well today i found TDC and fired her up (first time on "new" motor aka used, i put new oil pump and bearings in) started right up, ran for about 5-10 seconds and died, tried again exact same thing, so i decided to take a break, put the battery on charge cause it'd been used to crank it alot the past week or so without getting any charge, came back later, hooked up two grounds that i hadn't done yet, tried to start it again, you could hear the starter try, but the engine will not turn..you can just barely turn it over by hand (with a very tought man, a big ratchet and wrench for leverage)....so tell me...what can i do? is there anything that could have happened besides it seizing? i do believe i had oil pressure when it was running, i got a good pump, and was sure to get the dizzy where it would turn the pump.. about to go get a battery with more cold crnaking amps (the one i'm using isn't to spec) BUT it had been cranking it over endlessly for several days now...

Something may have fallen into a cylinder.

I had a flat washer find its way into an intake port on a 12.5:1 CR engine. Interesting effect when the washer found its way into the cylinder.

got the bigger battery tried again, turned for one moment and stopped, i heard a slight whinning sounds from the starter and my dad saw smoke coming from somwhere near the dizzy ...could my starter have just said byebye?

Yea, the starter sure sounds dead.
But if you can't turn it over by hand, there's something wrong. Pickup might have fallen off and you starved it of oil and it spun the bearings.

You could try pulling all the plugs and turning it over by hand.
Or pull the engine, flip it over and pull the oil pan and find out whats wrong.

What bearings did you put in? Was machine work done? Did you check the clearances?

speed pro (idunno, i ordered federal mogul..but i got speed pro o.0), no machine work, and what clearancing needed done it was a running motor, just changed the bearings and oil pump (i'm still learning, one of my dads friends was helping me...i know enough that i'm pretty sure he knows what hes doing (LOL)..

I'm thinking he didn't as it sounds like it's seized. Why did you change the bearings? Did you have oil pressure?

guy i bought the engine from said they needed changed, one had spun..i know i know shame on me for just changing the bearings...but the crank was just barely scratched in one spot...you can't even feel it just barely see it i'm thinking its just my starter....

I think your starter is toast, or it could be vapor locked, and not letting the pistons move, i would definitly pull the spark plugs out and let it crank a couple of times, if it doesnt then i would get a new starter.

What size engine is it? Cause you said its hard to turn over. I have a 355. Im about 220 and fit, and it sucks to try to turn over with a socket, so i wouldn't say that its seized.

vapor locked? i'll try that...but i've never heard of a vapor lock?
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eh its a 305, when i said that about turning it over i was stressed and not thinking about it...my dad was tryin to tell me that it should be easier to turn that way...but i think hes full of it

Vapor lock is a problem that mostly affects gasoline-fuelled internal combustion engines. It occurs when the liquid fuel changes state from liquid to gas while still in the fuel delivery system. This disrupts the operation of the fuel pump, causing loss of feed pressure to the carburetor or fuel injection system, resulting in transient loss of power or complete stalling. Restarting the engine from this state may be difficult.

damn..that actually sounds likely...don't have my charcoal canister back in yet..and the fuel tank keeps building pressure just sitting there

well i fixed it...starter and engine are fine...disconected the wire on top of the a/c and it fires right up... i've got the lines for it plugged up cause i went from v-belt to serp and i can't connect it yet as its on the other side of ym motor now (ima take it to a shop and get that fixed later on..)

thanx guys

So you were spinning the AC condenser backwards?? Weird. Well I guess you're lucky it wasn't more serious.
Still, I think that engine is on borrowed time.... Also what was smoking eh?

Federal-Mogul = a GIANT automotive conglomerate

SpeedPro = one of DOZENS of familiar brand names owned by FM

Check em all out at http://www.federalmogul.com/en

Yeah, sounds like your AC compressor is smoked.... but both the serp and the V belt systems turn it clockwise, so I don't think that has anything to do with it. You just got lucky, and it picked that particular moment to die.

Fuel tanks are SUPPOSED to build pressure, so no problems there.

The "smoke from near the dist" sounds like the ground wire going to the back of the head.... ???? .... check your negative battery cable CAREFULLY, make sure it's securely connected to something that's really part of the engine; don't worry about whether it "looks" "pretty" or not wherever it needs to go, if it's not in its stock location, function is more important than that. Put it back where it belongs if it's somewhere else.

@sonix i really think the starter was smoking from trying to move but not being able to...(i know nothing abotu starters so i could be total freakin wrong)

@sofak didn't know that..but i did say "idunno, i ordered federal mogul..but i got speed pro o.0" in a confused manner...suggesting i really wasn't sure :P
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about the neg cable, okay thats probally the problem its really short and hard to find a place to hook it so i put it on one of the bolts on the strut tower...me (and two other guys that share my ignorance lol) didn't realize it had to be on the engine, thankyou

Right: if it's on the body somewhere then the WHOLE starter current has to get from the engine block, to the body, and then from there to the batt cable, to get back to the batt... and in the process, has to pass through those little tiny thin ground straps.

In fact, that might be your whole problem right there; there might be nothing at all wrong with the AC.

But you do need to replace the ground strap(s) now, after that happened to them, because they're now burnt to a crisp. The one at the back of the pass side head, and also the one that goes to the fender right at the neg batt cable.

well the one from the fender to neg cab is perfectly fine...looks and feels perfect and never smoked over there, i'll look at (and almost definatly) replace the one in the back though, cause it did smoke... but i had already shut power off just before my dad actually noticed the smoke so it was just for a moment...