overheated motor won't start now

H

hangarb7

Senior Member
I got a text from a club member, "I checked the oil and gas but failed to check the water. About a mile from the garage smoke comes from everywhere and the engine stops. Engine badly overheated. Got water into the radiator but the engine won't fire. It turns over okay. I called AAA and they flatbedded it back to the garage. Any recommendations? "

I know an engine needs fuel and spark but before I go over there to check it out, what should I look for? Head gasket?

Thanks
 
Compression check maybe? A consequence of severe engine overheating is piston rings lose their spring tension.
 
Squirt oil into the cylinders then turn the engine over several times with the starter. Reinstall spark plugs, start up and drive away.
 
Spark, fuel, and compression. Easy to check for a spark at the plugs by having the leads about 1/4 inch away from the top of the plugs or 1/4 inch away from the terminals on the distributor top. You can squirt some gasoline in the carburetor to see if it starts. If it starts and then quits you need to trouble shoot the fuel system and perhaps the carburetor. Checking the compression is easy by turning the engine over with the hand crank. You should feel some resistance on all 4 cylinders.

Do the above before you start pulling things apart and then report back to the Barn animals.
 
nkaminar said:
Spark, fuel, and compression. Easy to check for a spark at the plugs by having the leads about 1/4 inch away from the top of the plugs or 1/4 inch away from the terminals on the distributor top. You can squirt some gasoline in the carburetor to see if it starts. If it starts and then quits you need to trouble shoot the fuel system and perhaps the carburetor. Checking the compression is easy by turning the engine over with the hand crank. You should feel some resistance on all 4 cylinders.

Do the above before you start pulling things apart and then report back to the Barn animals.
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I agree totally. Too many people start tearing apart before they try the simple causes first.
 
pull the plugs and see if they are wet with gas or maybe wet with water(hopefully not)
easy first check.
 
Severely Over heated mine, would start but would not run more than aboiut 30 secs, lots of searching, ultimately it was the condenser. Quick and easy. Try that first. Let us know when you get it going.,
 
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Won't start now

Yabut, he says first thiing it has spark and fuel..

I'd try squirting some earl in all the cylinders as mentioned and hope nothing got toasted too badly.
 
He said he knows it needs spark and fuel but it is a friends car. I did not see him say it has spark and fuel. Earl is American slang for oil.
 
I drained 3/4 gallon of water from the 30 Fordor and cranked her up to add antifreeze. I got distracted and looked up to see steam coming from the open radiator cap. I hurriedly put a gallon of Prestone in it and it stopped steaming, then topped her off with 50/50 antifreeze. I was surprised how quick it got hot. I guess that's why they call them "Hot Water Fords."
 
Something else anti-freeze will kill, spark plugs, the spark plugs will not work after getting anti-freeze on them I’ve been told.
 
nkaminar said:
Spark, fuel, and compression. Easy to check for a spark at the plugs by having the leads about 1/4 inch away from the top of the plugs or 1/4 inch away from the terminals on the distributor top. You can squirt some gasoline in the carburetor to see if it starts. If it starts and then quits you need to trouble shoot the fuel system and perhaps the carburetor. Checking the compression is easy by turning the engine over with the hand crank. You should feel some resistance on all 4 cylinders.

Do the above before you start pulling things apart and then report back to the Barn animals.
Click to expand...


McMimmcs said:
I agree totally. Too many people start tearing apart before they try the simple causes first.
Click to expand...



:rolleyes: Oooo guys, I'm not sure this is sound advice. :o

Before we get too far into this, consider several things. When I have one that comes in that has been overheated, I am not interested in doing compression checks. These pictures below are from a vehicle that was similar in that it was run without water. The visual signs on the outside showed it was hot down into the cylinder walls. On this particular vehicle, it had oil on the rings which would have given a false reading on a compression check. The bigger issues with this engine is it had a warped deck that still had the head gasket sealing however as soon as the head was removed, there would have been sealing issues. Also, while the piston rings still had tension, they had micro cracks from the detonation which at some point would have caused them to break and likely damage the cylinder walls. The other biggie with this engine was it had galled the skirt on a couple pistons that had left aluminum deposits on the walls. These would have likely caught a piston ring and would have caused a piston to break apart. At that point, you could have a loose connecting rod which could poke holes and cause major damage.

My point in telling all of this is, IMHO only a foolish person would choose not to do a thorough disassembly & inspection after an engine has been overheated to the point of seizing. While the issues caused by the overheating may not seem significant at first, there is likely hidden damage that was caused that if discovered early can be minimal in costs.


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I am under the impression the engine overheated but did not seize. This can dry the cylinder walls but cause no other damage. I could be wrong here.
 
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