I just put a new engine in and haven’t started it yet. I am trying to rotate the engine to set the valve lash but the bolt on the harmonic balancer is getting the point it is so tight it feels like it will break and the engine is not turning at all. So I tried hooking up the starter and using that to turn it and it just clicks but doesn’t turn the flywheel. I know the engine has turned before because I turned it when I put in a new cam.

What in the world could possibly wrong? Spring break ends today so I am suppose to go back. What went wrong?

 

how long has it sat? have you tried a fly wheel turning tool? still it shouldn't take that much to spin a engine with the crank bolt. you might want to pull the plugs so you aren't workign aginst the compression.

 

It has been sitting for 3 months since I last turned it. The plugs are out and the rear wheels are off the ground. I have tried putting it in neutral with no luck.

When I mounted the transmission to the engine, while I was tightening down the bolts there was a pop. Is there anyway the transmission is not seated properly?

 

sounds like your converter may not be in the pump right. If thats the case you may have messed up the pump

 

Take the bolts off that holds the flexplate to the tc and see if the tc spins freely. Dont really see any reason that it shoudnt. Wont matter what gear its in either. Also, dont use the bolt on the HB to turn the motor. Seems like everyone breaks them doing it.

 

I charged the battery some more and i got it to do almot a full rotation but then it locked again and the starter just clicks

 

Is the engine dry? I mean if the pistons, rings and bearing are dry its gonna be very hard to turn. I put oil over every thing when I build an engine.

 

It's a GM caprice create engine, I changed the heads and cam. The engine is fully oiled; I filled the oil and primed the pump for a few minutes.

I tried loosing the bolts on bell housing a to see if something wasn’t matting right and I tried cranking it, still no go.

Another thing that may be the problem is that when I was lowering the tranny when I was pulling out the old engine I forgot to disconnect the shift linkage and the transmission was resting on it which pulled on the shifter on the tranny and broke the shift linkage. It still moves fine and shifts from park to drive fine.

 

Can you explain this a little more??

 

If the torque converter was not in the trans. pump all the way the pump can get messed up when the tranny is bolted to the back of the block. what happend is the converter jams against the flexplate and pushes against the pump as you tighten the bellhousing bolts. it puts everything in a bind.

 

Did you check your piston to valve clearance when you changed the cam? If no then you can try loosening the rockers so the valves don't open and then try to spin it over. Might also pull the pushrods and see if they're bent.

 

I loosened the bell housing and reseated the transmission. I just trying to crank it with the starter then in rotated 1/4 turn and wouldn’t turn anymore. I tried again 30 min later and it works. Now it cranks fine and can be turned with a breaker bar.

Can anyone think of anything to explain this? I hope the transmission is not totally messed up now.

 

Sounds like the converter wasn't mated properly with the pump, but now is. That would be the result of incomplete converter installation.

Hopefully you didn't just waste your pump.

 

I would have to agree with the tq installation problem. You have make sure the tq is seated in the trans properly. I usually just rotate it by hand and push it into the trans at the same time until it slides in all the way. You can usually tell if it isn't locked in right when you put the tq to flywheel bolts in. The tq should slide up to the flywheel as you tighten, not bend the flywheel to the tq.

 

Now that the engine rotates fine is there anyway to tell if I messed up anything? I am going home next week to start it up and drive it, if I messed something up will it be very obvious when I drive it? Is there anything I can check with the transmission on the car, like is the flexplate is bent?