Topic: Stuck engine....Seafoam & a heat gun

[climbingaz]

The engine on my '78 750k is stuck.  It's not seized up as I was able to crank it over using the kickstarter a few weeks ago.  But went out to the garage today and can't get it to budge.

How much Seafoam should I pour into each spark plug hole?  And should I dilute it?

And should I use a heat gun on the cylinder head?  Maybe try to heat the interior by pointing the gun down the spark plug holes?

I'm hoping a combination of these two will do the trick.

[NickC]

Pour some ATF in there and let it soak.....

[Inigo Montoya]

Can you put it in 5th and rock it loose?

[d_soles]

Yep, rock it loose, but also put something in the cylinders, and leave the spark plugs out when you do it.  Something that will lubricate, you probably have a little rust in there, lubrication will help to remove it without scratching your cylinders or pistons.  Don't bother diluting it.  You could do like I did, put a mix of Marvel Mystery Oil, ATF, 2-stroke engine oil, PB Blaster, and Seafoam into the cylinders.  Just fill 'em up and let 'em soak.  Give them a good overnight soak, then fill 'em up again in the morning and try to rock it loose. 

 The kickstart won't give you enough leverage, either put it in 5th gear and rock the bike back and forth, or take the stator off and turn the bolt on the end of the rotor.  Just bear in mind, when you free  up the engine, all of that liquid in the cylinders will come shooting out of them (mine went 16 feet!).  So, maybe put a rag over the cylinder head.  Heat will help, too.  Just don't light your bike on fire.

Doug

[climbingaz]

Awesome - thanks guys!

I'll give the 5th gear "rock & roll" a try after the soaking and report back. 

[climbingaz]

Success!    Didn't even have to resort to the heat gun.  Just filled up the spark plug holes with Seafoam and let it sit for an hour.  Then put it up on the center stand and got it into 5th gear.  Then tried to spin the rear tire by hand...didn't want to budge and first, but after a few minutes of fighting it broke free!

Now the engine turns over easier than ever before. 

[Don R]

I did that with an old injected dragster. It had been left in the rain and got water inside. i puled the pan, cleaned it out re-oiled it and started rocking it back and forth in the driveway. After a while I could push it the length of the drive. It started and ran beautifully. It's now in a museum.

[d_soles]

Cool, good job.  I broke mine free (Seafoam ended up doing the trick.....magic?), but the head gasket had one hell of an oil leak going on (missing a chunk in there, blew it, maybe?), so I took the engine apart anyways.  I'm just cleaning it all up inside right now.  Guy was running the thing rich, probably 1/2" of soot on top of the pistons.  Disgusting.


Doug