Engine rust stopping my head from turning??? Do I need a whole new engine or can I just buy a piece?

Question

My head broke so I had it taken off and looked at. about 10 months later I finally had it fixed and ready to be put back on. Bad news is the engine had rusted form the head being off for so long. My question is do I need a whole new engine or is there a part I can get from the pick and pull?

Answer 1

Clean the block surface with emery cloth until it shines, spray a fine mist of Automatic transmission fluid on the exposed cylinder walls, spray aluminum paint on the head gasket (both sides) and install the head while the paint is tacky.

Reassemble the rest of your engine and remove all spark plugs before you start it and spray more ATF in through the spark plug holes, spin the motor with the plugs out (with the starter) until you see the oil pressure start to rise on the gauge.

Put the plugs in and fire it up, it will smoke for a couple minutes while it burns out the residual ATF and your rings will take a little while to re-seat (you may use a little more oil than before the repair if they don't fully seat) but it will be fine.

You cost yourself some overall ring life but it should run fine if it gets put back together correctly.

Good Luck!

Answer 2

Generally, you can just clean off the rust.  Ideally, you'd have a machine shop face the top of the block.

Next time, put rust inhibitor on exposed surfaces.

Answer 3

Question: Head was off "10 Months", Out doors (Uncovered?), Cylinders not Filled with Engine Oil?? Would the Engine Crank by hand before you reinstalled the Head? Locked Up now and won't Turn? If the Block is Good the Cheapest way may be to Rebuild the Engine.

Answer 4

If you are talking about the mating surface where the head sits on you can't just replace parts of it.  You can remove the rust.  It just takes a little elbow grease.  

Answer 5

Clean up the area with WD-40 and a non abrasive pad.

DO NOT  FORCE THE PISTON UP OR DOWN.

Try to flush the area of the piston between the combustion surface and the first ring before reassembling.

When you get the area/s cleaned, put the engine back together and give it a compression test.

Be gentle for the first few 100 miles.

If you get the rust removed, and let the rings overcome the residual rust problem, there should be a lot of miles left in the engine.

If you want to go a more sure route, remove the pistons, hone the cylinders, and put in new rings.

I don't think you need a complete new engine. But if you want to get like new (or better) performance out of the engine, it might be a good time to have new pistons and rings fitted (along with bearings and seals). A complete rebuild that has special attention given to the details always runs better.

Answer 6

well it depends on what part of the engine is rusted. and how bad it is rusted. if the cylinders are rusted and if it's just surface rust you can hone it out. if it is deeper rust you will need to bore the cylinders that are rusted. if it is the top of the block that has rust you can shave the block and that will take care of it.