Sitting for a year, hydro-locked, next step?

[raty4R]

<I blew a head gasket over a year ago. The engine is hydro locked and been sitting for almost 15 months. I want to get it at least running and be able drive around the block until I can afford to fix it.
I plan to pull the plugs, use a turkey baster and vacuum line to suck out as much water as I can. Then turn the motor over by hand using a breaker bar on the crank. Then I plan to crank the motor over.
I'll put the plugs back in and restart the motor every 3-4 days.
I noticed my coolant level is low but I don't have any water on the dipstick.
Does this sound feasible? Any thing else I should be aware of?

Any recommendations for a repair shop in the north Dallas area?

Update 06/2020
Thought I'd update this thread. I ended replacing my blown motor with a low mileage used motor. Found a 137,xxx mile 2001 motor and had a shop replace it. motor cost 1150 + shipping and install cost was 900 plus some other things that were replaced on installation. total labor 1450. The donor truck had dealer records going back to 2005. I checked the vin on my toyota owners site, salvagedb and vehiclehistory to get me an idea of past history. Some trucks listed with like 150xxx miles showed dealer history with >200xxx miles.
But it's up and running good now.
After sitting 3yrs, tow truck driver started it and it fired right up, guess all the water drained out of the cylinders.

 

[thegipper]

Letting the engine sit for 15 months while hydro locked was probably not the best idea.

I would pull the plugs and turn the engine over to blow out the coolant. Once you are sure you got the cylinders cleaned out, you can try starting it. I do not recommend running it for long (ideally not at all) as coolant could be in your oil. I cannot imagine having coolant in your cylinders for over a year is a good thing.

Are you trying to get it running so you can drive it to a shop to get the head gasket fixed?

 

[Cree]

You're screwed. Even if get it freed up I'll promise there's corrosion on the cylinder walls. I don't know how far you'll have to go into it, but I do know you're gonna be looking at more than just head gaskets at this point.

 

[rkntoy]

I blew a head gasket over a year ago. The engine is hydro locked and been sitting for almost 15 months. I want to get it at least running and be able drive around the block until I can afford to fix it.
I plan to pull the plugs, use a turkey baster and vacuum line to suck out as much water as I can. Then turn the motor over by hand using a breaker bar on the crank. Then I plan to crank the motor over.
I'll put the plugs back in and restart the motor every 3-4 days.
I noticed my coolant level is low but I don't have any water on the dipstick.
Does this sound feasible? Any thing else I should be aware of?

Any recommendations for a repair shop in the north Dallas area?

So it hydro locked due to head gasket failure? If true, isn't it just going to do it again? That must be some head gasket leak.

Even though you say the oil looks OK I would change the oil and the filter before attempting this. And before you start turning the crank (in addition to getting the water out) put an ounce or two of oil in each cylinder (I like Marvel Mystery Oil for this application). Let the cylinders soak for a while, then move the cranks a bit and let them soak some more - repeat-repeat-repeat.

 

[phattyduck]

I noticed my coolant level is low but I don't have any water on the dipstick.

If you had coolant in the cylinders, it would be in the oil by now. Water/coolant would have leaked past the piston rings.

Turn the motor over by hand and see if it will rotate. Drain the oil and check condition.

If water/coolant did get into the cylinders, I would expect that it is rusted solid at this point.

I suspect there is/was some other issue.

-Charlie

 

[LittleCaesar]

My brother once got a hydrolocked engine to move though some hand cranking after soaking the pistons I believe in Marvel Mystery Oil.

As Charlie said, break out the 1/2" ratchet and 19mm socket and hope for the best. I'd take out the plugs too.

 

[Joelzy]

:thumb3: shameless plug but...
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/sale-...-$250-picked-up-$300-delivered-dallas-tx.html

If you don't mind towing to Flowermound, my friend has a shop out there and just helped me rebuild my motor. I won't offer my amateur services but he always comes in very fair on pricing and always pushes for the best/correct fix so i would imagine he'd want to open yours up without question. PM if interested.

 

[BrianSD_42]

get a $750 donor engine and do the swap

:bolt:

 

[raty4R]

Thanks for the replies everyone. You have pretty much confirmed what I was thinking. My goal is to prevent further damage by doing what I should have done over a year ago.
So my plan is to drain/replace the oil and filter, pure some Marvel Mystery oil into each cylinder, rotate the motor and add some more MM oil and crank it over. See what happens. If it turns over easy I'll install the plugs and let it run.
@ Joelzy I don't mind towing (have AAA 100 mile radius). Is your friends shop capable of doing either the motor swap or head gasket? Can they do suspension work too?

background: I was done in Houston when my truck died, I looked at temp gauge and it was pegged. Let it cool down added water, finished working and drove home to Dallas the next day. Took it to the shop, they did a pressure/ leak down test and told me my radiator was leaking. Replaced the radiator and hoses. bam a week later white smoke out of the exhaust. Had to leave town again for several days. When I came back motor wouldn't start, only clicked like it was locked up. (not dead battery type click).

 

[2016 4Runner SR5]

May have roasted the starter with all that heat. Either way, antifreeze down in the oil on those bearings is VERY bad. I know you don't want to hear it but you're looking at a rebuild, not just a head gasket.

 

[Joelzy]

@ Joelzy I don't mind towing (have AAA 100 mile radius). Is your friends shop capable of doing either the motor swap or head gasket? Can they do suspension work too?

will check on the suspension, he could definitely do the HG or swap

 

[rkntoy]

Thanks for the replies everyone. You have pretty much confirmed what I was thinking. My goal is to prevent further damage by doing what I should have done over a year ago.
So my plan is to drain/replace the oil and filter, pure some Marvel Mystery oil into each cylinder, rotate the motor and add some more MM oil and crank it over. See what happens. If it turns over easy I'll install the plugs and let it run.
@ Joelzy I don't mind towing (have AAA 100 mile radius). Is your friends shop capable of doing either the motor swap or head gasket? Can they do suspension work too?

background: I was done in Houston when my truck died, I looked at temp gauge and it was pegged. Let it cool down added water, finished working and drove home to Dallas the next day. Took it to the shop, they did a pressure/ leak down test and told me my radiator was leaking. Replaced the radiator and hoses. bam a week later white smoke out of the exhaust. Had to leave town again for several days. When I came back motor wouldn't start, only clicked like it was locked up. (not dead battery type click).

If you add more oil just don't leave too much oil in the cylinders before you put the plugs back in.