Freeing a stuck motor

James Williams

Well-known Member
Ive freed a lot of stuck motors with using a lot of force and never broke anything,but Ive got a chance of buying a F12 wakashaw that's stuck and I would like to be a little gentle since parts aren't readily avaible.I had a thought one night about putting the motor in a tub of water and boiling the water,would this create enough heat to expand the parts allowing the pistons to free up.I know this sounds stupid,but know one ever accused me of being intelligent

jimmy
 
James, Why not just remove, All Parts off the tractor, Including fuel tank, Head, Pan, rod caps. Determine which cylinder/s are stuck! roll tractor outside. Make sure there are no fire sources close by, Start with the cylinder with the most volume Fill will Dsl add a splash of gas set it on fire, let it burn itself out take hammer and block and drive piston out from the bottom. 1 or several burnings will usually achieve the desired results on an Individual cylinder basis also if pistons or liners are salvageable then you can make that determination later on.
Note as the Volume decreases the # of burnings Will usually Increase from the first one.
If engine is totally out of tractor and on an engine stand the process is easier!
Hope this Helps!
Later,
John A.
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PS is you want to visit about the above process Holler at me (512) 577-3837.
 
Depending on how badly the cylinders are stuck, I have had good success with a mixture of 50% auto trans fluid and 50% acetone. Put into each cylinder and let sit for a few days. I like to start with the easier methods and if needed go to the more aggressive approach.
 
I have had good luck with acetone no atf . Once rust is loose enough to let by rings it will turn , at this time I use the 50/50 mixture until loose enough to remove parts that need replacing, if cylinders aren't bad you may still want to remove pistons and hone lightly
 
James, I always wondered about what the machine shops and radiator shop put in there tanks to soak engine part for cleaning. I think the radiator guys use muriatic acid and water mix
things sure do come out clean. oldiron29
 
Caustic soda &water, when I worked for Cummins Overhaul facility in the late 70's we had different tanks with separate "recipes" for cast, steel & aluminum. Cast parts usually soaked for at least 12 to 18 hours. Once the parts were removed using a small overhead crane, as the parts were placed onto fabricated steel mesh racks, and washed with very hot pressurized soap & water. No rust, paint, or any oil residue was left on the parts.
We had to wear protective clothing , facemask, gloves & rain gear to keep any residue off our skin, believe me, you only did that one ONCE, by the time you felt the burn it was too late, you could seriously scar your skin if you did not neutralize, and wash it off immediately
The tanks were hot enough to steam constantly & had a circulating pump in each one. Once or twice a year they were all drained and the sediment (yuck) was cleaned out.
 
Take the head off and oil pan off to see what you are up against. You cannot decide how to do it correctly if you don't know how bad it is stuck or why.

Unless you have a bore scope and can look inside the cylinders, anything you do is a crap shoot and at risk to cause damage without removing the head and oil pan. Do that and tell us what you find.
 
Since the proposed method is soaking the engine in a tub of boiling water, I would imagine that the engine has to be at least partially disassembled, head and oil pan anyway.

Frankly, how are you going to get that much water up to a boil? That's a lot of burners and a lot of fuel.

But I don't think 212 is going to be hot enough to do much good. If it were, we'd be freeing stuck bolts using propane torches.
 
Boiling the engine sounds like a bad idea. 1. alot of trouble. 2. going to take alot of fuel to boil that much water. 3. not sure its going to do any good. Heat makes things expand. But what good is it going to do to have the block, sleeves, and pistons all expand simultaniously at the same time and at the same rate. I would stay with the inspect, soak, and apply apropriate force as needed method. Its a struggle, but no need in beating your head against the wall at the same time.
 
another vote for fire. as many times as it takes.
in combination with the usual soaking, pounding, jack under a rod end, etc

doesn't really apply in this case, but I'd like to add, check everything.
Freeing up a badly stuck Farmall once.
usual methods failed, used fire repeatedly.
finally got to the point where I could swear all the stuck pistons were actually quivering when I whacked them.
(a usual sign that the individual piston is loose)
still stuck
Turns out that the big bushing on the governor/distributor
drive was also rusted stuck. was very tough to get loose without breaking the block.
 

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