A little background.
Shortblock was rebuilt roughly 3 years ago. May 2010 I rechecked the torque specs on the rod and main bolts before I put the oil pump and pan on. It was still lubed up good. I tried starting the car past two weekends and the starter will not turn over the motor.
Things I've done.
- I took my starter in to get tested at Autozone. It passed. Starter is OE 1991 from the factory. That one wouldn't turn the engine over.
- A friend lent me his start because i suspected that my OE was on the weak side. I installed his that he had no problems with and it wouldn't turn over the engine either.
- Same friend gave me a freshly charged 1000cca car battery to see if it was that. Still would turn over the engine with either starter.
- Engine turns manually with a ratchet and 19mm socket. But it's stiff.
- I took off the top timing belt cover off, and removed the belt from the cam gears. Cams turn over easily with socket and ratchet. This also bypasses the oil pump gear.
- Bottem end is still stiff.
- Put oil in the spark plug holes and turn it manually to try to lube the rings. Hoping it was the rings cause the drag, and it wasn't. The starter still will not crank over the engine.
- I put my torque wrench on the crank bolt to see how much torque it would take to turn it. 44lb/ft of torque is what it took. Anything more than that and the torque wrench will not click before turning. Apparently it's too much for a starter to turn.
I really don't want to take the motor back out of the car and relube it. Maybe I can take the lower timing cover off and turn the oil pump gear with an air ratchet to build the oil pressure throughout the engine. Do you think there would be enough revolutions to build pressure. Maybe a drill.
EDIT: Do you guys think 45lb/ft of torque is too stiff for a rebuilt shortblock? Is there even a torque spec for that kind of thing? All I can think of is the clearance being on the very tight side.
Shortblock was rebuilt roughly 3 years ago. May 2010 I rechecked the torque specs on the rod and main bolts before I put the oil pump and pan on. It was still lubed up good. I tried starting the car past two weekends and the starter will not turn over the motor.
Things I've done.
- I took my starter in to get tested at Autozone. It passed. Starter is OE 1991 from the factory. That one wouldn't turn the engine over.
- A friend lent me his start because i suspected that my OE was on the weak side. I installed his that he had no problems with and it wouldn't turn over the engine either.
- Same friend gave me a freshly charged 1000cca car battery to see if it was that. Still would turn over the engine with either starter.
- Engine turns manually with a ratchet and 19mm socket. But it's stiff.
- I took off the top timing belt cover off, and removed the belt from the cam gears. Cams turn over easily with socket and ratchet. This also bypasses the oil pump gear.
- Bottem end is still stiff.
- Put oil in the spark plug holes and turn it manually to try to lube the rings. Hoping it was the rings cause the drag, and it wasn't. The starter still will not crank over the engine.
- I put my torque wrench on the crank bolt to see how much torque it would take to turn it. 44lb/ft of torque is what it took. Anything more than that and the torque wrench will not click before turning. Apparently it's too much for a starter to turn.
I really don't want to take the motor back out of the car and relube it. Maybe I can take the lower timing cover off and turn the oil pump gear with an air ratchet to build the oil pressure throughout the engine. Do you think there would be enough revolutions to build pressure. Maybe a drill.
EDIT: Do you guys think 45lb/ft of torque is too stiff for a rebuilt shortblock? Is there even a torque spec for that kind of thing? All I can think of is the clearance being on the very tight side.
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