just got back a motor from machine shop- MOTOR IS TOOOO TIGHT

[Quick6'n'-K.C.]

im putting a tta motor {just rebuilt} in this weekend for a buddy of mine, and the motor was dropped off this morning-

the problem is i cant get the motor to turn over without putting some SERIOUS muscle into it!!!

** this is a tta motor**

and does not have the rocker shafts like the regal-

im thinking that someone OVER TIGHTENED the individual rockers soo tight the motor is almost impossible to turn over by hand-

what is the spec for the rockers??? 25 lbs?? i forget-

im going to pull them off and see if the motor will turn over freely-

by them overtightening the rockers, will that do permenant damage to the lifters??

TIA-

 

[bruce]

Originally posted by Quick6'n'-K.C.
im putting a tta motor {just rebuilt} in this weekend for a buddy of mine, and the motor was dropped off this morning-
the problem is i cant get the motor to turn over without putting some SERIOUS muscle into it!!!
** this is a tta motor**
and does not have the rocker shafts like the regal-
im going to pull them off and see if the motor will turn over freely-
by them overtightening the rockers, will that do permenant damage to the lifters??

The clearance is set when you tighten the rocker pivot down, there is nothing with any adjustment.

If they were for some reason tightened too much it would keep the valves open and there wouldn't be any compression.

Do you have the plugs in it?.
With the plugs in yes it takes alot to soin it over.

 

[Quick6'n'-K.C.]

Re: Re: just got back a motor from machine shop- MOTOR IS TOOOO TIGHT

Originally posted by bruce


The clearance is set when you tighten the rocker pivot down, there is nothing with any adjustment.

If they were for some reason tightened too much it would keep the valves open and there wouldn't be any compression.

Do you have the plugs in it?.
With the plugs in yes it takes alot to soin it over.

lol bruce-

no there arent any plugs in the motor-

i realize that all is needed is a torque spec, and no adjustment-

since the motor hasnt been paid for, and the owner wants to use it this weekend, i guess we are going for it-
i pulled the pan, and it seems that the pistons are snug, no movement at all- no scoreing of the walls or on the skirts of the pistons-

guess we will try 25 ft lbs on the rockers-

 

[tazgn]

It sounds like something isn't quite right here. The torque on the rocker arm shafts shouldn't matter in any way here. Hope you didn't do something stupid like me putting the cam 180 degrees out. But I think you are looking at the wrong thing if you think torquing the rocker shafts down are the problem.

Derrick

 

[Robert]

quik6nkc Man that sounds real scary, rockers shouldn't have that much to do with making the motor hard to turn over. It sounds like the machine shop didn't check the clearances very well. Did they line hone the mains, what kind of wall clearance, bearing clearance, I'd sure take a close look at that before I would put it in the car!!!

 

[Quick6'n'-K.C.]

im sure my buddy will chime in here and fill everyone in on what we have found-

i didnt build the motor, or assemble the long block, he is getting a warranty on the motor, so we decided to run it AS IS from the machine shop

i had a feeling that the rocker were torqued by HERCULES himself or at least a journeyman, we loosened them up and the motor was still tight, so i think the pistons are just really tight

azgn- there is no way that the cam can be 180 out- maybe the cam sensor, but not the cam to crank position-

check this out- ive been drinking so this will make perfect sense to me!!

the cam gear is twice the size as the crank gear, so if its lined up at TDC then IT DONT MATTER If its at 180 or 360,... just depends on when you check #1 cyl intake or exhaust stroke-

kinda like when your at napa, and they have those gears with the royal purple lube, GO to the counter and check out the displays, once they are lined up, you cant get them outta whack unless you strip a gear --

ROBERT-
the motor has 2 steel center caps and no girdle-
it was lined bored, and just a polish was needed for the crank i gave him-
what strikes me odd is that it took them 4 weeks to figure out the main caps, and at least they got the rod caps on correctly-

*note* i took a really old sears dial a gauge style torque wrench with the needle, and after turning the motor over about 8 times, 4 cycles, the gauge shows 40 lbs to break it over-

that seems like alot, but this shop was supposed to be "NATS A$$ on with the specs"


any and all help is appreciated, and we havent got the motor in yet, almost ready, just looking for TTa motor mounts-
TIA
BW

 

[S2V6RACER]

I'll bet the line bore is wrong.

 

[Russ Merritt]

Hold up, Back in 92 I rebuilt my engine. Just reringed & bearings used all the stock stuff no machine work. When I was done putting in all pistons, like you said it was almost imposible to turn over by hand! Even with a breaker bar, I'm talkin over 100 ft/lbs to turn over with no plugs in it! IT TURNED OUT FINE!!! I got over 9 yrs of abuse on it! I know one thing, when I was done putting the crank in it did turn over easy like it should, it was after I put all the pistons in when it got hard! Even with out the heads on it. Where is Chuck L. he would be one to ask.

 

[frankg]

It depends alot on what type of assembly lube they use also, some are real thick and will cause alot of drag. Hope its OK. FRank

 

[Quick6'n'-K.C.]

Originally posted by Russ Merritt
Hold up, Back in 92 I rebuilt my engine. Just reringed & bearings used all the stock stuff no machine work. When I was done putting in all pistons, like you said it was almost imposible to turn over by hand! Even with a breaker bar, I'm talkin over 100 ft/lbs to turn over with no plugs in it! IT TURNED OUT FINE!!! I got over 9 yrs of abuse on it! I know one thing, when I was done putting the crank in it did turn over easy like it should, it was after I put all the pistons in when it got hard! Even with out the heads on it. Where is Chuck L. he would be one to ask.

this is good news!!

how fast did you get that motor/ car to go after it was installed?

 

[Quick6'n'-K.C.]

Originally posted by frankg
It depends alot on what type of assembly lube they use also, some are real thick and will cause alot of drag. Hope its OK. FRank

they didnt use snake oil, but they used this paste style lube thats really stickey-

after spinning the motor over a few times, it feels easier to turn over now-

 

[Russ Merritt]

Went 11.47, 9 years after I did it! I wouldn't worry too much. I bet it's fine.

 

[S10xGN]

Strange... My new engine is like that, too. I checked all the clearances (with mikes, not plasti-gauge) and the motor is built on the tight side. On my "old" GN's motor (Kid with a toy's now) you could turn it over with an allen socket in the alternator pulley, this new one you need a breaker bar on the crank pulley to even budge it.

 

[ThikStik]

Your piston ring to bore clearance is overly tight As it is on all new engines because the rings are new! Solution? put engine in , run engine. The rings will make peace with their new place in life. And life will be good.. This is MHO but 40 ft lbs seems very normal to me.