Denholm

My engine just recently locked up on me, totally random, on my s4 n/a daily driver. It is strange that it would just seize though, because I take mint care of the car. i.e. I change the oil very regularly and always keep fluid levels in check.
It's been suggested to me that it could very well be 'carbon locked.' I've never run into this problem before, but people have told me ATF of diesel often does the trick.

Now, I've got everything off the engine, intake crap, fan shroud, fan, all the belts - so i can get at the big nut on the front housing. (I should be using that to try to turn over the engine with a big wrench, right?) Does it matter which direction I attempt to turn the motor? At this point it doesn't move, either way. When I pick up some ATF, unless someone suggests something else, I play on puting it into the housings via the leading plugs; which brings me to my next question, how do I tell which plugs are the leading plugs? :p

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Nigel.

Terrh

iTrader: (7)

don't use atf if it's siezed, it probably won't help.

diesel works better, and it's cheaper too!

diesel is a very thin liquid and can penetrate everywhere.
Put a fair amount into the leading plug holes (like 1 ounce in each) try and get some into the trailing (though it's hard, and the motor is probably positioned internally in such a way that this doesn't help anyways)
Put some into the lower intake manifold ports as well, like 2 ounces+ down each hole.

if you had the motor out of the car I'd put some in the exhaust ports too, but that's kinda hard with the motor in the car and the manifold on.

Trailing = T on the motor = TOP
Leading = L on the motor = LOWER

masami

I'm not very familiar with rotory engine but for piston engines you have to turn it the way which it would normally run, they can not be turned backwards as it would unseat the bearings and may cause problems. I'm not to sure about the ATF thing either. be carefull and good luck.

Turbonut

iTrader: (1)

Chances are if the engine is that tight, it's a gonner. Carbon lock is very rare, and if it has a lot of miles, the seal can wear to the point that it will wedge between the housing and the rotor not allowing rotation. As you've got it torn down, looks like a good time for removal.

Aaron Cake

iTrader: (1)

Carbon lock is extremely rare, and ATF does not dissolve it.

First drain the oil and make sure it's not full of metal. If it looks good, then you can attempt to uncarbon the engine even though it's probably a waste of time.

Don't use ATF. Pull the spark plugs and SOAK the inside of the engine in carb cleaner. Now pull the intake and do the same through the intake ports. And then the same through the exhaust ports.

If carbon is preventing the engine from turning, then that will dissolve it. More then likely a seal has let go and has jammed up.