Stuck engine

Hello! I'm working on a 1943 IH Farmall H for our local saddle club which uses it to level their arena... Here's the deal- the cap (a plastic bottle) was left off the exhaust, water got in, and locked up the engine. I drained the water out of the crankcase and the carb... removed the plugs and loaded the cylinders with WD40 hoping to penetrate the rust and free the motor. The starter is unable to crank the engine and was unable to manually rotate the engine. Realistically, is there any hope?
 
Find a piston that has or is about to fire need to have both valves closed. Take a old spark plug knock the center out weld a fitting to it so you can hook up a hyd hose to it use another tractor to put hyd pressure to the cylinder it will come loose done this many times
 
remove all spark plugs. take compressed air and blow out cylinders. wait at least a hour, blow it out again. oil floats on water, so you must get all the water out before you add wd-40 or whatever.
give the wd-40 or whatever at least a week. then try to turn engine.
 
Wow, I love the originality of this idea but boy what a risk. I realize that the engine is just barely stuck as it hasn't sat like this for very long, but boy what if all that hydraulic pressure were to crack the piston or a ring? Seems like a lot of risk. But I do believe that more often than not it would work. Once you have the engine freed up using this method, I would imagine you fire it up with that spark plug out to get the cylinder cleared, then put the plug back in? How long does it miss on this cylinder before firing again?

I would love to watch someone use this method, but I think I would be much more comfortable if it wasn't on my tractor.

I really do think its a neat idea though, just risky.
 
Thanks guys... Great advice, I wouldn't have thought of using hydralic pressure. WD40 was all I had on hand today. I've only unstuck one other engine (on my grandfathers 1959 Willys Jeep pickup) - I used Marvel Mystery Oil in all cylinders, put a wrench on the crankshaft with a 8ft pipe extension and then hung a housejack on the end of it for weight to apply torque day and night. Four days later the jack hit the ground and I knew it was unstuck. That engine was stuck for a different reason though.. my grandfather had just had the engine rebuilt when he had a heart attack. The doctors recommended he buy a truck with a smoother ride (11 leafsprings at each corner), so the truck sit for 20 years. This Farmall had water enter directly into the open exhaust a few weeks before the cap was replaced and it sit for 3 years. Thanks again all advice is helpful and welcome and appreciated.
 
Another great point... (the oil can't get to the rust if there's a layer of water in the way). I didn't think of that. I did have some concerns about breaking the engine loose too soon (by dragging it and cluth starting it) before the oil had a chance to do its job; for fear the rust, etc would grind in the cylinders and do more damage. Waiting a week is great advice.
 
When you have the plugs out you can see some of the cycl wall and if its rusty you need to pull the head if the cap was off the exhaust you also have some bad valves so you will be better off pulling the head now as all the snake oil in the world will not fix it so you can save a lot of time and messing around and just pull the head and get started on the fixl
 
Water in the cylinder if for a long time little to no hope. Now if say only a month or so maybe but you first have to get the water out by blowing it out or wicking it out etc. The forget the WD40 is will NEVER work. Then do this and it should work. Mix 1 qt of ATF with half a bottle of HEET. By doing that the HEET will absorb the water that is left and the ATF then can soak in and down past the rings to free it up. Put the plugs back in after filling the cylinder and then pour ATF down the exhaust pipe and then cover it. May take a few weeks to free up but doing that you stand I would say a 75% chance it will
 
I agree, but the saddle club is working on a limited budget. After seeing all those restoration pics I'd like to just start tearing it down to the frame. But they just use it once a month to smooth out a small arena. It doesn't have to pull strong, or work long hours, or even burn particularly clean. It just has to work a few minutes a month. I do see some wisdom is letting it run a short while then immediately dropping the oil to drain whatever water, rust and old oil is there (liquid sandpaper).
 
I like that idea about reinstalling the spark plugs and filling from the exhaust... and the heat idea makes great sense. I agree about the time span. What made me encouraged was that when I pulled the drain on the oil pan only a little water came out before straight oil started coming out. It made me hopeful that maybe the water intrusion was minimal. Though it had been left off for some time, maybe it didn't rain much during that period???... hopeful.
 
I am leery of using the tractor hydraulics as described below. Before trying to turn the engine, remove the valve cover and the rocker arm assembly so that if a valve is stuck, you don't bend a push rod. Lub the valve stems and tap lightly with a hammer to be sure the valves are not stuck. Once the valves are all seated, use the hydraulic pressure method but with hydraulic oil, ATF or other favorite concoction in the cylinder and compressed air pressure and let it set for a few days under pressure if necessary would be my first attempt. It would help to lub and pressurize each cylinder for a few minutes, then letting the cylinder that is just past TDC sit with air pressure. Hydraulic pressure from another tractor is enough to bend or bust engine components (about 10 times high combustion pressures).
 
Always been leery of using tractor hydraulics too. I have had success with a acetone / ATF mix, and an old spark plug, modified to accept a grease fitting. At least you have some feel this way. Makes an UNHOLY mess when you get things moving.
 
That's a great point... and another good reason to fill the cylinders with sparkplugs installed (once the water is removed), because it would cover the valves as well. When I did my grandfather's pickup I used the housejack weight to apply constant torque to the crankshaft- but not too much force to bend things. They did try drag starting that truck with no success - probably a good thing that didn't work.
 
Interesting... (I'll bet that is messy) - but you can't argue with results. I've got some great ideas from you guys...very friendly and helpful. May the Lord bless all your projects, Brent
 
Over the years I have done 20 plus locked up tractors and out of the over 20 only 2 or 3 have not freed up for me doing as I said to do. A few keys to freeing one up is time and getting any and all water out of the cylinders.
 
I saw a John Deere 50 once that someone tried to unstick with hydraulic pressure from another tractor.the block was split wide open, IMO very dangerous!
 
Brett,IMHO,if that engine has sat for 3 years in the stuck state with water in it,I dont have much hope in getting it unstuck.Best to pull the head and fix it.Like hasa been said,one/some valves will be stuck/damaged.
 
there is nothing that will get them pistons moving other than a round block of hardwood and a 14lb. hammer.
 
I can tell the starter is pulling allot of current. Its a fairly new starter as well. I think the starter is engaged and cannot return - recoil, because the engine is locked up and won't allow it to return.
 
Brent, with a air hose blow out the cylinders fill with a 50/50 mixture of ATF & Dsl. fill full.
Jack up one rear wheel and block it up. Put Shifter into 5th gear, and rock the wheel back and forth every few days it should loosen up in time and it is still a while before it is time to start Roping Steers! If you have to later on you can tear down the motor and burn out the cylinders out to break them loose. Hope this helps.
Later,
John A.
 
Olds heet and atf in addition If you have a crank for the front of engine try this . I have placed handyman of Bloomfield jack on crank , dont raise the wheels or bend the crank . Just some pressure, then tap with maybe 2 lb ( foreign folks use 1 kilogram)hammer. My attempt at humor. The vibration and time with atf will usually work . Be sure to leave all plugs out. This vibration is required for the guarantee for Engine Release a product for stuck engines.
 
I tried the crank... but it is somehow defective and would not ingage the crank... so I just put a pipe wrench on the pin in front of the crank and put a foot on it with no luck (Note that I did use a standard pipr wrench and not a metric). Thanks for the input... I'm taking it all in - with patience and calculated moves I'm hopeful for a good result.
 
I have 3 Hs that run and 2 of them where locked up from sitting a long time and freed up with the ATF. I also have one that is still locked up but I have not really tried to free it either. Set a good 12 volt battery in it and use short fast taps of the starter button. If you see the crank move any at all pull the plugs and try it again. If the crank moves any good chance it will free up
 
take the time, and do it the right way. Drop the pan and take the head off. clean out each cylinder as best you can. take the rod caps off, and get the crank rotated so that the connecting rods are free. put a 1/4 to 1/2 cup blaster or similar in, and let her sit for a week or so. Then, get some oak blocks and 1 cylinder at a time, drive the piston down 1-2" to get them free. Clean up the cylinder, and then drive it back up. When they are out, you can determine if anything is salvagable.

The only cost in this is time and maybe $20 worth of your fav penetrating oil (or acetone and ATF, whatever). worst case, if the pistons and cylinders are salvagable, you'll need a new head gasket and pan gasket. Heck, I'll donate $$$ to cover both to the club if you like.
 
That's very generous Tom. I prefer to do things right when I can... its a matter of getting it to a place out of the weather. (I don't know what that tractor weighs- it looks heavy). Do you know of a source to find out torque specs and tightening sequence for the head bolts?
 
yup, me or most of the regular's on this board. send me a note, my email is open. I'll be glad to assist with this.
 

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