Engine wont turn

[madmodsranger]

My 95 4L wont turn over, not even by hand, and now I'm asking for some help from you guys. This is what I have done so far.

1. Remove starter to confirm its working properly, it is and I have tried cranking straight from the battery, bypassing all wiring. So its not an electrical or relay issue.
2. Removed the belt and spark plugs and tried turning over manually with a wrench, no movement in either direction.
3. Put miracle oil in the cylinders for over a month. No movement with manual turn or with starter.

So what is my next move?

Thanks guys

 

[Ranger44]

Not to insult but was the trans in N when you were trying to turn it manually?

 

[madmodsranger]

No worries about insults at all, I am new to this. The tranny is automatic so I guess N doesnt matter right?

Just some background. The motor was rebuilt a few years ago but hasnt run in maybe a year. Would it sitting in the garage for that long rust the block?

 

[Big Jim M]

That's what I was listening for...

No worries about insults at all, I am new to this. The tranny is automatic so I guess N doesnt matter right?

Just some background. The motor was rebuilt a few years ago but hasnt run in maybe a year. Would it sitting in the garage for that long rust the block?

I have had a couple of engines that sat for a few years and wouldn't turn over.. They were all connected to a clutch. I just pushed or pulled them to about 5 miles per hour and with them in HIGH gear let the clutch out.
That did it for all of them. In fact one of them even started running from that jump start..
I doubt anything is wrong with the engine. It just needs a little persuading.
Get a longer wrench and apply it liberally to the crank bolt.. With of course the plugs out if the engine. Once you gt it unlodged it should turn over with the starter.
Big JIm

 

[burkard4.6]

it can rust from just sitting for a while if moisture gets in the engine the hot then cold going through the seasons will make it condense and the the cylinders will rust... another problem could be when it was built the main caps and/or rod bolts were overtightened

 

[madmodsranger]

I dont think seasonality is the issue. The truck was in south florida so not huge temperature changes there.

On turn the motor by hand, i have put a lot force behind it, but cautiously as obviously i dont want to strip the nut. stupid question, should i only be cranking on it CW? it wont move either but i thought id ask.

 

[Nhaz]

south florida. was it near the ocean? like within smell distance anyways. The ocean air as tons of salt in it. salt corrodes iron and aluminum fairly quickly unless countered. Wet salty air is pretty nasty.

toss some penetrating oil into the cylinders wait a hour. go have a beer or something. and try to turn the crank bolt by hand with a breaker bar.

 

[madmodsranger]

Truck was not too close the ocean. Several miles inland.

Just tried putting some more force behind the breaker bar. Was able to break the pulley bolt loose, then retightened it. Absolutely no movement at all in either direction.

Anything else I can try?

 

[fireguy12117]

i'm no expert...but when you said "oil for a month" did you continuously apply the oil, like daily basis? and how did you get oil in there? squirt or spray? i would imagine spraying something through the plug holes would get oil to the back sides of the pistons and walls (up hear the lower intake side) where heavier oils wouldn't sit and soak.

if your able to break that bolt loose, something is definitely holding the internals in place. it wasn't the easiest thing i thought, to turn a motor over, but it surely wasn't something like your describing.

 

[madmodsranger]

I put the miracle oil using a funnel through the plug holes, then put the plugs back in and left it sitting in there for a month. Took the plugs out the other day and let the excess oil drain out.

Think I should be using a spray like pb blaster to make sure the whole cylinder wall and top of piston is coated? Then repeat every day or so?

 

[dangerranger911]

you may just have to tear down and start over on the engine rebuild

 

[fireguy12117]

when i tore down my 93 4.0 in the truck with 130,000 on it, i took my sweet time soaking things twice daily until i went to do the work, so yeah, I've had decent luck soaking the bejezzus out of something with a spray type or heavier oil type, depending. something like trying to get to the back side of a piston, i'd use an aerosol style penetrating oil to get the back sides of the cylinder walls coated. pb blaster advertises some sort of agent that eats rust, so yeah, go for it. I've used pb blaster, Kroil, and a couple other run of the mill brands. they all seem to work. id at least give it another go around before tearing it apart, I've heard some crazy stories like this of people getting seized engines going again.

 

[Nhaz]

No worries about insults at all, I am new to this. The tranny is automatic so I guess N doesnt matter right?

Just some background. The motor was rebuilt a few years ago but hasnt run in maybe a year. Would it sitting in the garage for that long rust the block?

The only engine that I've worked on that frozen was from a 1967 international school bus. In the end after 5 or 6 days of attempting to get the engine to rotate at all. I ended up taking the engine back to the wrecker I bought it from.

He had claimed it had only sat for 6 months. When I asked one of his employees the truck it had been taken out of had been sitting 7 years. In any case I got a replacement engine.

You may want to crack the pan open and have a peek at whats inside. If its full of water or you can see a butt load of rust it maybe time to think replacement.