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hydrolocked/connecting rod


Brian1973

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 29, 2010
Messages
129
City
Cincinnati, OH
Vehicle Year
1991
Transmission
Manual
ok, so I posted original issues in topic of similar title without the connecting rod.... have come to find out engine may have had multiple issues at the same time/a perfect storm... grrrrr

seems maybe some coolant breech/ blown head gasket and replaced the gasket, got valve job, checked heads for leaks and cleaned em..... and put all back together.. then come to find out the fuel pressure regulator was dumping fluid like crazy into cylinders when first trying to restart engine.... probably part of my original problem.... so my turning the key a couple times to possibly build fuel pressure was just filling my #3 and #6 cylinders through the vacuum hose....

soooo, figure that problem after the engine clunked a couple times and I took plugs out and evacuated fluid.... only to try it again thinking I just merely didn't need to build the fuel pressure.... clunks again.... sooo, bad fuel pressure regulator....

get new regulator and put in.... and know that I still have yet to figure the timing... soooo, start things up, turns over, runs a bit rough, and has a rattling noise.... move distributor around, and finally figure I must be off one spline.... remove, carefully move it one spline and try again... still rattling noise but ran better/didn't stall.... at least as quickly....

now, I know that nothing was left in cylinders when I mounted heads... I actually went back and lifted the upper intake and checked #4,5,6 rocker cover to make sure things were screwed down good there.... cuz noised seemed to be coming from either the driver's side or rear of engine... everything seemed ok.... go to run again, still rattling... take video to mechanic... get two different ideas.... one thinks timing just still off a spline? so the loud rapping is just the spark hitting off it's mark then I'm guessing? nother thinks possible connecting rod bent? or something else on bottom broken?

go back home to turning it over and hear a bad sound.... not sure what but kinda sounded like something may have broke after the rattling was going on... engine stops.... go to turn engine by hand.... all turns fine it seems.... turn the key again and it does turn but stalls out fast.... I don't press the issue...

go to double check the distributor that something isn't screwed up on the splines from that noise I heard.... don't notice anything unusual there.... buuuut, I do notice with the help of a mirror that part of the rubber gasket material for the lower intake mating to the block is somewhat blocking the total locking down of the distributor.... so I take a razor and cut off the excess hanging over the circumference of the distributor mating surface.... and lock it down....

later try and it runs a bit rough and stalls... not long enough to see if the rattling is still there..... haven't heard since the bad sound...

I'm fairly certain my timing is about dead on... at least to the point that is should run.... I hate to continue turning this questionable engine over! fear I'm making things worse! I'm thinking that with all the tries so far to find the multiple problems, perhaps since the fuel was pouring in at the vacuum, and seemed to concentrate in the back cylinders, that maybe that is where my problem is!?! such as the noise seemed to be from the drivers side towards the back... hence, #6 cylinder... grrrr, so irritating... so now I'm thinking of taking the oil pan off and see if I can see anything from underneath... seems manual says I have to raise the engine off the mounts 2 inches.... oh great! grrrr, can't they make oil pan removal easier!

not sure if that distributor was able to be locked down on previous attempts since didn't look just felt and it felt like it was tight with the bolt... at least enough that I could still turn it with a little effort.... that sticking out an 1/8 or so wouldn't cause any major problem would it? it was still meshed up with the gear...

Any other suggestions?!?! sorry it's so long...

fyi- just to make DOUBLE sure I was setting up TDC on the right stroke, stuck a screw driver in #1 spark plug hole to make sure I wasn't on exhaust stroke... I'm thinking about maybe just sticking it in #6 hole to see that the piston is traveling? if I broke connecting rod wouldn't it just sit? maybe I should check all the holes as well... or at least #3 too... btw, when putting new head gaskets on and before spending any money on that part, I did turn engine manually and all pistons traveled what seemed like normally up to the top and back to the bottom.... I suppose if I need to replace a connecting rod, I'm gonna have to remove engine huh? grrrrrrr

I'm $500 in with head work and gaskets.... hopefully that wasn't a total waste....

??? help :bawling:
 
Too much rambeling and talking! Make another post and leave out everything that isn't the present problem.
I'm betting on the timing being 180* out or something really simple.
Big JIm
 
well, would hope it is something simple but so far it hasn't been and wanted to put all the info in there to get people thinking.... unfortunately I'm afraid something seriously is wrong.... when problems are multiple, it makes diagnosis hard!
 
and to triple check my installation of the distributor as you said maybe it was 180 deg. off... I just hooked a compression tester to #1... turned engine manually... distributor rotor is pointing to the back as should be on the compression stroke... sooooo, cancel that off the list... :-) Good idea though... did move the engine checking the pistons when heads were off so thought back and said, ok, maybe I did put in 180 deg. off... nope... try again....
 
I rambled to show that with the multiple problems, it appears I may have been ok initially if I solved all the problems at one time to just replace the head gasket and start up... but as is goes, sometimes it takes time to figure the problems all out.... I'm guessing that the continued lock up of the engine bent something.... and then running it while slightly off time by a gear? possibly then finally popped something! uhg! suggestions? next will be to have mechanic stop by to listen... then probably drop the oil pan and see from there! grrrr sob!
 
First thing I'd do is a compression test on all cylinders. I know the engine is cold and has been sitting, but you could squirt some oil into the cylinders. I'd establish that at least you have good compression.
 
:bawling:Appears as I figured, after doing compression check, all cylinders except for #6 seem fine... no compression on #6... put screwdriver through spark port and was able to push piston down... soooooo, something is broken as I suspected.... suggestions? I believe I will start a new thread with my finding.... uhg :bawling:
 

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