Rust Frozen Engine Block in 84 300TD? Help!

[ak300td]

Its been a while since I've been on the board and I could really use some advice.

I parked my 300TD in the garage 14 months ago when I began a transmission R&R. I got the new trans in but the project got sidetracked and I'm just getting back to it. The garage is heated all winter, but in the spring it is very humid (as in, water condences on all metal surfaces).

I just got back to finishing the project. In order to line up the flex plate with the torque converter I attempted to turn the engine first with the starter and then with an 18" socket wrench. It won't budge.

How much force should it take to turn the engine? Should I try to break it free? Any thoughts as to what may have happened?

Thanks in advance.

[kerry]

Put a longer breaker bar on it or use a cheater. Put some penetrating oil in the cylinders for a couple of days.

[ak300td]

Thanks for the reply Kerry.

Does it take a lot of force to turn the engine? I expected it to turn fairly easily with an 18 inch wrench.

[kerry]

If you take the glow plugs out to get rid of compression, it should turn pretty easily with an 18" bar. With compression it's harder.

[ak300td]

Is there any chance of breaking anything by putting a cheater on the wrench?

[ARINUTS]

Thats Correct, before you try doing anything else, spray each cylinder with a healthy dose of WD40 or maybe even PB blaster. you might need a few cans. then of course change the oil once everything is moving freely.

[ak300td]

Thanks for the advice! I'll post later with results.

[NJ300sdl]

MOPAR penetrating oil saved two stuck engines for me, when nothing else would. It is worth the money, about $11 a can. Dealer item. Chrysler used it to free up and lubricate heat risers.

[t walgamuth]

you can bump it with the starter too. I have freed several stuck motors that way. I would be leeery of trying too hard with the big bolt. It will be really big pain if you should break it off.

Tom W

[estod]

You definitely want to use a good penetrant and not a lot of force until the penetrant has broken the rust bond -- I ended up having to rebuild a Saab engine which was being installed used, because the mechanic was too lazy to soak the rings like he swore he would ...... and I got broken rings.

The mechanic, of course, stood behind nothing.

[ak300td]

I pulled the glow plugs, emptied a full can of WD-40 into the five cylinders and gave a little tug on the wrench -- still stuck. Time to wait and see.

Thanks for the advice!

[BenzDiesel]

Sometimes during a transmission install, the starter might not bolt up properly but more probable is that the transmission case or flywheel alignment is the culprit. I would check the flywheel to torque converter connection and that the transmission case to engine block is not in a bind before I put too much pressure trying to force the engine to turn. Mercedes cars don't like it much when you try to "force" things. It is hard for me to see this engine freezing up on condensation causing the engine to lock in 14 months.

BenzDiesel

[t walgamuth]

I agree with the last post.

Tom W

[JimSmith]

I agree with BenzDiesel too. I put a VW bus engine in after some major repairs and got it misaligned. It wouldn't budge. So I had a buddy pull me and dropped the clutch. Rear wheels locked up, engine didn't budge. So I took it out again, checked it out of the car and it turned over easy. Put it back in and got it aligned correctly and it worked fine.

I have seen these cars start up after 7 years of sitting. 14 months is just not that big a deal. Jim

[Bill Ladd]

I agree also with the tranny alignment statements. Replaced transmission in my SD last week. Had to readjust the jack a bit to get the engine to rotate.