a pin....

I SUSPECT the wrist pins...but am mystified by the pass side not having any pushrod oiling when running the oil pump....the driver's side has plenty....

we ran hell out of it with TWO 1/2 inch drills over some hour's worth of running never a drop on the pass side....clue??

entire engine is NOW assembled....and so....

well looks like a long day tomorrow.....bad day....everyone is pissed to the point of hair removal, serious...

much longer story about this boat than just this episode about the engine....

MY suspect is the wrist pins were never properly lubricated before winter storage...and condensate worked in there and froze it up, just like a Pontiac engine did ME some 35 years+ ago....

 

[TwinTurbo]

the cam has to rotate for the other side to get oil. The lifters meter the oil flow, think of it as a series connection.

 

[OldVetteFan]

The outdrive is off the boat, the gimbals are in place, but the spline off the flywheel is just sitting there free....engine now all assembled, but locked up tight....

the valve covers were loose, but there is no rust under them....even on the rocker arms...everything clean as a pin....

I SUSPECT the wrist pins...but am mystified by the pass side not having any pushrod oiling when running the oil pump....the driver's side has plenty....

we ran hell out of it with TWO 1/2 inch drills over some hour's worth of running never a drop on the pass side....clue??

MY suspect is the wrist pins were never properly lubricated before winter storage...and condensate worked in there and froze it up, just like a Pontiac engine did ME some 35 years+ ago....

1. Why are the valve covers loose? Were they loose during the period when the engine was wrapped up, or did you loosen them up while trying to troubleshoot this problem?

2. If I understand what you wrote, then, you applied drill power to the oil pump, and you get oil flow up to one cylinder head, but not the other?

3. With respect to the wrist pins, how would you have lubricated them prior to the winter storage? The wrist pins and oil ring are lubricated via an oil spurt hole in the opposite side connecting rod - it just shoots a few drops of oil up that way, and thats it (unless you drilled the rod and rod bearing to pressure lube them). Are you certain that all the rods were correctly installed in the pistons, and that the oil holes were correctly oriented when the engine assembly was performed? If not, then you may be right.

4. Since you've removed the distributor, have you also removed the plugs? If you got water in a cylinder (an idea from an earlier post), then you should find evidence of it when you remove the plugs.

I think at the very least, you're facing the removal of the intake and the heads.

I'm also puzzled about the oil comment. When you pull the intake, yank out a lifter on the "no oil" side, and run the drill again to see if you have oil moving through the passage on the lifters.

Good luck!

Steven