[FWDLK] It's DeLightful, It's DeLovely, It Won't Start.

[Dave Stragand <dave.stragand@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Title: Message

Hi All,

 

I've been having some problems getting the 361 motor in my '59 DeSoto Firesweep Seville started.  To give some background, I have replaced the points, plugs, condensor, cap, coil, and rotor, and I'm satisfied I'm getting a good spark.  The carb has just been rebuilt as well, but even using starting fluid, the car just -barely- kicks.

 

I'm positive that the wires are in the correct order, and that I'm not 180 degrees out.  That left a couple of possibilities  -- stuck valves, incorrect valve timing, or horribly poor compression.  A check with a compression tester revealed that indeed the compression was poor... only 60-70 PSI on all 8 cylinders.  That pretty much steered me away from a stuck valve or two, but didn't rule out incorrect valve timing. Since I've never heard of a correctly assembled Mopar engine skipping a tooth on the timing, I can kinda rule that out as well.  Also, I pulled the valve covers to verify that the valves were indeed working.

 

The previous owner assured me it had been running fine when parked, and I have no reason to doubt him.  In fact, the last inspection sticker (Oct. 1973) shows that the car had 48,982 miles when inspected, and the clock only shows an additional 13 miles at 48,995 now.

 

To test for bad rings, I dumped about a quarter quart of ATF down the carb throat, and the compression jumped up to around 160-180 PSI on the cylinders I checked.

 

I'm having a hard time believing that an engine that has been turning freely in indoor storage for 30 years could quite suddenly wear down the rings or cylinder walls to that extent in a few minutes of cranking.  But judging by the massive amount of blow-by smoke coming out of the valve covers, I'm pretty sure that poor compression is the problem.

 

Judging by the amount of tarlike goo that I scraped out from under the valve covers, the engine is pretty filthy inside.  My hypothesis is that the pistons & rings, like the rest of the engine, are pretty darn gooey, and the rings are sticking "in" rather than sealing to the cyl. wall.  Has anyone ever heard of this?  If this was the case, do you think spraying a bunch of PB, Liquid Wrench, Oil Sludge Remover, Kroil, or Marvel Mystery Oil in through the spark plug hole would help free them up? Perhaps letting them soak a while, then cranking the engine over to stir it around?

 

Or if I can't break them free, would a re-ring job and cylinder hone do the trick (assuming the bore is within tolerances)?  Can that be done in the car, or is it a "rip it and strip it" operation?  Should I change the rod bearings at that time as well?

 

Any help would be appreciated!

 

-Dave