eastoncatcher3

i put the motor back in finished my full rebuild. well the motor would not turn. (put a breaker bar on the crankshaft bolt and tried to spin it). well i took my oil pan and oil sumpt off.and i loosened my connecting rod bolts. and it spins freely. so i torqued it down it did have a revolution and locked up again. i loosened the bolts up again spins free. Any ideas on this?
i dont know if the haynes manual torque spec is to much (i think its 51 ftlbs).

DeathCougar

iTrader: (23)

We are going to need more info than that.

Was anything replaced, was anything surfaced, was anything altered, where are the bearings from. Who did the machine work. Etc, etc etc.

Just saying "my engine locks up" really tells us nothing.

eastoncatcher3

i had it bored over .20 everything from engnbldr.
and a local shop A-1 specialty. there the known machine shop.
i replaced everything top and bottom.

peow130

aaand.....?
did you get anything machined?
did you put the timing chain on right?
did you get the cam on in the correct fashion?
is the cam 180 degrees off?
are you slamming your pistons into your valves?
did you have your crank milled?

Kaptain

When you torqued the crank bearings down while it was out of the truck (I'd hope you had it in an engine stand) were you able to spin it freely then?

I don't see how somebody could put the engine back in the truck with it seized that badly?

xxxtreme22r

sounds like the incorrect rod bearing size was used. But cannot say for sure since you didn't answer the previous question on what was machined.

Were the rods cut after you ordered the bearings, did you plstigage the rod bearings like you were supposed to? Did you plastigage them after noticing the engine locked up? Maybe you should.

who assembled the shortblock? You or the machine shop.

Or simply, is the transmission in gear when your turning the engine by hand?

Did you turn the engine by hand prior to putting the engine in the truck like you really should have to check to make sure piston to valve clearance was not an issue due to machining the head and/or block down and/or to check to make sure the timing chain was installed properly?

89Toylet

Basically same story. 1989 Pickup, 22RE 5 speed.

Hole in my engine so bought a good core. Tore apart, had Tod (engnbldr) tank and bore .020, turned the crank .010, head didn't need surfacing, and he rebuilt the head w/ new guides and springs. Head turned out to be one of his older ones. I bought all the parts from him: Gaskets, bearings, pistons, rings, the works. He put pistons on the rods for me and checked everything out.

Took my time with the build, first 4 cyl rebuild so did a lot of book work and double checking (didn't find this site till the other day). Used assembly lube on everything I needed to. Only thing that didn't really go smooth was I broke one bolt on the W/P because the Chilton said something 25lbs and it turned out to be like 14 or so.

Turned short block many times by hand, and my 7yo did it with a 3/8 torque. It wasn't super easy, but it's new... Right? Installed the head and turned it over with 3/8 wrench several times ~ 10 times. Adjusted the valves to .07 and .11 cold and cranked it a couple revs.

Engine finally in after figuring out the vacuum lines, scavaging bolts that were originally missing, trying to put things back in the proper places and rerouting to look good I finally turned it over with battery out of my corolla. It turned kinda slow, just sounded tight but normal for no oil being pumped yet and being new. lasted about 5 seconds tops, then it stopped. Key off then try again, the starter went click, click, click. 2a.m. so went to bed.

New battery and turned about 2 revs then same as night before. Can't turn crank with 1/2 torque wrench. Took starter, and pulleys off but still nothing...

So here I sit, the only thing I can think of is maybe I put the cam in at TDC of the exhaust stroke (180 out)???

I wouldn't think that would lock it up tho?
Took cam gear off and still can't crank by hand!

Last of my ideas is the tranny. It's been sitting for 3 years and its froze/jammed up somehow??? Rear driveline is off, I can turn it, and the front turns too. Obviously the truck is in neutral.

Long post, sorry I just about ready to burn this thing to the ground!

Thanks in advance.

xxxtreme22r

Wait never mind, alot there to read. I missed it. You did use the proper sized bearings and such after you have the crank turned?

Did you prime the oil pump before you installed it? Most pack it with grease or vasoline to help priming in the engine. And then when you go to start the engine turn it over a few times with the starter with the coil wire off till your oil light goes out. It could take a minute or more to prime the oiling. Also you did lube everything up during assembly right?


And the 22r's despite popular belief are interference motors, so if you didn't line up all the marks correctly on the cam and crank and timing chain there is always that possibility. However you were able to turn the engine before you started it. As long as you made a few complete revolutions on the engine by hand, that should be what your issue is.

89Toylet

Had crank turned by engnbldr, and complete rebuild parts from him.
Primed oil pump with vasoline. Didn't even crank enough to get it all out, I took it off last night to check things out. It didn't even turn over 10 revolutions when I cranked it, and it was fairly slow.

All accesories are off: starter, pulleys, and timing chain. Still can't turn the crank.

xxxtreme22r

Did oil pressure ever come up while you were cranking the engine initially? I had this problem on my rebuild as well. Did everything by the book and toasted a brand new crank because the machine shop forgot to put in an oil galley plug back into the block after tanking it. I missed it.

89Toylet

Didn't even crank long enough for oil pressure to raise. Maybe 10 seconds over the 2 tries... Only like 7 revolutions, honestly. Took down to oil pump last night and there is oil in it, and still some vasoline left.