I'm going to soak an old flathead thats filled with water. I was wondering what others have had good luck soaking with. ATF- I usally use old ATF, it penetrates well and has detergent to break up crud. I've had great results in the past. Brake Fluid- This time I'm trying old brake fluid, again a light oil, should penetrate and its pretty "hot" should break up rust I think. Molasses- I've heard of it but not tried it. Diesel- I've heard good AND bad. Coca Cola- I thought of this last night, they say it can dissolve a nail or a penny. Has anyone ever tried it? I just might.
You can probably get the crank out of the engine without too much trouble. Then you can tap out the pistons that will move. Then concentrate on the really stuck ones. Good luck. That's the way I did the last 2 I took apart.
Do a search (sorry Ryan). This has been covered a few times, and there's always a new one in the posts. Good luck. Maybe you could try something different on all 8 cylinders and let us know which works best! Jay
I have had good luck soaking with water. Seriously... It works... And it is an easier mess to clean up after you get it unstuck.
I've unstuck a lot of engines over the years and the ones that don't respond to carb cleaner, you're going to have to pound out I've found. Carb cleaner is heavier than water so, if there is any around your rings still it will displace it. Everything else will sit above it and won't do anything. My 2 cents.
I have un stuck a few pistons as well as a few dissimilar metals with a few days soaking in Coca-Cola... plus it eats light surface rust pretty good too!
[ QUOTE ] I have had good luck soaking with water. Seriously... It works... [/ QUOTE ] thats the last method I heard. I tried it on an 8RT this summer with the cyls filled w/water, but after a month it wasnt any better. This winter I am going to cut down a barrel and fill it with either water or diesel, and let the motor sit in there. Which would you guys do, water or diesel?
also, ive heard that brake fluid is great, but it shouldnt be left in the cyls for more than a day or to. If it is left longer it will start eating the cyls (from what ive been told, ive never tried it---been too afraid to mess a motor up)
the best thing of all is deisel fuel ,a couple of gallons will do it .Normally we warm the block up with a blow torch ,when i say blow torch i mean one of those small canister types you get from the store.Nothing to violent just a gentle warm all over then pour the deisel on till it smokes and it will smoke a good deal.Leave it a couple of days and it should be free after some light tapping.............Marq
Mebbe soaking to free the pistons is the wrong paradigm. The pistons aren't going to be saved, freeing them in an egine in that condition is going to be a lengthy and violent process no matter what, and the necessary pounding might just crack the block. The need is for the pistons to go away. I think lye eats aluminum, eats grease, and doesn't hurt iron quickly. Then you can move on to molasses...
Make a grease-gun adapter of one of the old spark plugs. Load it with grease,it can push the pistonshit out,even if its stuck good. Grease are great,even for cars. Z
We tried everything in the book on a jag XKE that had sat outside for many years,,,after a few days fighting with it we used Coke Cola and the next day we could turn the engine over. Strange but it worked for us!HRP
well if water works then I should have no problem. The Cyl have been full of water for 10yrs. I bet those pistons will just fall out LOL
I learned the hard way that the best way to ruin a possible good engine is to get in a hurry and "beat" the pistons out or fly into it with a torch. What I do is simple and it just never fails me. I made a tank that would hold a complete engine and transmission, it's steel but that's not important because now days the farm supply has fiberglass and plastic tanks that will work. Put the engine in the tank, completely submerged, with the spark plugs out, leave the heads on. Write the date on your calander and forget it for 30 days, I always leave it 60, but like I said I'm patient. Then take the engine out and start your tear down. If you get to something that won't come apart, back in the diesel fuel for another couple of weeks. I have used this method on engines that have sat for years neglected and badly rusted and stuck and I have never had to beat a piston out.
I almost forgot to say, "submerge in diesel fuel", I did say that for the extra two week soak didn't I...
Transmission Fluid will penetrate the smallest gap, put a good amount in each pot and leave it for 3 or 4 days.
I used a mixture of 1/2 Liquid Wrench and 1/2 WD-40. It pulled rust up to the top in a couple days and I'd mop it up and refill. It took a while but required no brutality.
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