siezed motor?

[roadking-111]

So I'm ready to bolt my motor to my new Gearstar 700R4 and she won't budge. This GMPP crate 350 has maybe 30 miles on it before it sat for about a year while I've been working on the rebuild of my 69. I'd really hate to pop the heads off of a brand new motor. I've got the plugs out and sprayed some penetrating oil in there with no luck. Any suggestions?

[mario1128]

Are you sure the torque converter is properly engaged if not it could cause binding. Good luck

[OhOneWS6]

I'd pull the tranny before I pulled the heads and make sure it is not binding.

[extd56]

The best thing to do in my opinion is put transmission oil in the cylinders and let it sit overnight and then try and turn it over. It will not hurt your motor and will take care of any rust if that is your problem. Of course when you do start your motor it will smoke for a little bit because of the transmission oil. This was a old wrcking yard trick to get old motors freed up and it has worked for me before. Also do not reinstall the spark plugs until you can get it turned over.

[cdowns]

disconnect tranny and deal with engine

[neba]

sitting for a year should not cause a motor to seize. my guess would be something went wrong when installing trans

[VetteVet]

Probably when the trans and converter were installed the converter wasn't installed into the pump properly and has jammed the engine and trans together. Loosening the trans mount bolts should free it up. The whole thing will have to come apart and be inspected and probably the front pump in the trans is damaged.

[rockc]

Yea it sounds like something is bindin up in tranny area, flywheel, tourq conv.

[OhOneWS6]

Any resolution on this?

[roadking-111]

I separated the tranny from the block. Motor was still not turning. I poured some marvel mystery in the plug holes and switched the front pulley with a different one that I could get a breaker bar through. I used a pipe on the end of the bar for more leverage and got it to break loose. I moved it about a half turn each way. I let it sit for a week thinking it might loosen up a bit more. No luck. I've got it on the stand now and figured I'd better take a closer look at what's going on in there. Thanks for the help!

[OhOneWS6]

Bummer. Update us once you figure it out.

[shortbed70]

I cant belive setting for a year would do that I've had them setting for several yrs and still turned. I dont know what could cause it but I use pb blaster and seems to work good.

[roadking-111]

Tough to find time to work on the truck but here's an update. I pulled the intake and pan and didn't find anything damaged. Flipped it over on the stand and used a breaker bar while pouring a little marvel on the cylinder walls. It was sticking in a few spots but finally started turning pretty smooth. I reseated the converter and made sure it spins freely. I buttoned everything up and mounted the tranny only to find out that the center cap on the torque converter is catching on the center of the crank. When I try to bolt up the converter the bolt pulls the flexplate towards the converter. Not sure what the best fix would be. Any suggestions?

[hatchaddict]

mic the o.d. of the coverter hub then mic the i.d. of the crank. if the converter is bigger then you need a different converter

[GruntMoanCough]

You gotta take that pilot bushing out of the crank, don't ya?

[tasian]

cant say for sure but when we switched a buddys manuel to a auto we had to pull that bushing...real pain in the a$$ too

[geezer#99]

X2 I just read about the same thing on another forum. Pull out the pilot bearing.

[crushermechanic]

if you have to pull the bearing a easy way to get is fill the hole with grease. find a punch or pice of solid stock pretty close to the same size as the bearing and drive it into the grease. it will push out the pilot.

[rsavage]

+1 on the pilot bushing - I think you will find that it is creating your clearance problem.
I have had some limited success with a dowel sanded down just enough to go in the bushing and the grease method. Others I have had to chisel out piece by piece with a small chisel.

[Captain Underdog]

I've never had to pull the bushing. Do like hatchaddict said; measure the hub on the converter and measure the hole in the crank.

If you really want to pull the bushing, take a tap of the appropriate size and thread it, screw a long bolt in it and pull it with a hammer puller. Easy.

[roadking-111]

I talked to a tech at Gearstar today and he said I should mic each diameter and make sure there was not a fitment problem. The tranny was dyno'd with a 350 before it was shipped so shouldn't be an issue with the converter. The o.d. of the torque converter was a little less than 1/1000 smaller. I figured I could make some room by taking a small bit off the crank. I used some 200 grit sandpaper on the i.d. of the crank then smoothed it over with steel wool. Everything slid together nicely. Thanks for the help!