I recently subscribed and I want to thank everyone for the help I have gotten just by reading previous posts, however, I have a specific problem I could use some advice with.
I was heading home from work at about 75mph in my 351 Bronco, when I bumped the shift lever with my arm, knocking the truck into second, (3 speed auto tranny). As soon as I realized what had happened I threw it back into third, but the engine sputtered a couple of times and died, and the truck overheated.
The engine is now locked up solid, I can't even turn it with a ratchet and a 6 foot pipe I happened to have handy.
My question is, is the problem most likely in the engine or tranny, and how do I go about seperating the two when I can't rotate the torque converter to disconnect them?
On a positive note, since the engine replacement shop quoted me a $3500 price, I just ran out and bought another black 1987 Bronco, with a 302 this time.

 

I can't tell you whether the engine or trans is locked up but I can tell you that you shouldn't have to unbolt the torque converter to seperate the two. The converter will pull out of the transmission.

 

The torque converter will slide off the input shaft of the tranny but you have to be very careful not to cut the inner seal inside the converter when you do this. If you do, you will succeed in pumping the bell housing full of tranny fluid once you get the original problem rectified.

To seperate the engine and tranny you have to remove the bellhousing-to-engine block bolts and the starter. Bear in mind however, its unlikely that you will be able to seperate the engine and tranny enough with them both bolted into the truck to disengage the input shaft into the torque converter from the tranny.

If the truck sputtered and died , did it crank again at all or has it been "locked" since the incident on the highway? If not, have you tried starting the truck in Neutral? This will disengage the parking pawl from the transmisson gears in the event the torque converter has welded itself into a large blob of aluminum and steel and afford the engine the freedom to spin via the starter if it is still capable of doing so.

 

Thanks for the info.
I haven't been able to get it to turn over at all, and honestly, other than putting a ratchet on the front and putting all I had into turning it either way, I haven't tried much, since the shops I called all told me it was most likely done for. It took a few months before I realized that engine replacement shops might not give the best opinions on whether or not an engine needs replaced
I will give a try this weekend to turning it over in neutral and then I'll start tearing it apart.
Thanks again for the help.

 

Well, I finally got under her today, and after removing the plugs, disconnecting the starter, and removing all the accessory belts, I still couldn't budge it, so I threw a jack under the tranny and lifted it up, whereupon I could see through the side of the oil pan that the front left piston appears to be in the cylinder sideways.....
I also found a leak in the gas tank, noticed one of the ball joints is shot, and oh, yeah, she kicked out of gear on me and started to roll backwards and I had to stop her with my head and neck.
My Maaco paint job is flaking and the rear quarter on the drivers side rusted through again...
I loved that 351 like she was my child, but it looks like I will be 5.0'ing it in the other bronc from now on....

Anyway, thanks for all the help.
By the way, since I was in a fix-it kind of mood, and couldn't fix it, I took the top of the other one instead. It's amazing that I owned four of these things before I tried it..... Topless IS better

 

Sorry to hear about the 351. Story sounds like my Dad's Grand Prix. He drove it to the house one day and asked if that "clunking and smoking was a bad thing". I opend the hood and extinguished the engine with my fire extiguisher that I carry in my Bronco. Once things had cooled down, I removed the number 5 piston from the block.....WITHOUT USING ANY TOOLS! Well, at least it used to be the #5. The head was all that was left...the rings, skirt and rod were in shreds in the oil pan.

 

That's what was weird about this, and what had me wondering if it was really the engine, nothing fell into the oil pan, not even any metal shavings that I could spot.
The thing is definitely all cocked sideways though, and with the other bad parts on this thing the truck is toast.
At least I can swap out some better parts to the other Bronco, so it's not a complete loss.

 

Hi, very very sorry to hear about your engine. The best thing to do is take a few pics of the post mortum....
Search around for an engine to rebuild and replace.
I have a set of pics of what my son had happen when he was driving home after his wedding last Sept. It was a mini-blazer 4.6l V6. That rod is jammed in between the block and the counter-weight !!!
http://www.what-me.com/vehicles/blazer.html
Bruce (Big Red Bronco...vehicles come home to die, and I am supposed to revive them...bah)http://www.what-me.com/vehicles/blazer.html

 

I wish it looked that good :-)
Actually, the engine looks dandy from the outside, it's just that you can see the edge of the piston between the oilpan and the mating surface.
After discovering all the other problems as well, I am throwing in the towel on Bronco #2, (I've owned 4; 2 had seized engines, including this one, the dreaded body cancer getting so bad there was nothing to stick the bondo to, and now #4 my daily driver 5.0, which had the entire retaining ring pop out of the top of the gas tank today), and concentrating on making this one the best I can.

Of course I am still eyeing that 95 5.8 down at the end of the street for $5300. Wonder how much my bank likes me this week