Crap - it's locked up - now what?
 

BBC 502 with carb and gill exhausts.

Ran fine last weekend - rinsed it out sunday night - no worries. Yesterday port motor fired right up - Starb wouldnt turn over. Cleaned connecters - checked all batteries - still wont turn over.

Pulled all plugs in case there was water in motor from all the rain or god knows where. Nothing comes out and still cant turn motor over.

Pulled starter and had it checked by a pro who rebuilds them for a living - it is fine. Re-installed and connected batteries directly to starter...it cant turn motor.

Got a 3 foot pipe and a big wrench - tried to turn motor myself - couldnt do it.

No water in oil or under valve covers.

NOW WHAT! Was supposed to leave for the Keys for a week tomorrow

Are you sporting trannys? What Drives?

ya got to seperate them to determin if it is actually the motor.

borg warner velvet drives and arnesons - I can disconnect them I guess....what are you suspecting?

Can ya spin the prop?
Are they 1-1 ratio in the trans?

Trying to make sure its the engine

yes - the shafts to the arnies spin - the trans are in nuetral.

Well sorry to say its most likley the motor.

Pull a oil filter and cut it open to see if there is metal in it.
Use tin snips.


The trans are not gear reductions are they?

There should be a stamp on the side.

yes they are - 1.5:1

I think it is time to walk away from this boat and take a breather.....we are going to go on vacation for a week and when I get back I will see if a decent mechanic can take a crack at it. When I first got these motors from Bills Marine they were an unfinished garbage man's pile - over a three year period and with two rebuilds and my replacing everything hokey I finally had some reliability. Now this.

locked up trans? Don't know enough about marine trannys myself. Is it difficult to seperate engine from trans?

before you panic, simply do this..... pull the plugs as you have done.... if you are ambitious, pull the intake manifold. pour a couple gallons of wd40 down the ports until the cylinders fill either thru the ports or the plugs... let it sit a few days.... then, thru the starter opening, use a pry bar against the ring gear in both directions... pulling a bar on the front pulley , puts you in the position to twist the nut off or loosen it..... the flywheel gives you best leverage.... i have seen cases where the rings have rusted to the bores very quickly and thats the end . it will not turn on the starter... BUT i have also seen them saved by the method i describe. once it moves at all, it will be fine... rotate it enough to clear the cylinders of liquid, spin it on the starter w/ the plugs out and then start it. start it and run it and while you may have lost a point or two of leakdown, you will be fine.

if i am correct in my assesment of whats happened its an example of why fogging the motors after running them is always a good idea.

Do it right, disconnect your transmission, verify that is not the problem then pull the motor. Dumping gallons of WD 40 into the engine may or may not relieve your problem, but ultimately you'll end up with more of a mess than a resolution. Skip the trip.