I picked up a nice 79 rx7 and was told the engine
oil was two low or it all leaked out and engine stopped. if its the original engine it would have 165k on it. looks like it was serviced well.
When it got the car, the 1st thing i did was look at the dip stick. no oil on it OK
I tried turning the alternator fins and belt to see if I could turn the engine nope. I put a socket on the crank pulley and a breaker bar, NOPE.
I put an extension pipe on the breaker bar and just turned the pulley a degree or two, I think I felt movement.

before I flood the engine with atf to see if I could free it up. any guesses if there is any hope for the housings? I am thinking I want to free it up so I can take it apart to salvage parts for a rebuild. what parts can I expect to be shot.
I do not know under what conditions and for how long the car was driven like this accept that instead of a once around the block every week it was driven to work that day so maybe highway.
what can you tell me. what is the best method to free it up any othe ideas?

 

soak that sucker with ATF! pull the plugs..pour some in there, pour some down your carb..and even pull your exhaust manifold and put some in your exhaust ports. one method i tried on a 13B(to no avail) attach a wrench to the bolt on the E-shaft..and jump on it! wee..

(got pics if you want em..lmao)

 

w i damage the housings by rotaing the motor before it will turn freely o and without excesive force?
has anybody had housings that survived something like this
are there heat tabs on the side of a 79 motor if so where do I look.

 

I bet it spun a bearing. ATF can't help you now.

 

Are you sure? I can get it by the 55 gallon drum.

 

IF it's carbon-locked and NOT a spun bearing (though I'm with Jeff20b on this one) I'd try some Techron concentrate, or Amsoil Power Foam.

 

Yeah, even MMO can work wonders where ATF would be an embarrassment. I'd rather use something a little more powerful on this engine though.

No oil = spun bearing.

 

My 84 siezed after I tried to start it after a long winter. I ended up spraying wd-40 into the spark plug holes, waiting 1 day to soak and turned the crank with a 1/2" ratchet with a pry bar. It finally broke loose. I kept on spraying in the oil with the plugs out and turned it by hand for a while until it got fairly easy. Then I put the plugs in and it started up. It blew smoke for a while, but was fine after. I never had a problem again with it.

 

Load it up both rotors (bottom plug hole) with ATF or MMO and wait at least 24 hours. If its not free at that time you have nothing to lose, so tow it in 2nd gear until something breaks. A guy gave me a 85 last week that was locked-up and I used ATF waited overnight, it did not free-up, so I towed the sucker until the motor would spin freely. Rebuilt the carburator, flushed the motor, raditor and it runs great.

 

I purchased a 79 with the exact same symptoms about ten years ago. The guy said it ran low on oil and locked up, so I put oil down the intake and let it sit for like a week and it started fine. Blew a hell of alot of smoke that first 20 minutes but ran fine after that.

 

I had one like that from a junkyard once, had like 60k on the clock.. I never could get it to free up, so I took it apart and the freaking motor was CHERRY. I wouldnt go trying to turn it a lot by hand, unless it does easily, im afraid if you do you will ruin the internals especially the housings... The one I got that time was freaking stuck and I do mean stuck, all the seals where stuck in the grooves and they were stuck like they were welded in there, but the rotor housings and rotors were perfect. But anyways, good luck.

 

Seems to me I wont be able to get the engine apart
without getting it to easly turn first.Unless its just a spun bearing. But of the seals are stuck up onto the housing... how do ya separate the parts?

are there heat tabs on a 79 engine to see it it
overheated?
I have nothing ( but time ) to loose if I go by the way of pouring atf or better stuff down all of the motors openings and letting it sink through.

*******
who knows how to ship a motor cheaply across contry?
**********************************************

 

Well for starters we need to get lubrication to the bearings. Secondly the rotating parts and seals need to be worked loose.

Buy some heater hose. 3/4" diameter, 3 feet long

Take oil filter off.

Attach heater hose to the oil filter pedastal. Pour two quarts of MMO down there. Hold the hose high. Gravity will feed it directly to the bearings and e-shaft journals.

Squirt some MMO down the carb barrels. Squirt some MMO into the leading spark plug holes. If you can take the exhaust manifold off do it and squirt in there too. Idea is to get as many surfaces coated as possible so the MMO can do it's trick.

Let sit for a day or three then try to hand crank the main pulley. Try turning it BOTH directions, sometimes they'll loosen up when turned counter clockwise.

Be sure to put 3 quarts oil and oil filter on there before starting.

Best of Luck,