3.2 SS Full Rebuilt But Won't Start... I Am At Wits End

[Purkinjefibre]

Hi Tim, it must be a relief that it ran, atleast for a while. My engine froze once on start up, the left hand tensioner had semi-failed causing the timing to go out. Luckily, there was no major valve contact.

I fitted new tensioners and reset the timing,

No worries

Good Luck
Brett

PS there is a thing called hydraulic lock- too much gas or something?

[timlooney]

I still have not heard why it froze but the Wrench did not sound too concerned about it. They pulled the chain covers and did a bunch of other things to it. They also pulled all the plugs and tried to turn it over so it was not hydro-locked. That was the first thing I asked after he said the WUR was not working right.

[ekessel]

Tim,
Any news?
-Eric
90 C2

[timlooney]

Hi Guys,

This has been a real nail bitting situation. The wrench has had the car for over a week now. He has gotten it running again because they were magically able to free up the engine after it froze. Neither of us has any idea what froze but it appears to be ok. Then other things started breaking including the alternator and front oil cooler thermostat (bad leak). He has started to replace this stuff without asking first which has me concerned about the budget. He has been unable to give me a number on the repairs but based on the number of hours we have discussed ($75/hr) and the repair parts we are over $3000 at this stage. I may need to sell the car afterall just to pay the repair bill. After 3 years of owning it I finally have it registered and insured and I am hoping to drive it home from the shop. He told me that he will call tomorrow morning with more details. I am hoping he will be done soon I don't think I can handle too much more $

[asphaltgambler]

Stay with it because you're almost home!

[adomakin]

find the $3000, (loan, card etc) and just enjoy it for 6 months, even if you do have to sell it to pay the bill. the interest on the $3000 will be minimal, you'll have a nicely run in motor (better for the resale) and who knows-you may have found a way to keep the car by then. good luck

[cstreit]

I don't want to be a wet blanket here, but I'm concerned about the engine "freezing". Engines don't seize and then become undone for little reasons... Especially if they were running.
HOW did it seize? What did he do to un-seize it?

I'd spend a little more time investigating that info from the mechanic.

[timlooney]

Ok, I have finally sat down with the shop about the car. What he had to say was enlightening. There was some miscommunication about how the engine froze. It turns out that the starter did not retract after starting and it eventually froze causing the motor to stop. I was getting the information second hand through the owner of the shop. So it was nothing mechanically wrong with the motor. So you can add a starter to the laundry list of things that were replaced. I also found out that the engine was hydro-locked with fuel. Because the plunger in the fuel distributor was stuck wide open it was filling the engine in a matter of minutes. To top it off the bill was much more reasonable that I expected. The owner of the shop and I have a mutual friend so he took that into consideration. So to wrap it up:

1. Repair the fuel injection plunger issues
2. Replace the starter (I had a high torque sitting in the car waiting)
3. Remove motor and find out why it froze
4. Rebuild the alternator
5. Replace the off-engine thermostat and fix oil leaks
6. Adjust timing
7. Tune fuel injection for 3.2 SS
8. Replace parking brake hardware (I had not gotten to it yet)
9. Reinstall the rear swaybar (I had not gotten to it yet)

He had it for about a week and a half. He only charged me $2300 which in hindsight is reasonable. It does hurt to have to pay but the thing runs fantastic now. I brought it home from the shop the long way and it was a blast. Now that it works, I am going to work on a way to keep it but you probably already assumed that.

[adomakin]

congratulations. try and get as many miles on it, that way it will be harder to sell the car!

[Jeff Alton]

Congrats on a not too costly happy ending!

Cheers

[Purkinjefibre]

Top News Tim, lets see some picks of the engine spinning, or the tach needle bouncing...

enjoy

Brett

[kenikh]

This makes me happy.

[jmz]

lazy and not checking all the replies. But in case someone hasnt' mentioned it the ground strap is important. check it.

[red964]

Dare I say it ...

DME Relay..

check it , change it. It would be a shame if this was the problem.

[red964]

oops - didnt see the resolution..
enjoy