Was driving down the road a few days ago and my wagon quit on me at a light. Engine would not turn over just a solenoid click. Checked the battery/cables , solenoid ,removed the starter it spun freely. took the plugs out no go . full of oil and coolant . What am I missing here or is it DOA ? Thanks BT
It sounds like the engine hydrolocked. Usually, however, the cylinder doesn't fill unless the engine's been sitting. Did you pull all the plugs and attempt to bar it over?
I think your oil pump sucked up a piece of valve guide seal and locked up. Pull your distributor and check to see if the drive rod is corkscrewed, as that usually happens. You probably wiped out a front main or rod bearing.
Thanks , There was no water etc in the cylinder , tried to turn over , no go. I have the wagon at a garage to check it out . If it is dead , fix or junk it . Already have more money in it than it will ever be worth .
Right, but as long as you can get it back on the road and drive it for a long time, you'll eventually make some of that money back.
Just find a 460 carbed, drop it in, you're back on the road, then you can tear down the 429 to find out what happened
Engines don't just seize up without some warning. Was it making noise? A bearing failure bad enough to lock the motor up WILL make noise first. Hydro-locked? Nah, not while running. Debris large enough to break the pump is usually caught in the screen, even if so that won't prevent the engine from turning. A bad overheat will seize the pistons in the bores but usually turn over fine after cooled. Was it a solenoid "click" as you stated or was it a hard CLUNK as the starter engaged a flywheel that won't turn? Are you CERTAIN the motor won't turn? I say too soon to write it off unless there were symptoms beforehand. I've seen timing chains go at idle, perhaps it managed to get caught up. If a bearing(s) spins they will sometimes overlap the halves effectively wedging the crank in place. Try turning the motor backwards to "unfold" the overlapped bearing. If it turns(still won't be easy) the other way and becomes tight again going "forward" I'll bet a dollar this is what happened. If so don't say it gave no warning, it did. Main bearings are a bit more subtle when they go, just a dull thud rather than the rattling made by loose rods but they give warning, if you are listening.
Thanks for the replies , turned out it was not locked up. Bad starter would spin on the test bench but would not turn engine . Also bad battery cables and weak battery. Spins fine now and starts. Having Edelbrock carb trouble now . Slight leak in carb throat. Have put a kit in it and set the floats to spec . Idles poorly , runs good under power . Thanks again
