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Triumph TR3 - Locked engine

57TR3

The car has not been started in years it is
now locked and will not turn over.I have removed the plugs drained the oil changed filter and have a mix of
50/50 oil and WD40 in car an on top of each cylinder. I can get oil to the rockers using a high speed drill to spin the oil pump.
Motor will not turn over even if you put car in gear
an try to push it with all plugs removed. Car was runing good when parked.
HELP
Thanks
artazz

check archives 22 Mar/04 Siezed engine. Make sure the starter is not wedged in. Might be possibe to circulate hot water throught the engine cooling system and get some expansion and contraction of the cylinder liners. I think loading it with diesel and letting her sit for a week or so is the least distructive measure.
Good luck! Brian
B. Towne

From my experience,you probably have 1 or more pistons with a kind of calcium like deposit stuck in the rings. Moisture getting in an open valve would then collect there. The cylinder wall may (will?..mine was) be corroded enough to be replaced. I tried everything to get it to move while in place, but no go. I even tried taking the head off and pounding on a 4x4 on top of the piston while a friend pulled on a cheater bar on the crank bolt. Neither of these was a good idea, but didn't end up hurting anything. If this is the case with your TR, you may get by leaving the engine in place like I did. The cylinder liner will come out with the piston and rod attached. A REAL big press can be used to carefully push the piston out. It made a noise like you can't believe the first time it moved. Each successive movement was less stressful, and finally it did come out. I found some slightly used pistons and liners (I did check with the motorcycle shop to see if they could bore it without distortion..they said they could), put in rings, rod bearings, found a couple of thrust bearings that made the end float right, new gaskets, and a valve job (had a cracked head too, but yours may be ok). She purrs now, years later.

If you get tired of waiting for the mystery oil to soak in, which it never would have in my case, try this approach.

Somehow I got lucky on the TR3 I just started. It's been sitting since 1987. It was never locked up, but I was worried I might have at least a milder version of the same problem. The car I described at the top of the page was sitting outside with no carbs, could be the difference. Soaked with oil for a month or more, turning by hand occasionally. First start, it was smoky, wasn't sure if it was stuck rings or just burning off the excess in the cyls. Ever since it's been acting just like it did, what 17 years ago?.....WHEW!

By the way, I hope you don't need to go this far, just relaying my experiences to you. Good luck, have fun getting it back on the road.
Tom

This thread was discussed between 31/05/2004 and 01/06/2004

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