Need some help on my old '85 Ford pick-up...

[SS Killer]

Check the starter first then next time it dead locks up on you, pull the plugs out and see if you get coolant or gas out of the spark plug hole when you crank it. I'm sure you're hydraulic locking which can lead to bent connecting rods if you have too strong of a starter. It can be the carburator draining all the fuel into the engine once its shut off or its water seeping into the cylinder through a head gasket or crank in a cylinder wall. Are you losing water?

If I'm remembering correctly, the starter is brand-new. There was a fluke with the last one and ended up bending the starter shaft.

The coolant level was low. The more I think about it, a head gasket sounds plausible.

I'll get a chance Thursday to crank it with the spark plugs out... I'll update with any crazy details.

[txarkitekt]

...I'm sure you're hydraulic locking which can lead to bent connecting rods if you have too strong of a starter. It can be the carburator draining all the fuel into the engine once its shut off or its water seeping into the cylinder through a head gasket or crank in a cylinder wall. Are you losing water?

+1. I would drain the oil. That will tell the story. Greg is right about checking everything--but unscrewing one bolt from the oil pan and draining the oil seems easier to me. If there is low coolant and a murky, milky oil--head gasket is shot. That way, once you remove the head, you can pour oil over the motor and try to get it to spin free. But still--that 300 I6 was a halfway decent motor. I would try to salvage it.

[SS Killer]

+1. I would drain the oil. That will tell the story. Greg is right about checking everything--but unscrewing one bolt from the oil pan and draining the oil seems easier to me. If there is low coolant and a murky, milky oil--head gasket is shot. That way, once you remove the head, you can pour oil over the motor and try to get it to spin free. But still--that 300 I6 was a halfway decent motor. I would try to salvage it.

The motor itself is brand-new. We're talking less than 10,000 miles. It's a rebuilt unit out of a saw mill. We bought the short block because our original motor had a cracked piston.

Is has been sitting for a few years with what was thought to be an ignition problem. It needs new oil anyways I'm sure.

[RedHeartbeat]

I'd be worried about a cracked block, knowing its history now. Engines overheat, hand pours in straight water, it freezes, crack in cylinder wall. With any luck its just a head gasket.

[SS Killer]

I'd be worried about a cracked block, knowing its history now. Engines overheat, hand pours in straight water, it freezes, crack in cylinder wall. With any luck its just a head gasket.

Back to the cabr dumping gas... It's a brand new holley unit. Was there an adjustment out of the box that I could have forgotten to perform? What would cause it to just dump the fuel?

Carb'd engines = not my forte.

[RedHeartbeat]

bad casting is the only reason I could think of.

[GasGuzzler]

A blown head gasket doesn't always show up in the oil....but if it was the cause of the cranking problem, you'd see it with the plugs out.

[MikeGyver]

Are the headers heating the starter?

[SS Killer]

Are the headers heating the starter?

The headers do run right past the starter. Do you think it's as simple a fix as wrapping the headers?

I didn't know heat effected a starter that much.

[txarkitekt]

Your starter can handle decent amount of heat--and so can the wires. Msot starters have some kind of heat wrap around the + wire, but not so much the ground. I mean--on our trucks, the headers are above the starter and starters are mounted to the block...they can handle some serious heat...