I've got a '73 Olds Omega that hasn't been started in 10 years, so far I've flushed the radiator, changed the oil and filter, drained most of the fuel out of the tank, pulled each plug and sprayed wd40 in each cylinder,(except for the rear plug on the passenger side, way too tight to get my hand in there to pull the plug) and put in a new battery. I wanted to see if I could hand crank the motor before turning the key. With the car in park I was able to turn the motor about a 1/2 turn before it locked up. Does it matter if the car is in neutral? Should I have left the plugs out before I tried to hand crank the motor?

I wanted to add new fuel and try to turn it over but not if there's a real issue in doing so. Limited knowledge on my part, any advise would be appreciated

.72 olds omega.jpg

 

You want to leave the plugs out because the WD-40 can cause a hydraulic lock in the cylinders otherwise.

Go back and take all the plugs out, including the one you have trouble reaching. Use WD 40 liberally in all cylinders. Use a breaker bar with a socket that fits the balancer bolt and work the motor back and forth by hand before using the starter. Once it turns, spin it with the starter to blow all the lubricant out of the cylinders. Then install fresh plugs and proceed.

Hopefully you haven't bent any thing yet.

 

Thanks Joe, I'll give that a try. So far only attempted to turn by hand and stopped when I felt pressure.

 

Good. That wasn't clear in your original post when you said you put a new battery in. In any case, definitely turn it over without the plugs first.

 

I bent a connecting rod by pouring oil down the carb while running it back when. I was told....that was the way to properly store my car for the winter. I had to refresh the motor $ 3000.00 I wish I had joined CO prior to that. I have learned so much here since then thanks to these guys.

 

Even if you had not bent anything, this is not the correct way to pickle an engine for storage. If the engine is running, the oil will be burned and head out the tailpipe as oil smoke. You want to pull the plugs, put oil (or ATF) in the cylinders, turn the engine over by hand to distribute it, then put the plugs back in and leave it.

 

chances are you have stuck valves if it turns a bit then stops.

If you spin the engine anyhow, you can bend a pushrod or worse.
Uhm, so I hear.

take out the plugs
even hard to reach ones CAN be reached.
lube cylinders
turn back n forth

if that does not do it, then remove the valve covers and look for which valves are not moving. You MIGHT be able to spray penetrating lube on the valves and, with time and gentle engine turning, get them to loosen up.

If not, then just take the heads off and clean and lube everything.

 

I ran the engine with my figure holding the throttle open while pouring oil down the carb until it stalled out, yes loads of smoke out the tailpipes till it stalled. It wasn't till spring when I fired it up did it start knocking. I know all to well now lol thanks to CO, But a mistake like this cost me 3k. I hope you saved the poster from the same headache and costly damage that I did to my Olds 350.
Cheers Guys !!
Eric

 

Octania, I went to work on the car before I saw your post about not spinning the engine with a possible stuck valve, as a result I ended up pulling the AC so I could get to all the plugs, put wd40 in each cylinder, then tried to turn by hand with the plugs out and still was only able to turn it about 1/2 way.

At that point a friend that I feel knows a lot about engines came by, (I know he tears apart his 18 wheeler when needed), he mentioned to simply attempt to turn it over with the plugs out. Which we did, and it cranked over quite well!

After replacing the plugs, I still couldn't get it to start, I think it's a spark issue, I'm hoping it's just a bad coil.

I'll try that tomorrow, thanks to everyone for the help!

 

Thanks to everyone for the help, my problem was points. Put in a new set, made some adjustments and it turned right over!
Now a whole new set of issues since the car hasn't been started in 10 years...exhaust leak either somewhere by the muffler or the muffler itself, (haven't look at it yet), all the vacuum lines are dried and cracked, radiator leaks...but I can't think of anything else I'd rather be doing this weekend other then working on an Olds.

 

I was looking at my original post when I was looking for help getting this car back on the road, and wanted to say thanks to everyone that has offered help. Here are some pictures of where we are now, more to come as we proceed on.

 

Excellent. Congrats and thanks for the update.

 

x2, better late than never to close out a thread. Cars is looking great.