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Engine seized?

I have a 74 Chevy 350, with a TH350. Everything was working great, except I noticed a vacuum leak in the carb body. So I change the carb first thing the next week. Start the car real quick for a sanity check, then turned it right off to go grab my tools to set the idle. Now car will not start. Battery is fine, starter is fine. Cannot turn the engine by hand at all. Removed plugs, still cant turn it. Removed the oil, no metal in it. Dropped the oil pan. Cross member was in the way, so I could only feel around. Everything felt fine, and no metal in the bottom of the pan. No water leaks into the chambers, because the plugs looked fine. Cant say that I have tried turning motor by hand in neutral, I may have, but I have always done it in park. The car has been sitting for a while and I am near giving up. Is there something else I should check. I am thinking this thing is toast.

Reply to
andrew.morris
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I have had the engine jam up on a 70's 350 also. In my case it was the starter gear jammed into the flywheel. I would try banging on the starter or loosening it to see what happens. You also might try a breaker bar on the crank bolt and rock the crank back and forth to release it.

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail >
Reply to
Mike Romain

thanks for the info. I have trouble getting to the crank, so I can only turn it one way. I may try removing the fan to get a better angle. I tried moving it with the starter completely off and still no movement. I was thinking about taking off the timing chain and moving it directly.

Reply to
andrew

Not the starter gear then. Can you get at the crank bolt from below?

Have you removed the fan belts? Maybe the alternator or something seized?

Mike

andrew wrote:

Reply to
Mike Romain

yea i took those belts off. I think i will try and turn it again this weekend, if no dice, then I will remove the timing chain, and try and turn the cam, and/or the crank. Maybe I will get lucky and it was the timing chain.

Reply to
andrew

snipped-for-privacy@windriver.com wrote: So I change the carb

Are you sure you didn't drop something down the intake manifold? Hint: Something that shouldn't be there and now the engine ate it? This is very suspicious.

Reply to
Kruse

If you have the starter off you should be able to use a pry bar on the flywheel teeth and try to see if you can nudge it in one direction or the other. Normally it wouldn't take much effort at all to get it to pry it one tooth distance. If that doesn't get it to move then it is probably seized. But from your description of the events doesn't seem like that would be the case.

-jim

Reply to
jim

bingo! too bad....

Which cylinder[s] is/are up?

Remember it could be on either exhaust or compression stroke.

If you can f> snipped-for-privacy@w> So I change the carb

Reply to
philkryder

A friend of mine had a similar problem with her Suburban. When her husband inspected it, he couldn't find anything and still couldn't turn the engine over. Turns out that a main bearing had wiped and locked up the crank, unfortunately that meant having to do a rebuild on the engine. Runs like a ripped ape now!!!

Reply to
Jens

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