Hey gang,
Went over to my dad's today to do some preventive mantinence on my Morgan
4/4 with the Ford Cortina engine. Basically pull the plugs, squirt some oil
in the cylinders, maybe even fire her up, and install a regulator for the
temp gauge. Also had to test the wireless door bells I got them for
Christmas. And if we had enough time left over, check over his John Deer
111 yard tractor. Last time he used it, he said he heard a loud bang after
he'd finished mowing the lawn.
Well the day went hell quickly. The car has been sitting for about 6 mo.
So I wanted to check it out. We managed to pull all the plugs on the
Morgan, no problem. Then we jacked it up and put it on stands so I could
get under it and get a wrench on the crank bolt. I usually turn the engine
over with that first, then squirt oil in the cyls, turn it over a couple
more times by hand with a socket on the crank bolt. Then spin the engine
up with the starter until I get oil pressure.
I put a socket on the crank pully on the end of a 1/2" drive ratchet and
push on the ratchet. The engine won't budge. So we the the 1/2" drive
braker bar. It still won't move. Squirt in some WD40 and let it soak.
Try again, no joy. After repeating this several times, we take the Morgan
off of the jack stands, and put her in 4th gear. We figure maybe we can
rock her to free up the engine. More WD40 and rock. We kept this up
all day. Waiting 15 minutes to an hour inbetween rocking her. She never
freed up. I can't believe she is frozen that tight in 6 mo. She has sat
longer than that in the past. She is in a garage, but it's not heated.
While we were waiting for the WD-40 to work I was able to test the wireless
door bells. They worked great! Mon and dad are getting a little hard of
hearing, or at least it seems so, and the TVs are always really cranked
up. When dad is in his den watching TV, there is NO way he'll hear the
door bell at the front of his house. So for Christmas, I bought him 2
wireless door bells. The actual chime is electronic and is powered by
120V so you just stick it into a wall outlet. The door bell button has a
battery in it. So I screwed the button over top of their old door bell
button, and up one of the chimes in the den and one in their dining room.
I kept the default settings on both receiving units (the chimes) and the
one button fires both chimes.
Then we went to work on the tractor. Couldn't find anything wrong with
the mower deck, except the wire for the Power Take Off (PTO) clutch had
been riding on the main belt between the engine and the cutting deck and
had burned the insulation off of the wires and eaten half the female
connector. I managed to fix the wire and everything there seems to be
working fine.
So when I left, I must admitt that I had done some good, but the engine in
the Morgan is still frozen. So I guess tomorrow I go over and we pull the
head, and drop the pan, and see if we can free the pistons with a block of
wood and a hammer. BUMMER!!!
Then on top of that, I get a call from my wife, your youngest son had taken
his 95 Taurus out to get gas. When we went to drive away from the pump,
the car wouldn't start. That turned out to be easy, the 4+ year old battery
had given up the ghost. So, I got a new battery for that.
Yesterday, the 95 Voyager would start. That turned out to be a loose battery
terminal.
Why couldn't have the Morgan been so easy? :)
John
John T. Blair WA4OHZ email: jblair1948@cox.net
Va. Beach, Va (eBay id: zebra48-1)
Phone: (757) 495-8229
48 TR1800 48 #4 Midget 65 Morgan 4/4 Series V (B1109)
75 Bricklin SV1 (#0887) 77 Spitfire 71 Saab Sonett III
65 Rambler Classic
Morgan: www.team.net/www/morgan
Bricklin: www.bricklin.org
If you can read this - Thank a teacher!
If you are reading it in English - Thank a Vet!!
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