just got a 65 Mustang 289 with a problem...

[BELL]

With 171,869 original miles. The interior is absolutly insane totaly clean no rips tears or sagging headliner just two peices of laminate trim on the center console peeling. I got it for the insane price of FREE!!!! Woot!~!!! My cousin got tired of it, he says the motor is frozen tho :-( he went to autozone to get some plug wires and the thing would not start back up. He took it to some shop around here they told him its locked up. Now my question is this. The oil is just fine, drained the pan no metal so thats good i'm thinking. Drained coolant and its still green no rust that i could see. What would lock a 289 up I've heard little things like the starter could be frozen. I can push it around in neutral just fine. I cant turn the motor by hand so i'm at a loss. I'm not to experienced in older 289's so i have no clue... Pics to come as soon as i can find a digital camera

 

[Shawneebear93]

I think you'd have better luck in the Classics forum?

 

[DarkBuddha]

Come visit the classic forum for sure. As for typical causes of engine lock up, it may be a stuck starter, but more likely the cylinders have rusted from sitting. It may be possible to run the oil pump a bit and try hand cranking the motor back and forth a bit (with a breaker bar on the crank) to try to get it free.

Good luck!

 

[Anlushac11]

You can spray liquid wrench into the cylinders to try and help unstick the rings.

 

[65ShelbyClone]

I'll give you $100 for that free car . Not only that, I'll pick it up for you .

Get a breaker bar, 13/16 socket(or was it 15/16?) and try turning the crank by the damper bolt(clockwise looking @ front of car). Heck, if it won't move, try the other direction. If it does turn that way, then perhaps it is mechanical interference like a dropped valve. Pull the coil wire before you try turning it over, though. If it won't turn, then try penetrating oil in the cylinders like Anlushac11 said. Also pull the starter to see if its alright. Actually, you might try that before squirting oil everywhere. Even if the engine was running, I would count on it being badly worn out with 171K.

BTW, how do you get that SVO through smog?

 

[SVO1]

Yeah as mentioned, some pb blaster down the plug holes and let it sit for a few days.
The 289 K motor in my 66 was frozen, I spent about 3 weeks spraying it and working it back and forth with a breaker bar to get it free'd up.
I turn it over now once in a while untill I start the restoration and I will tear it down then.

 

[rd]

Try the wrench on the crank bolt and see if the motor is really stuck. If so, try the oil in cylinders trick.

Also try it after pulling all the plugs. If a head or intake gasket lets go and fills a cyl with coolant, that will also stop it cold.

This would be easier to get info on in the 5.0 or Classic area. But 2.3's can fail the same way.

 

[BELL]

Okay heres the scoop I got a friend that works at the vintage race car team at Infineon. He brought the borescope and checked inside. Saw what looked to be rust in the bottom end of the bore so i guess its cracked . When we flushed the cooling system also found rust in the coolant, so for now off to Infineon to have the engine pulled and swapped with a era specfic fresh 289 longblock. Get this 1200 bucks... I'll take it. The car should be out there for about 3-4 weeks so we can work on around what the shops got going on...

such a wonderfull offer 65shelby but i'll have to pass.

 

[65ShelbyClone]

such a wonderfull offer 65shelby but i'll have to pass.

Your loss. I was willing to go as high as $125.



1200 for a longblock is pretty good. I have (regrettably) about 3x that in my engine. Some special parts, but I could have done it for less if I knew more when I built it.

 

[BELL]

i got most of my money tied into the SVO right now to go to crazy on the longblock. but whow 125 such a generious offer, add two zero's and we might be talking

 

[65ShelbyClone]

but whow 125 such a generious offer, add two zero's and we might be talking

Ok......125.00. Thats two zeros...

And to think I would part with my running '68 for a paltry $8k.


Alright, you drive a hard bargain. $500 and you throw in the SVO. $512 if the new 289 is included.