turning over engine thats on a stand?

[rculjak]

Hey guys, I recently picked up a motor thats a complete longblock and on a stand, whats the best way to turn the motor over, rotate it just to move the pistons up and down, the engine has been sitting for awhile, thanks.

 

[OrLackThereof]

Its hard for me to believe theres a special procedure.... If it's a block, heads-off, I tried to blow out as much debris as I POSSIBLY could from the bores and the undersides of the bores as well, then poured some oil in all of the bores, rotated the block on the stand and poured a little in the bottom of the bores for pistons high in their stroke...made sure it was coated all the way around, then slowly turned it over with a ratchet on the crank pulley and the engine stand locked down so it couldnt rotate with the motor

 

[rculjak]

well, the engine is completely assembled and on a stand with the clutch still on as well. I tried turning the single 5/8ths 12pt bolt inside the crank pulley and its stiff as hell, I dont want to apply excessive force but this should turn right???

 

[urban96]

its gonna be kinda tuff to turn over by hand if you have the heads installed as your compressing the air in there

 

[Dark Knight]

Have the spark plugs out? Pull the crank pulley, put the bolts back in and stick a breaker bar or pipe between the bolts. You can also buy a crank socket that goes over the snout of the crank and keyway if the balancer os off.

 

[Blk91stang]

Have the spark plugs out? Pull the crank pulley, put the bolts back in and stick a breaker bar or pipe between the bolts. You can also buy a crank socket that goes over the snout of the crank and keyway if the balancer os off.

Why not just put a socket on the balancer bolt and rotate it that way? It's held on there wth a good 60-70 lb-ft/tq. Yes, make sure the spark plugs are OUT! I know my assumbled shortblock including cam took 16ft-lbs to spin over so I won't be surprised if it took 25-30 tops.

 

[OrLackThereof]

Why not just put a socket on the balancer bolt and rotate it that way? It's held on there wth a good 60-70 lb-ft/tq.

This is common practice and everybody does it including me, but "technically" this is a no-no....mostly for fear of damaging or snapping the bolt if there's too much compression and you wind up further tightening it instead of spinning the motor over.

 

[rculjak]

well, I tried turning that bolt but it is not moving with the plugs out, any other options? Should I worry about it, the engine will probably sit on that stand for at least another 8months, should I worry about it?

 

[rculjak]

what do you guys think?

 

[Harleytwostar]

Problems......

well, I tried turning that bolt but it is not moving with the plugs out, any other options? Should I worry about it, the engine will probably sit on that stand for at least another 8months, should I worry about it?

Yeah,
I would worry. What is the history on this engine? Do you know if it was good before you bought it or did you buy from somebody you don't know or trust? Lots of variables here but if you can't rotate the engine with the plugs out and using a reasonable amount of torque/effort..............I'd be thinking you have an engine with "issues" especially if you are going to let it sit another 8 months.........may not hurt to open the bottom end and see what kind of condition the bearings are in. Just my $.02

r/ George

 

[Blk91stang]

This is common practice and everybody does it including me, but "technically" this is a no-no....mostly for fear of damaging or snapping the bolt if there's too much compression and you wind up further tightening it instead of spinning the motor over.

I agree, which is why I would recommend a torque wrench to make sure this doesnt happen.

And I recommended pulling the plugs to avoid dealing with ANY compression. This should be Step Numero 1 ANYTIME you plan on turning the motor over by hand.