Ideas on how to free a stuck 282 diesel.

Go to NAPA and buy some Iron Etch (made by Martin Seynor paint,) it's basically phosphoric acid used in bodywork for prepping metal before priming. Hone out the cylinder above the stuck piston and clean it out good. When your ready to break it loose, pour about a 1/2" of the Iron Etch on top of the piston and let it sit overnight. Next morning, clean the solution out of the cylinder with some paper towels to keep from making a mess, then drive the piston down with a block of wood and a big hammer. If the piston's rod is still connected to the crank, probably have someone help turn the crank while you pound it down. This has worked for me every time, it's fast and easy. I've never needed more than a few good raps with a blacksmith hammer on a block of oak to get the piston moving, after using the Iron Etch.

If the piston is near BDC, you may need to unbolt the rod and swing it away if possible. Otherwise, you may have to turn the block upside down, pull the crankshaft out, then turn it over and pound the piston down, which is what I had to do on my W9 engine. I've used the acid with aluminum pistons and haven't had any problems. It will etch the cylinder wall slightly, but it will hone out. If you're putting in new sleeves & pistons anyway, it won't matter.

You definitely want to get the piston out, even if it were to suddenly free up, as the rings will be rusted in place in the piston grooves(even in an aluminum piston.)

• Hobby farm

If the valves are loose, and the glow plugs look good, I would spray some PB Blaster down the glow plug holes and wait about a week. Then try a bar in the starter hole prying on the ring gear. (Got a stuck W-9 loose this way)

Here ends my $0.02 worth of experience...

Say you do unbolt a connecting rod from main, and manage to move the piston an inch or two, all you did was wedge it a few inches in a different direction. Good luck pulling the crank and rod back together, ha ha.

I have freed up an H and an M before.

My advice. Unbolt all the connecting rods.
Remove the head.
Lay on your back and pound the pistons out the top of the engine. One cylinder at a time. If it's stuck, the rings are probably ruined enough to require replacement anyways.

Been there done that, just some heavy lifting and pounding. Oh yeah, and I soak the cylinders with liquid wrench for a few days before pounding them out.

This method never fails to free a stuck engine. :)

And yes, I even put a bottle jack under a stuck piston to push it up and out, and you know what? the entire M came off the ground!!!

mhmm. eventually used a sledge, and installed a sleeve kit.

Everyone speaks from experience, but maybe not a lot of experience. I've had tractor get stuck from just sitting, no water in the cylinders, and it is pretty easy to free them up. I've freed them up pulling them around the pasture, or just putting ATF in the cylinders and I've had otheres that required pounding the pistons out.

History on why it is stuck guides you to where to start.

The suggestion to pull glow plugs or injectors first is reasonable.

If you get it freed up without pulling the head, whether it will start is the next issue on whether the head still needs to be pulled. If you pull the head and pull the pistons and everything looks fine except for a little gum on the cylinder walls you might wish you'd tried something else first.

I always assume the simplest problem possible is what is wrong. I am usually right. For instance, when I have a flat, I assume it is the valve core before breaking down the tire.

It may even be stuck from a cylinder full of diesel on the compression stroke.