# Turning over engine



## nuggets (Apr 27, 2011)

Alright, heres the problem. Bout a month ago engine started making a knocking noise. Blew rod bearing on #2 piston. replaced, as long as with all the other bearings. Including having the crank resurfaced and new bearings on that as well. All torqued to spec. Also checked for all the correct clearances. The pistons themselves were never taken out. only moved about a cm each. Bolted everything back on, then it sat for bout 3 days. Dropped it in the car, primed it, and now it wont turn over. I cant turn it by hand, nor at the harmonic balancer, nor can the started turn it. When using the starter it will turn maybe a cm a time. Everything was extremely well oiled throughout the whole process and nothing was put out of place. I had a shop do the resurfacing of everything as well. 

Im out of ideas on how to get this thing moving. Any ideas? Anything I missed?

69 GTO. 461 4bbl

Thanks,
Kyle


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## Rukee (Feb 8, 2007)

It needs to come back out, don't force it!! Then when you get the pan off, loosen each bearing trying to turn the crank between each one. When the crank turns, the last one will be the culprit. When assembling I turn the crank after each bearing is torqued to ensure no binding.


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## Instg8ter (Sep 28, 2010)

did it turn freely by hand after you installed the new bearings?


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## geeteeohguy (Feb 2, 2008)

X3. DId you turn it with the pan off to verify it was ok, and it sounds like you have a tight bearing....which opens up a few possibilities.


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## nuggets (Apr 27, 2011)

*re*

Yes everything did turn freely before I put the oil pan back on.


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## geeteeohguy (Feb 2, 2008)

Then something changed. Is any sheetmetal hanging up? Did the oil pump drive rod get hung up? Could the windage tray be hanging up? At the very minimum, the engine needs to come out and the pan needs to come off to see what the issue is.


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## skurfan (Sep 19, 2012)

Are all of your tools accounted for? Don't ask why I say this.


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## chuckha62 (Apr 5, 2010)

If you're 100% positive that it turned over before the pan went on, then your problem is pretty well defined. If you're not positive and the possibility exists that it it quit turning over sometime before the pan went on, then it's a little more involved. Ordinarily, when the motor stops turning over while in the assembly process (like suddenly when you installed one rod) you typically find that a piston was installed on the rod backwards or you installed the piston in the bore backwards. Either way, the result is the non-radiused side of the rod is interfering with the radius on the crank journal. I've seen this more times than I can tell you. 

Now, IF you've not taken the pistons off of the rods AND the rods are installed onto the crank correctly, then you need to look elsewhere; i.e.oil pump, cam, or some other obstruction. 

Either way, it sounds like you have to pull the motor back out and remove the pan to see what's going on.

A little story that happened to me two weekends ago:

I was ready to fire up my nephews restored Chevy C-10 pickup. This has a fairly new 330 HP HO 350 Crate engine which ran GREAT when it was pulled two and a half years ago. I got it fired up and it had a HELLUVA knock that was coming from the pan. Long story short, my nephew failed to tell me that the blocks we had the engine on had collapsed at some time in the last two years and the knock I was hearing (a double knock actually) was the number one rod AND the counter balance hitting the pan. Now, the pan was only deformed about 1/4 inch and I didn't even notice when we put it back in five months ago. I raised the motor and pulled the pan to find this:


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## BearGFR (Aug 25, 2008)

Reading your story, my first thought was that you've got the rod bearings in backwards. if you look closely, one edge has a chamfer on it, the other doesn't. The chamfer is supposed to go to the "outside" (next to the crankshaft) and is there to provide clearance for the fillet (curved part) at the end of the crank throw. If you get the bearings in backwards with the square edges to the outside, when you torque them down they'll lock it up tight.

Bear


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## geeteeohguy (Feb 2, 2008)

Good point, Bear, and something to consider. My understanding is that the engine turned over fine before he installed the pan. Therefore, I suspect a mechanical interference with a sheet metal part, etc. I could be all wet, though......


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## BearGFR (Aug 25, 2008)

Yeah Geetee... I saw that too about it turning over, and if it did that with everything torqued down then that probably ain't it. I just thought I'd throw that in about the bearings "just in case".

Bear


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## chuckha62 (Apr 5, 2010)

BearGFR said:


> Yeah Geetee... I saw that too about it turning over, and if it did that with everything torqued down then that probably ain't it. I just thought I'd throw that in about the bearings "just in case".
> 
> Bear


Yup! My point as well.


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