Siezed Motor Need Help

[81xsproject]

My buddy swears by coca-cola. I had a real bad set on my 72 cb500. It sat outside since 1982. I soaked it, rocked it, torched it, etc., etc. I finally got it by making a spark plug into a grease fitting on the cylinder that was on the compression stroke and pumping it full of grease. The thing is, if it is that locked up you might as well tear it down, hone the cylinders and install new rings.

[crazy steve]

I saw a posting on another list recently that rated the various penetrating oils (and a few home brews). The hands-down winner? A 50/50 mix of ATF and Acetone....

Personally, I've had good luck freeing seized pistons by filling the cylinders with diesel and letting it set a few days. It will run into the crankcase, so an oil change before starting is needed.

'78E original owner

[Silent]

I don't know if coke will free pistons up,but I have used it to clean battery posts.

It works well in the laundry to help remove grease and oil from denim too

[SFSPECBIKER79]

free up engine

i have used plain water to free up engines when nothing else worked. it has worked several times for me. aso a freind of mine had a stuck lawn mower engine he said he used wd 40 and oil with no results, i told him to try water and he came back to work the next day and told me it worked. water will penetrate better than any other thing.dryed up mositure is what frooze it up. wet water will free it up. fill the clylinders with water and wait a day. what are they to lose, a stuck engine is worthless anyway.

[Da-Bubble]

It's free!!!!

Went out last night after letting it set with ATF over the weekend. Sat on the bike and rocked it in 4th gear a few times. "BOOM!!!....SPLAT!!!....DRIP DRIP DRIP." You guys weren't kidding when you said to throw a towel over the spark plug holes!!! I didn't do it cause I didn't figure it was gonna break free. It shot ATF all over my shop!!! Blasted the ceiling and everything on my shelves!!! What a relief that it broke free though. Now I gotta get the carbs on it and see if it'll fire! Thanks for the advice!

See ya,
Scott

[mxmikie]

yea buddy !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[DGXSER]

Awesome news!!! Although that is ussually not how a guy paints the ceiling.

Hope it turns into a hard running machine for you and your friend.

[Gator]

Glad to hear that you got it! I just recently picked mine up out of 3 yrs of 'barn storage' from a buddy of mine. He had been turning the motor occasionally but when I got it home, the motor was basically stuck. I finally got around to pulling the plugs and spraying PB Blaster down the holes, let it sit for a day, re-sprayed, let it sit for about an hour, and I could turn it (first gear by hand on the rear wheel) but it was still dragging as there was no lubrication... added a little bit of lucas, and it turns freely now!

I have used diesel with great success on many motors in the past!

[Ivan]

Well, at least you know you have some amount of compression.

[jmyers40]

Hi Da-Bubble,
if the seller was telling the truth, the rings are rusted to the bores.
The other posters are right, remove the plugs and dump in a half-cupful of your choice of penetrating oil into each cylinder. Then wait a day. Then (still with the plugs out) click it into at least 3rd gear, sit on it, pull in the clutch, have two burly friends push the bike up to mebbe 10mph and drop the clutch. Most likely the back wheel will lock up. Wait another day and do it over. Repeat. If it's a plain ring seizure sooner or later the penetrating oil will do it's job and the engine will start to turn.

This is how I got my first XS motor un-frozen... sprayed copious amounts of PB Blaster into the plug holes, gave a gentle turn on the crank, wait, repeat. This procedure went on for nearly two weeks but it finally came apart with little force. From my understanding, the less force you use, the better - less chance of damage.

IF YOU ABSOLUTELY MUST HAVE IT FREED NOW...
I was told you can hollow out a spark plug with a drill bit and affix a grease fitting to the end of it. Insert the plug into the higest piston and begin pumping grease. It will be hella messy once it's done, but it will have more than enough pressure to un-stick the engine. I didn't want to deal with all the grease, OR the possibility of damaging the engine.

[DeanR]

Scott, glad to hear you got things moving again.

Just wondering, if a motor is frozen due to bearings (as in fine brass colored shavings in oil), is there any possibility of it freeing up (it hasn't, despite the above 'additives'), or is this a take apart situation?

[DGXSER]

My opinion is that if you have bearing shavings in the oil, then getting it moving again is not the issue, your into replacing bearings which is gonna require disassembly. JMHO

[rpgoerlich]

Assuming of course that there wasn't a substantial amount of moisture in the cylinder that sat and etched one or more of the cylinders before the rings actually rusted to the cylinders... I'd still look at taking down the top end at least before starting it up. Think about it: the rings were rusted to the cylinders. That oxidation had to have taken it's toll on the cylinder walls. If the rings aren't still in one piece, they could make for a real mess if they hang in the area where they were rusted.
JMO.

[trbig]

Scott,

If you guys want to pull the head and take a looksy at the cylinders, I could probably run up there this weekend and help you if you needed it. I could always just come point and laugh at the ATF stains on the ceiling... Worst case scenario.. I've got an extra set of cylinders or two around here... but I haven't MIC'd them.


Tod

[foreda]

Boroscope

Anybody ever use a boroscope to look inside cylinders?