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valves stuck???


opticsguy

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My 1949 Dodge 6 cylinder engine has been sitting for an unknown amount of time and my brief attempts at starting has resulted in the engine turning over and almost some popping noises. Good spark and cranks well but wont start. Investigation showed zero compression and I thought something was wrong with my compression gauge. Now after some reading, seems like old Dodge sixes like to have stuck valves.

So, how to get these babies unstuck without pulliing the engine and without climbing under the manifolds and trying to work in the confined space?? Not sure why the valve access covers are located at the worst possible location but then agian where else could they be?

Thanks for your ideas and thoughts.

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With your spark plugs out, you can get a direct shot to the top of each valve. While it is turning over with the starter, feel each valve with a screwdriver to see if it is moving up and down. Any that do not move are the culprits. Soak 'em for a few days, and try gently tapping downward on them with a small wood stick - no pounding here or they will be bent and need to be replaced. Just be gentle and take your time.

If youc an get your valve covers off - under the exhaust manifold - you can see which ones are not moving when the engine is turned over. This is always best, but unless you can remove your inner fender unit, it is difficult to get to and see. Pull your inner fender and right front wheel, and then you will have access to the valves. If you can free them all up, then when you have it running you can adjust them before you put things back together.

Good Luck. Keep us posted.

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With your spark plugs out, you can get a direct shot to the top of each valve. While it is turning over with the starter, feel each valve with a screwdriver to see if it is moving up and down. Any that do not move are the culprits. Soak 'em for a few days, and try gently tapping downward on them with a small wood stick - no pounding here or they will be bent and need to be replaced. Just be gentle and take your time.

Dave;

The spark plug hole is positioned directly above the intake valve only. So you can get a direct shot to the intake valve but more often than not the exhaust valve is the one that is stuck. I would not recommend trying to feel the exhaust valve with a screw driver through the spark plug hole. Best thing to do is remove the head and do a through inspection.

Valvelift-1-1.jpg

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I agree w Don-if they won't let go w penetrating fluid-pull the head and see what's up. If you do get it running, you can try giving it a dose of Marvel Mystery oil down the carb to help free up what is already loose. Just make sure that your wife or neighbor doesn't have laundry hanging out if you decide to do that-believe me-I know. The good thing is that it sometimes works! Mike

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If attempting to soak the valves free, I would also keep monitoring the compression on all the cylinders individually every once and a while, that way you will know if you are doing any good, and where to concentrate your effort. If it's more than a valve or two you are dealing with trying to free up, and if you don't now have ANY compression in any cylinder that is what it is, (though it seems odd to me that at least a cylinder or two doesn't have any compression) I would be inclined to maybe give them a soak down the spark plug hole for a few days, remove the valve covers and spray penetrating oil on the stems, for what help that might be, and if that hasn't freed any valves where you have gained compression at any cylinder after that, to do what Mr's Coatney and Fowler are saying, and remove the head. It's not a big job, and you will be able to tell what's going on, and where, immediately.

My stuck valve experience, for what it is worth:

I have had a stuck valve in a flathead Plymouth , in the number 5 cylinder, and I have also noticed other people have posted they have had the same problem in that cylinder. I used Marvel Mystery oil down the hole and sprayed PB Blaster from the bottom up, and it freed up in a few days. I had a pretty good idea it was the intake valve that was stuck open, as the compression was rather violently coming back through the carb. My engine had been running not long before, and my problem was just 1 stuck valve. Good Luck Joel

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My 50 B1B had been sitting for at least 20 years down in back of the owners house . it wanted to turn over a bit but would come up against the stuck valves and stop . I pulled the nose off as it was going to come off anyway then pulled the head almost all the valves were stuck. Getting worse from front to back .I sprayed them with FreeAll ( I think its a lot better then PB ) repeatly over the course of several days then GENTLY started tapping on the valves with a plastic mallet , one by one they loosened up till it would spin over . Took awhile but oiling the heck out of em while it was turning over and "helping" the sticky ones with my plastic mallet I got it ! It ran but compressions low so Im guessing it has stuck rings , 2 cylinders had some rust that I cleaned up before I turned it over .... some day when I have spare time (yeah right) I will drop the pan and pull the pistons out and see if I can get the rings loose or replaced .

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  • 8 years later...

I know this is an eight-year-old string, but it was helpful to me. The biggest thing I learned from these posts was that I had to be patient, and I took it to heart. Here is my journey. January 2018 I started working on a 1949 Chrysler Windsor Highlander that had been setting for 12 years. After doing the brakes, I turned to the engine. It was toward the end of February. I only had compression in the #2 cylinder. I poured Marvel Mystery Oil down the spark plug holes. After a couple of weeks, I got compression in #5. I continued with Marvel for a couple more weeks, but no luck. March 31 I pulled the head. Intake valves on #1 and #4 were open. Exhaust valves on #3 and #6 were open. I started alternating between three kinds of lubricant on the valves: Marvel Mystery Oil, ATF/Acetone mixture, and WD-40. I took a rubber mallet and tried to bang the open valves down. I always made sure the opposite valve was up. For example, I turned the engine over by hand until the intake on #3 was open, then I took the rubber mallet and banged on the #3 exhaust. Eventually, I was able to get the exhaust on #3 and the intake on #4  to go down. #4 started to work after two or three times of banging the intake down, turning the engine over, and repeating. The #3 exhaust took a couple of days of lubricating and banging. The intake on #1 and the exhaust on #6 proved to be more of a challenge. The rubber mallet didn't move them at all. I eventually turned to a 16oz ball peen hammer. My greatest fear was bending the valves. I used the ball end of the hammer and was extremely careful to hit the center of the valve. I lubricated and tapped them down more times than I can count. Once the spring started to "suck" the valve down, I switched back to the rubber mallet. The #6 exhaust valve was so hard to tap down, I thought the valve would NEVER loosen up. However, a day came when it gave the slightest hint that the spring was starting to "suck" it down. On April 14 the #1 intake started opening and closing on its own. On April 29, the #6 exhaust valve started opening and closing on its own. I put the head back on and started it up May 1, 2018. Again, thanks for all the prior posts!

Edited by acasey64
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10 hours ago, acasey64 said:

I know this is an eight-year-old string, but it was helpful to me. The biggest thing I learned from these posts was that I had to be patient, and I took it to heart. Here is my journey. January 2018 I started working on a 1949 Chrysler Windsor Highlander that had been setting for 12 years. After doing the brakes, I turned to the engine. It was toward the end of February. I only had compression in the #2 cylinder. I poured Marvel Mystery Oil down the spark plug holes. After a couple of weeks, I got compression in #5. I continued with Marvel for a couple more weeks, but no luck. March 31 I pulled the head. Intake valves on #1 and #4 were open. Exhaust valves on #3 and #6 were open. I started alternating between three kinds of lubricant on the valves: Marvel Mystery Oil, ATF/Acetone mixture, and WD-40. I took a rubber mallet and tried to bang the open valves down. I always made sure the opposite valve was up. For example, I turned the engine over by hand until the intake on #3 was open, then I took the rubber mallet and banged on the #3 exhaust. Eventually, I was able to get the exhaust on #3 and the intake on #4  to go down. #4 started to work after two or three times of banging the intake down, turning the engine over, and repeating. The #3 exhaust took a couple of days of lubricating and banging. The intake on #1 and the exhaust on #6 proved to be more of a challenge. The rubber mallet didn't move them at all. I eventually turned to a 16oz ball peen hammer. My greatest fear was bending the valves. I used the ball end of the hammer and was extremely careful to hit the center of the valve. I lubricated and tapped them down more times than I can count. Once the spring started to "suck" the valve down, I switched back to the rubber mallet. The #6 exhaust valve was so hard to tap down, I thought the valve would NEVER loosen up. However, a day came when it gave the slightest hint that the spring was starting to "suck" it down. On April 14 the #1 intake started opening and closing on its own. On April 29, the #6 exhaust valve started opening and closing on its own. I put the head back on and started it up May 1, 2018. Again, thanks for all the prior posts!

 

Valves.mov

 

glad you could review old posts and find them!

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