I bought this 53 Belair that has not ran in quite a few years. Today I began pulling plugs to clean them and put some marvels in each cylinder. All the plugs looked the same, black like it was running a little rich except for the #2 cylinder that was pretty clean. The plugs looked fairly new, the oil looks new, and it appears someone took care of this car. Any ideas what is going on in the #2 cylinder? I have not tried to fire it yet, just cleaning all the systems before I try. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Maybe a bad plug wire. Check compression wh n you get it to crank. Proceed with complete tune up from there If good.
Previous owner said they were having an issue with overheating. Has a new radiator and thermostat. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Overheating will Blow a head gasket and a blown head gasket will cause coolant in the cylinder cleaning the plugs and air bubbling in the coolant, leading to more overheating. Compression test should tell you plenty. Do that first thing before you spend money
What Los Control said. It's either a blown head gasket or possibly a crack in one of the valve seats letting h2o & antifreeze creep in & that clean plug's a good sign it's in that cylinder. Best to pull the head & take it you a reputable machine shop for a good soaking & magnaflux. Flux
Fire it up and see how it runs. If it bubbles into the radiator, it could have a crack in the head or block, or a blown head gasket. But don't get all worried about it and have us try to diagnose it, before you even try to get it running.
With all the plugs out, do a compression test. Any cylinder with very low compression has a problem. Then squirt a couple shots of oil into each cylinder and check the compression again, see if the compression comes up, or not. If there is a dead cylinder (one with little or no compression) the head needs to come off to see what is wrong. Gene
I'll tell you, it's...no wait a min. Probably has to do with, uh no, not yet anyways, hold on. Ok, I think it has to be the...****, can't say that either. **** it, either start it up or do a compression test as advised. I don't want to say until we get that. Hate to make a mistake, ya know?
If your trying to save the motor I would not fire it up till cylinders are oiled ( Kroil, Diesel, Mystery Oil, Etc.) down real good and turned over by hand hoping to prevent any sticky rings from breaking. Do a leak down test along with the compression test.
I have to go with first do a compression test. 1 thing ALL of the plugs have to be out and the throttle plate blocked open when you do a pressure test to do it right. I've seen guys try to do one by pulling one plug at a time and testing that hole, putting the plug in and going to the next one and that will not give even close to a correct reading The second thing I would do is get my hands on a radiator/cooling system pressure tester (you can borrow one at Autozone where you pay for it and take it back and get your money back when you are done. Pretty good deal as they are around 80 bucks to buy one.) You don't want to go much over the rating of the stock cap which is around 4 lbs I think but you want to see if it holds pressure or looses pressure. If it won't hold pressure you have to figure out why. with the plugs out that may be easy if you get coolant out of that #2 cylinder after you finish the pressure test and crank it over with the plugs out. I've had them with a badly cracked head that would fill the cylinder rather quickly. Have a bent rod hanging in the shed that shows the result of that.
If it were mine and it spun over OK and had clean oil in it I would start it. A compression test on an engine that has not run in a long time can be misleading, and overheating can be caused by a lot of things.
Put some MMO in it and spin it over,then start it up,the rings have to be loose and oiled for a comp test anyway, it's either going to run good after a few minutes or your gonna make a hot rod out of it with the obligatory 350/350
Why not start it and find out if you have a problem, instead of trying to fix a problem that may not be there, or be a different problem?
Could be a vacuum leak although on a 235 a leak should effect 2 cylinders or maybe the guy just replaced one spark plug. Fire it up and see how it acts.
I'm a little surprised at all the "Start it now" comments. It sounds like you have one steam cleaned spark plug. The P.O. told you it was having cooling issues and it has a new Rad in it. Why not do a coolant pressure test First? If you have a leaking or blown head gasket you'll know before you damage the new Rad. You have all the signs of a Novist trying to pin point the problem then giving up an parking it. My advice is Don't just start it, do some testing and find out why it was parked. The other issue that could cause a very clean plug is a leaking intake at the head. That will cause a lean burn and heat. Same result. Are we Mechanics or just Parts Changers? The Wizzard
What's it going to hurt, starting it? If it is already broke inside, it will still be broke after he fires it up.
Anyone think of lifting the Valve cover and looking for a Broken intake rocker? That also would explain a clean plug, but no. Let's make it Run. Good advice! Quote; "Are we Mechanics or just Parts Changers?" end of quote. The Wizzard
Valve train problems will show up in the compression test. The compression test won't be very accurate until the engine has run a bit. I suppose you could take the engine apart completely and inspect everything before trying to run it, but then it turns into an expensive and time consuming proposition. And you end up looking like a parts changer, instead of someone who starts with a diagnosis based on engine performance. There are lots of ways to skin this cat.
X 2 here. Toqie, You're not giving us much to work with here, as is the case with a lot of these threads. What are your plans for this engine/ car? Are you just trying to get it running so you can move it around? Are you committed to the 6 cylinder , no matter what? Do you just want to yank it out and peddle it as a running engine? All of this makes a difference on how to diagnose it. Seems to me, one way or the other, you could spring for a set of wires and plugs. Clean and gap the points. Jump it off with 12 volts. and see if it will run. Wait . There's no battery. Okay , do you want to buy a 6 v or a 12 for later use? So, you 'll pick up an original type battery, and fire it up. Wait. There's old, dried up gas in the tank, the lines, the fuel pump, the carb. Now what? No offense, but you see where I'm going with this? There's more to this than ****in' around with a few old spark plugs. There's plenty of help available here. You just have to ask the right questions.
Good point. The cap, wires, plugs all appear in excellent shape. The PO said an older guy with a repair shop stored it and did maintainence on it. Fuel pump looks fairly new and very clean. They said there was no issues with the car, they just parked it because it needed some rust repair and a resto. The plan is hoping the motor and power glide are still good so I can drive it while I attack the rust. The motor is very clean, as in well taken care of, not like someone had been working on it. They didn't want to sell but knew they would never get it back together. Told me yesterday they had it running 2 years ago with gas from the tank but someone stole the battery. The best thing about the car is it is unmolested. All the wiring looks great, no splices anywhere. If anything major is wrong I will do a small block swap. Thanks Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
imho which is not worth much, starting it is equivalent to " a picture is worth a thousand words" I ***ume if there is any damage it has already been done. And listening to the motor can take a lot of guess work out of the next step. Lets pretend we start it, and hear a rod knocking because it has been abused in the past. Pulling a valve cover and doing pressure test will not tell you this. Just saying, if it was mine I would cautiously start it and pay attention to what the motor had to say.
My approach would be: While you have the plugs out and oil in the cylinders, take the fuel line off at the carburetor and direct the flow to a clean container. Turn the engine by hand using the engine fan to make certain it will turn and it should turn easily with the transmission in neutral. If it does, turn over by hand, spin it with the starter to distribute the oil and pump gas into the container. Check the gas to see if it's good. If it is, put it together, put the plugs in and try to start it. If the gas is bad, disconnect the inlet from the fuel pump and connect another source of gasoline to it then try starting it.
It would be nice if I knew someone with a 6 volt battery I could borrow. Hate to go buy one and the motor or ****** be junk. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
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