Frank,
Wild guess here.... A new rebuild. What pistons went in it? This type of
thing happens occasionally with motorcycles. We call it "piston collapse".
It happens when the engines run a bit too lean during break-in. The piston
skirts expand and seize the engine. When it cools, it runs okay again but
the pistons are damaged. When pulled out they show considerable burning and
scoring on the skirts. I've got a nice one o these hanging from the light
pull chain in my garage just to remind me to run new engines a bit on the
rich side until they are broken in. I don't know if this is even applicable
to an A series but the symptoms are sure identical.
Cheers!!
Jim
On Tue, Apr 7, 2009 at 10:02 PM, Frank <spritenut@comcast.net> wrote:
> So after the third clutch master, I finally have a working clutch in the
> Ladybug.
> I zipped around the block to test it and handed it over to my daughter to
> try it out.
> I said "Don't go far" and 20 minutes later she comes pushing the car home
> saying it ran out of gas.
> Well I put 3 gallons in it and it has maybe 4 miles on it now. There is no
> way it ran out of gas.
> Fuel pump is clicking but it will not crank over, sort of like a stuck
> starter.
> Rocking the car made NO movement or starter kick out. Neutral the car
> rolls.
> few guys stopped over tonight so we popped out the starter, it was fine but
> I could not lever the flywheel very easy.
> Something was holding the engine back. The starter would budge it but not
> turn it over.
> Pulled the plugs and it was still extremely hard to pry over with a
> crowbar.
> This is a fresh rebuilt engine that seemed OK when it first fired up this
> weekend.
> We did drive it yesterday even with a funky clutch but it ran great.
> Tonight Tiffany blows it up!
> After a few beers, the guys and I tried prying it over again, it moved
> easier so we put the starter back it and it fired up and ran perfect.
> We let it run for a solid 1/2 hour and kept switching it off and starting
> it up again. No problem.
> My daughter says it "worked itself out" But I know better.
> What the heck happened in the first place? Clutch worked as normal. In
> gear, car was locked up, depress clutch, car rolled.
> Even now, the clutch works normally. The car starts and runs fine.
> Why did it seize up but only when SHE took it for a spin by herself?
> How does a seized engine fix itself all by itself?
>
> --
> Frank Clarici
> Toms River, NJ
> My own Fleet of Sprites
> _______________________________________________
> Support Team.Net http://www.team.net/donate.html
>
> You are subscribed as bmwwxman@gmail.com
>
> http://www.team.net/archive
>
> http://autox.team.net/mailman/listinfo/spridgets
>
--
Cheers!!
Jim
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I am
not
sure about the former. - Albert Einstein
_______________________________________________
Support Team.Net http://www.team.net/donate.html
http://www.team.net/archive
http://autox.team.net/mailman/listinfo/spridgets
|