Engine Storage: Siezed
 

Good day,

I recently had my engine rebuilt and ported by a builder on the forums, and after recieving the engine I asked about storage. I was told the way the engine was shipped to me, it could sit as long as I want it to and it shouldn't be an issue.
It's been about 7 months that I've had the engine stored in a dry heated shop, covered up. Now when I first recieved the engine, I could turn the front pulley by hand without issue, everything was lubed well. Now when I try and turn it, I can't...Not even with a 1/2" socket wrench, it's almost like any lubricant has dried to a glue like status and nothing will turn. Any thoughts or recommendations?

Thanks
James

Pour a little oil down the intake and let it sit for a day or so. Grab a good sized drive and try and turn the motor over, going back and forth.

Hmmm...I poured a bit of oil through the ports the other day and gave it a try today, it is very hard to turn, almost impossible. Biggest worry is it will need to be torn down again..:(

take a light and look into the ports to see what you're fighting. you should get some sort of idea if you see surface rust or small bugs that have made a home in the engine while in storage..

http://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?t=224415

I think it may have to do with the assembly lube, I can pick out pieces that have the consitancy of dried silicone, really tough and hard to tear. I'm just nervous turning it over might destroy the seals..

shouldn't assembly lube stays as "lube" until it's burn?

Assuming that was all that was used during assembly, yes. However, I've seen people use goobs of petroleum jelly and other sorts during assembly which don't always stay pliable forever.

Unless you have dropped something in the motor it shouldn't need to be rebuilt. Shine a light into the ports and look for any obstructions. If it's clear just keep working the motor back and forth until it loosens up.

consistency of dried silicone? your rebuilder isn't using the right materials for building engines... i had one of mine sit on the shelf for a year before the customer finally came in to pick it up(long story), had no issue.

try ATF aswell

There really should be no issue with the engine. As long as there was adequate lube in the engine and the intake and exhaust ports were plugged with paper or paper towels it could sit for MANY years.

By a can of WD40 with a straw attached and spray through the intake ports and deep into the exhaust ports at both angles. Look at the orientation of the engine rotors to see where the rotors are clocked. This WILL NOT hurt your seals. DO NOT buy PB blaster as it's 3X the strength of wd40. Let the engine sit for a week and if it doesn't turn over after this you absolutely have a problem inside.

You also might want to buy a flexible magnet if you didn't have the ports sealed off just to make sure something didn't fall in there causing it to bind up. If you have an extra hand have someone counter your original rotation method encase there's something lodged in the compression faces of the rotor.

Good-luck...

Who did your rebuild and what was there advice?

Pour a liberal amount of atf or marvel mystery oil down the intake runners. Let it soak for a day, then try to work the motor. There should be no silicone in the combustion chamber. Assembly lube should not harden.

To say his builder is doing it wrong is a little premature. I've heard from other builders that they use ultra black on rotor housing coolant seal faces. Done it myself with great results on several rebuilds. Yeah, it gets in the combustion chamber but is blown right out first start up. It will take alot more than silicone to hurt a seal... think about the pressure needed to create 300 hp.

i figured he was referring to grease on the stat gear bearing.