Technical Trouble with Ford Y-Block (Seized after turning over)

Just double think things thru before you pull stuff apart.

I had a fresh engine swap lock up on me. It ran great for a few mins a day for a week while we were testing tuning and shaking out the bugs. Then after everything was done & bringing it up to temp it just locked up, I thought it was toast. It would move just a little with a pipe on the breaker bar. Turned out to be the the bushing the converter rides on and was an easy fix .

 

Don't have any pictures to share (Are people still getting Red X's?), but I've made some progress, but the motor is still locked up. I jacked up the back and with the car in neutral I can spin the rear wheels freely, so nothing too messed up there. I went ahead and pulled the head on the passenger's side, and no surprises there. No rust in any of the cylinders, and only a little bit of rust and crap from the exhaust manifolds- nothing to make the engine seize. Going to pull the driver's side soon...

Could it be in the valve train? Talking to some people they seemed to think maybe a lifter or something

 

Honestly, I would have probably just aired the tires up and give her a drag down the road, popped the clutch to see if anything give........I know, I know, Some guys would never do that for fear of tearing somthing up but I have done it many times before with good results and it wouldnt bother me too much If she wouldnt turn or something else did break, I would just say good riddance to that motor and put another one in it.

 

Pulled the intake, the other head, and the valley pan- no signs of rust, mouse nests, etc. Valley was spotless, but didn't have a lot of oil. I poured MMO on everything, maybe that'll help....

If I end up getting real frustrated with it, I'll probably give it a shot. Going to wait a little bit though...

 

Sorry didn't see this tell just now.
With a "Y",the most comman thing is a stuck valve,rocker/top end oiling was a prob if owner didn't keep oil clean or car sat for a long time,it often will bend a push rod from the stuck valve=before ever trying to even turn over a "Y",look at all the push rod and if good turn over slowly looking at valve movemint. With the heads off now though you can do all the checking,if its still not turning,there could even be junk in bellhousing or something odd in the pan.
Over time I've seen all kinds of odd things though stop lots of motor types from turning,just have to investagate as ya go.

 

How far can you move the engine back and forth? If it moves at all, do the pistons move? If the pistons move even a little, see if the cam moves. I have seen an engine assembled without the proper spacer on the cam gear. The bolt tightened up and locked the camshaft to the retainer plate. The crankshaft would turn just enough to take up the slack in the chain.

 

Maybe just put it on a lift and look everything over? Pull the clutch cover and see if anything odd is going on in there? Can't move the engine at all right now... All the bores look clean as can be, unless maybe the rings seized to the walls?

It's kind of a pain going through everything, but I'm actually having alot of fun pulling everything apart. Never really been around a Y-block, so I guess it's definately a learning experience!

 

I'm no expert with any engine but asked a friend of mine who is working on those engines since they are on the market. He said that he has seen a lot of issues when the distributor gets moved. There is, according to him, a washer on the end of the distributor and that one can easily get loose and fall into the oil pan which causes a malfunction of the oilpump and locks up the engine.
Does that make sense?

 

If the engine turns slightly it may be just as described above with the distributor.....My own experience says a pry bar on the flywheel teeth and using the bell housing for a pivot point will rotate the engine where a breaker bar on the damper bolt or trying to tow the car has failed to rotate the engine. But blindly rotating a stuck engine can cause more damage....go carefully

 

I had a 170 Falcon that locked up solid while driving it. One of the clutch hub coil springs came out and jammed between the pressure plate and bellhouisng. Of course I didn't figure this out until I was pulling the engine out of the car. Sometimes its something very simple. .

 

Just remembered a friend of mine had his distributor shaft seize up.
The engine was locked up tight

 

Well have an update- finally got it free! Pulled the clutch cover after I was able to get it up on a lift, and after some prying got it to turn again... Not real sure what caused it, but I did find a bent pushrod that I hadn't noticed before. Guessing that had something to do with it.

Thanks for the advice- the added leverage made all the difference.

 

Congrats! Im glad cause Im nearly worn out from all this...........whew
No, seriously tho, I would still try turning her over some with the starter before I put it all back together.............was/is a valve stuck where the bent pushrod was?

 

I would pull the engine at this point- not much to disconnect. pull the pan, pressure plate and timing cover and check everything, and replace the gaskets and seals while your there. Won't hurt.

 

Sounds like a valve (or valves) sticking after setting up for a while. While the heads are off, you might as
well get a valve job(which will eliminate any valve sticking problems).
O'Reily Auto Parts sells a sparkplug thread restoring kitfor about $30 that works good.

 

I guess I don't know how you didn't see the push rod, let a lone remove one head without taking the intake off... It is the internet however....."

Glad you got it sorted out!

 

I'll admit not noticing the push rod was a bit dumb... But I had the car outside, and took the push rods out when it was dark one night. Never really looked at them to close, and got distracted because I knew I had to take the other head off.

The head came off just like it should. All the bolts were removed, and I pryed it off to the side, no damage done there. The intake remained stuck to the other head because of the bolt that was stuck. Had to remove the other head and the intake at the same time. Pretty simple.

 

You must be pretty darn strong.

 

Well, just thought I'd give an update.. After putting everything together, and tinkering with it all weekend, the Y-Block lives again! Starts right up and idles great- thanks for the help guys.

Ha, it definately wasn't light, that's for sure.

 

So what made it lock up ?

 

Why do all the 'Y' block threads stream like comic strips?

Shades of Bazooka Joe...

 

So what caused it to lock up?

 

I've been playing around with the Y block, but having some issues with it cutting out. It will sit and idle for a while, but sometimes when I give it gas it'll instantly cut out, like the key was shut off. But then it will start up instantly when I bump the key, without touching the throttle. Other times, I can rev it way up, and it'll idle fine, but every now and then I'll rev it up and then it'll do the same thing once I let off of the throttle.

Electrical problem I'm assuming? New points, condensor, plugs, wires, rotor, cap, and ballast resistor. I have another coil that I could try

 

A stuck valve did it I think, and then I just didn't have enough leverage from the starter or crank to get it turned over again.

 

Accelerator pump in the carb?