new ford 302 engine locked up

I would be thinking seized rings. I would pull the plugs and spray some good penetrating oil into each cylinder and let it sit like that for a while before putting a wrench on the crank bolt to see if I could break it free.

Mike

And of course try to turn it both directions. What kind of storage did it have for those four months? Outside? Covered? Hood on or off? That doesn't help you now, but is of interest as to the cause. Maybe there's enough room to look through the spark plug hole or with a mirror to inspect for rust. We had a 51' Ford one time with a Mercury engine that had been sitting for years and wouldn't turn. It turned when the clutch came out at 30 M.P.H. It ran OK for abour 9 months before it spun a rod bearing. It's a desperation move that applies lots more torque than you wrench or the starter.

There are a numer of things that might have gone wrong.

Are you certain the starter is not the problem? Did you try to turn the crank with a breaker bar?

Did you bore or hone the cylinders? If you did, did you whash them with hot soapy water afterwards. If not ,there would be a fine film of metal powder that turned to rust on the cylinder walls regaurdless or weather or not you oiled them. In that case, you should be able to free up the stuck rings by adding penetrating oil through the spark plug holes and soaking over night. Use a breaker bar and socket on the crank bolt to try rocking the crank back and forth a little at a time to get the pistons moving then add more penatrating oil and repeat. If this is the case, be sure to add motor oil through the spark plug holes after you get the engine spinning freely. Then crank it for a while with the plugs out. This will relube the cylinders and help prevent scoring when started.

If you can not free up the engine in this manner then drop the pan and inspect the crank bearings.

Did you use assembly lube on the cam and crank bearings. Are you certain there was no honing residue left on them either. If they were really clean and properly lubed then they are not the reason the engine is seized. If they did have any residue and rust formed, then you really need to dissasemble, clean and relube them. Even if you get the engine spinning the bearings will fail sooner than expected if any rust has formed on the crank or cam jurnals.

There may be other possibilities, but all would require some dissasembly, so try what I have suggested and get back with the results.

snipped-for-privacy@redcircle.net wrote: is the engine locked? is there an easy fix, or am I in a

You didn't put a realy large slug of oil into a cylinder, did you? Pull the plugs and try to crank it.

to help prevent / over come seizures / polish the moving bearing-parts of an overhauled motor, the use of MARVEL MYSTERY OI as recommended - can help.

mho v=83e

Had this with a marine engine once. Defintely pull all the plugs. Kroil each cylinder and let it sit a while. The breaker bar is a good idea and rock it back and forth, kroiling a few times. Since you dont know which or how may cylinders are frozen, you may or may not be able to free it.

sucks man. been there and it wasnt all too fun. I ended up doing a complete overhaul, had it honed and all that jazz.

my .03 cents

i had the same thing happen to my '78 trans am motor....i did the same thing that every one else is telling you..the only difference is....if it matters...i used two stroke mixing oil..it worked really well..within an hour or so i could move it alittle( 5-10 degrees) let it sit from 9pm till morning and it cranked right over

On 7 May 2006 14:00:31 -0700, snipped-for-privacy@redcircle.net wrote:

Did it turn after you bolted up the trans or did you try it? It is common for the uninitiated to bolt up the trans w/o the torque converter fully seated which will bind the crank thrust bearings. This condition is usually harmless as long as you do not start the engine in this condition. You should be able to rock the converter a bit in it's bolt holes or even back it away from the flex plate a bit if it is properly seated in the pump. Also, did you have the intake and exhaust taped up to keep moisture out during storage? For that length of time, fresh cylinder walls should have had some kind of protective spray into the plugs holes, turned over and reinstall the plugs. When you assembled the engine, you should have been able to spin the crank with a flick of the wrist after torquing each bearing. When done, you still should have been able to spin the crank easily before installing the pistons and rods. It is also proper to turn the engine after torquing each rod to be sure you don't get an excessively tight one. I like using Plastigage on every bearing as I go just to be sure. It is a cheap way to make sure of clearances. I should also ask if you filled it with coolant when you installed it. I have seen many head gaskets with a slow leak fill a cylinder while sitting. Pulling the plugs and looking for any indication of moisture would be a good idea. It may be that there has been a slight leak that was only enough enough to corrode a cylinder wall causing the engine to stick. Unfortunately, if this is the case, it will have to come back down. Do not continue to attempt to force the engine to turn with the plugs in. If it has coolant in a cylinder, you can easily break a piston or bend a rod. While you are looking, you may want to pull the rocker and check for a stuck valve(s) which may be blocking a piston. You have to be methodical and cautious to find the problem to keep from doing more damage.

Lugnut

Thanks to all who replied to this post, i appriciate all the info. but for more info, the engine was stored inside, in an un heated room, with no plugs, it did turn after i bolted it to the transmission, and i did clean the cylinder walls with hot water and lubed them with a thin film of oil. The engine has not yet had coolant in it, the intake was blocked off, but the exhast was not. The valves all moved before the engine froze, and i used platigauge on all bearings. I am going to spray some penitrating oil into the plug holes and let it sit overnight, and then see if i can turn it wiht a breaker bar. Thanks all for the info, it is greatly appriciated. Thanks!

I have had too long of a bolt in a torque converter before. It hit the block on a freeze plug boss.

Scratched my head for a week, took the motor back out, found the shiny spot and remembered that one of the torque converter bolts came out pretty hard.

Good luck

When prepping my 70 Buick for a demo, it sat one winter with a hole in the hood and got water in the engine. The first clue was the gas pedal stuck and when we took off the air cleaner to fix the linkage, the carb was FULL of water and we had busted the throttle shaft in half. Whoops. Out comes spare carb, and we pulled the plugs and turned it over to pump out the sludge. I swear it ran BETTER after this abuse. I also learned that you can run a car without a carb if the fuel line is hanging over the intake... the pump squirts fuel in like a TBI and it stays running. Not very safe, but pretty funny.

I know this doesn't help the OP, I just thought it was funny.

I'd consider the possibility of a bad starter or wiring problems if it's never run in the car - try turning it over a bit by hand? (well, with a bar on the crank pulley...)

Ray

Bet you have a few rusted areas in the bores from open plug holes allowing air in. Plus some more from the open exhaust ports. Don't know if you live in an area with those damn mud daubers or not but they also love to find places like that to live in.