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Sure fire way to unstick an engine!

D

dej(Jed)

Well-known Member
A 10 lb sledge and an oak block of wood has never failed me. I also spray a little blaster or whatever I have handy into the piston tops.
As a piston moves I steel wool the sleeve to remove any crud build up. Once it is moving I
spin it with the starter. Last but not least, I
wire wheel the head and the engine block. Next I apply a high temperature permatex to both sides of the gasket. Finally I torque the head bolts 5 psi beyond spec. This procedure has never failed me yet.
 

That method might work if only ONE piston is stuck, but when all FOUR are stuck, hammering on one piston ain't gonna have much effect on the other three. I speak from experience.
 
I got one for you to try the pistons are rusted on top and the bottom all 4 Only way is pressout sleeve with piston then go from there. I looked in the spark plug hole and it didnt look good on all cycls so off with the head and wow stuck bad. Sad part is they had just overhauled it then let it outside in the rain must have st there for a period as it didnt just happen overnite.
 
I found a "wd" allis once that had a piston stuck right at bottom of stroke.evidently head gasket had blown and cyl sat full of water for a long time.i couldnt break it loose from top,because it was right at bottom.i wound up taking rod bearing cap and all off and driving sleeve and all out. i never did get that piston out of that sleeve.it laid around here for 20 years and i would go beat on it ocasionally to take my frustrations out on.I finally got tired of tripping over it and threw it away.
 
When I bought my 42 farmall H it had been "completely" restored like that, couple weeks after I bought it it started pumping oil around #2 spark plug.
 
you are pretty well screwed if it is stuck at the bottom of stroke because you can't get the rod off of the crank to get it out of your way. The piston has to go up or something has to be sacrificed.
 
At least with a 2-cylinder that has a stuck piston,you can unbolt the rod from the crank and then pull the block off the crankcase with the stuck piston in it. Then when you start beating on that piston, you don't have a crank resisting you.
 

Back in my youth I busted out many a rusted piston. I sure was stupid.
Heck maybe I still am. LOL.
 
i have had great luck puting paint thinner in the cilinders and lighting a fire for about 1-2 hr and turning the crank i have un stuk 6 of them like that never not worked butt on the first one i learned to put out the fire before turning the crank it was a f20 that was stuck with the manifold off in the weeds i got for free has run about 20-30 hrs a year for 6 years now
 
If any piston is at top dead center or bottom dead center, gotta go to Plan B. Or get a big enough sledge that you bend the rod right off the bat, so you can move on to the next project.
 
The mechanic's creed "When in doubt use a bigger hammer, if it jams- force it, if it breaks it needed replacement anyway".
 
(quoted from post at 12:47:16 02/29/12) The mechanic's creed "When in doubt use a bigger hammer, if it jams- force it, if it breaks it needed replacement anyway".
Click to expand...

I have unleashed the wisdom of the ages in these ramblings! LOL. The first couple of restorations back in my youth were satisfying. Now I derive no fullfillment from beating on old tractors. Heck if they are too far gone I salvage some of the useable/saleable parts and send them to the scrap yard. Thank God I have a regular job becasue I would starve trying to make money on old tractors. Oh by the way, I have a bunch of parts tractors in the Texas Panhamdle if anyone wants to fullfill themselves with the joy of restoration. A little over scrap price and they can be yours.
 
I can't see that as a problem. All the crankshafts I have ever removed lifted straight up out of the rods and mains. Seems top dead senter is the best to be hoped for.

15 miniutes of work with what you see after it was there on the wood blocks.

Picture2045-vi.jpg


Them thar pistons were rusted at both ends.
 
where in the panhandle are you located? I am looking for an engine block for a Farmall. 113 or 123. Got anything like that?
 
that's how I do it. But I pour in a good amount of automatic transmission fluid into the cylinders first and let it soak overnight.

And use a cylinder hone in a drill, very lightly, to knock down any corrosion.
 
I see you have never encountered an od F-series IH then, ball bearing mains, crank comes out the back of the block...
 
I think Dick was just going to bang on them without even taking off the pan, much less removing the crank. And if they didn't move, get a bigger hammer.

At TDC, banging on piston is just going to bend the rod.
 
What do you mean by 5 PSI? Torque wrenches are in ft. lbs. not PSI. It's still only as accurate as your torque wrench. Why not just get a new gasket and torque to recommended values?
 
Wow. I`ve done similar to what you are talking about, when I`m 300 miles from town and need to get something moving and have nothing to lose. But selling something "fixed" in such a way? I would only sell it described as needing a rebuild! There is a very big difference between restoring a tractor, and fixing what needs fixed, not just slapping a permatex band-aid on it.
 
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