I know this is a little new for you guys but I need some input. I recently pulled a 1965' galaxie from 25 years of storage. Cleaned the tank, added an inline filter, fixed the brakes, rebuilt the carb and it ran great... So I sold it. Guy wanted to pick it up at the end of the month so after his test drive I parked it. It all went smoothly until yesterday. I turned it over to move it and it immediately bent two pushrods both exhaust on cylinder 1 & 7. Figured it was a bad lifter cleaned them up, got them moving fine put two new pushrods in it and bam ran great, started it up again today and bam bent again. There's nothing in the cylinders and I'm dumbfounded. 65' galaxie 352fe motor, 4bbl carb. Help! Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
wow, strange stuff - some ones bent? possibly timing chain jumped/ lifters bad? bad old gas could have caused problem before you cleaned tank, etc? rocker problem? cam lobe bad? did a online search, not uncommon for big block FE motors. some say that in part is due to the long push rods.
That suck seeing as it's already sold... Any way to clean the varnish off without pulling the head? Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
If the timing chain jumped I don't think it would run, it's still fires up just makes a horrific noise, I ran it via fuel cell before I hooked the tank up. Cam is fine rockers are good lifters move freely. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
I'd go with sticky valves, or even sticky lifters. Pull the valve covers off, pull the spark plugs out, and rotate the engine by hand if you can. Watch movement of rockers and see which ones are not going through the full range of motion.
get it running and at good high idle, maybe 2-3k rpm's, trickle some ATF into the carb, very little at a time so you dont liquid lock it and it will burn it and smoke like hell on earth but it also lubricates the valve stems/seals etc etc. I'd try that before I yanked the heads
With the rocker shaft off do the rockers move freely? Try the atf acetone mix and spray around the valve stem and tap on the valve stem where the rocker contacts it once it loosens up the spring show push it closed. You may try to rotate the valve also if you can get a grip on the end of the valve stem.
The problem with this idea is that as soon as it runs it's probably gonna bend something again. It's hard to lubricate the valve stems without disassembly because the stuck part is beneath the valve stem seals.
i doubt there is much left of valve stem seals by now. like they said, lube the valve stems with your favorite brand of Panther Piss, give them a little time and they should loosen up fine. only other thing i did not see mentioned is the fact that after years of being ing the open(compressed) position, the valve springs may have gotten pissed off and lost there tension. then it's time for a valve job.
When I was selling cars for a living, the managers would 'mother-fuck' you for hours if the metal did not leave the lot, by any means necessary, once sold. This is the reason. Cosmo
Vote number 10 for sticking valves. I had a Caddy engine that the valves started sticking inside their guides and I had to remove the heads and clean out the bores and polish the stems, then it was ok. I don't know of an easy way to do it because they usually stick again if you don't fix them. You might throw a heavy dose of Marvel Mystery Oil in the oil and run the car for a long time to let it get down into the guides. You have nothing to lose. Maybe also remove the offending valve springs and put a cordless drill on the end of the valve stem and spin it in it's guide to clearance it a little. I think I remember doing that on some engine many years ago. Kinda work the drill up and down a little as you do it to remove any varnish. Don
Quart of 2 cycle oil in the tank should help. Bent push rods have to be stuck valve or valve hitting the piston.
I'm also thinking sticky valves, and I would try a combination of additive in the oil and gas. Watch the valves and pushrods closely while you do the turning engine over and give the Sea Foam a chance to do it's work plus thru the PCV hose. One of the best I've used is called "Sea Foam", and they also have a penetrating oil called "Deep Creep" that is all I will buy and use nowadays. Maybe try squirting the Sea Foam down inside the valve springs liberally on all valves till you have used a can full there, as it's also a good oil additive freeing up stuck engine internals and this would take care of adding it to the oil. Then carefully and slowly turn the engine over by hand if possible,if not with starter only to give the stuff a chance to get down in the valve stem/valve guide contact area. Watch the valves and pushrods closely while you turn it over, giving the Sea Foam a chance to work. Once you feel that things are moving fairly well during this slow turning, open another can of Sea Foam, start the engine and dribble that can of Sea Foam thru the PCV hose where it will go thru the intakes and give additional lubrication and cleaning action. It's gonna smoke like hell for awhile when you do this , but it's possible it'll do the trick, and avoid pulling the heads. Another can in the gas tank wouldn't hurt in trying to avoid a repeat of the sticking. I also like the idea of pulling rockers and valve springs to spin valves with a drill motor. Pulling the old valve stem seals and using the Sea Foam or another solvent/lubricant there and then replacing old seals with new is another way to try to avoid pulling the heads.
Assuming sticking valves, I found that the ethanol gas (pump gas) dissolved the glue in the fuel pump diaphragm and it was deposited throughout the intake tract and caused the valves to stick in the guides. I also found traces on an exhaust valve. this was on an inline 6. I know this is far fetched, but the "run fine" then bend pushrods on startup scenario is the same.
This is very typical of bad gas. Either you did not get it all, or the car has been sitting around long enough for it to go bad again? This can happen in a few months.
I had this problem on a y-block after running some old stale gas. I had to remove the rocker, put rope down the plug hole and hold the piston up against the valve while I removed the spring. lower the piston an inch or so, lube the valve, knock it down, lube it, push it back up or pull it up, lube it and keep repeating until I could attach a battery drill and spin it while lubing and moving back and forth. Once all sticking valves were free, I could reassemble with good push rods. I drained the stale gas and refilled with new and never had the problem again. Mart.
After hours of cleaning and working the valves, I went to do cylinder 4 (started with 8 and worked back) and the valve seal came right out of the guide. Urgg. Customer is taking it as is with a few extra parts thrown in. What a pain in the ass these FE motors are Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
seafoam is junk......buy a quart of MMO and dump half in the gas tank and half in the oil. Go drive it and get it good and warmed up and park it. I was having the same problem on my 54 Chevy pickup. If it sat for a couple days the valves would stick. MMO fixed it.
Care to back up that "junk" comment with anything other than an opinion? As the old man said: " opinions are like assholes, everybody's got one."
sure....its called experience. Tried it several times and couldn't tell that it did anything at all. MMO on the other hand has saved me lots of money and even made me money more than once.
Not trying to start a pissing match, and not to further hijack this thread, and I do use MMO myself as an air tool oil, but have you ever read the MSDS on MMO? Mostly mineral spirits.
I always fall back on MMO for un-sticking things as well as fogging motors that are being put away. It must be the smell that I like...
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