Rebuilt Tight Engine break-in

ZENVWDRIVER · Posted: Fri May 20, 2011 8:03 pm Post subject: Rebuilt Tight Engine break-in

i had a 1500 short block rebuilt by a VW machine shop...then i had the heads rebuilt and installed a new set of Fapco P & Cs and proceeded to put the engine together.

It sat in my shop for about 2 months and i installed it today.

My question is i could not turn the engine over by hand and used a breaker bar and socket on the bottom pully nut and it turned slowly with a great deal of resistance and had a metallic sound internally. Is this normal?

i squirted some oil in nthe spark plug holes...

A friend suggested, i leave the coil wire off and turn it over and over until the green idiot light goes out and then try to start it and let it run...Is this the best procedure for a new tight engine?

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mikewire · Posted: Fri May 20, 2011 8:13 pm Post subject:

It should turn over smoothly with little effort, and no metallic grinding sound Shocked

Did you have the plugs out when you turned it over, and which way did you turn it (reference from the flywheel side).
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ZENVWDRIVER · Posted: Fri May 20, 2011 8:19 pm Post subject:

first the plugs were in when i turned it over... then i removed the plugs...squirted oil in the plug holes and left them out...turned counter clockwise when i adjusted the valves. i cannot turn the pully by hand...i need the assistance of a socket on the pulley.

jeffsbugs · Posted: Fri May 20, 2011 8:23 pm Post subject:

X2 it should turn over easily, with plugs, (a little harder, you should feel the compression strokes). Without plugs, should be very easy by hand, no binding, metal noises etc.

I would take it back to the machine shop!!@!! Pronto! Shocked

Jeff

ZENVWDRIVER · Posted: Fri May 20, 2011 8:52 pm Post subject:

SGKent · Posted: Fri May 20, 2011 10:13 pm Post subject:

one of two things - someone screwed up building it or you got rust in the cylinders in the meantime.
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Desertbusman · Posted: Fri May 20, 2011 10:33 pm Post subject:

Was the distributor installed when you turned it CCW?

When it was still a shortblock did the crank turn nicely and easily?
Surely you would have generously well oiled the rings, barrels and pistons when you put the top end together. So 2 months wouldn't have hurt anything.
Evidently the engine is installed in the bus now? Did the engine rotate nicely before it was put in?
Why did you even have plugs in it? Wouldn't you have cranked it without plugs to build pressure before starting it?
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jeffsbugs · Posted: Sat May 21, 2011 6:03 pm Post subject:

Desertbusman · Posted: Sun May 22, 2011 12:20 am Post subject:

towd · Samba Member Joined: June 20, 2005 Posts: 2458

you have to laugh at these reply's ,, ya sure it's on the shop.

not a chance in hell......

one guy saying it should turn easy with plugs in Ha ha,,,,, course one guys easy is an others POS.. it should be hard to turn when it comes on compression, so much so that if you had the plugs out and your thumb covering teh hole, compression would push your thumb off , if not you did a piss poor rebuild,

next he says he did the upper end, he says he bought cheap p&C's if you knew vw parts you'd know those come with cast iron rings, cast rings have a very hi tensile strength , they are a very tight fit in most bores, maybe he set the end gap and maybe not. 9 times out of 10, they do make a strange scrapping sound, almost as if there cutting a new bore, why because they are..

question to ask is it hard to turn all the time or just on compression ??

ya leave the plugs out, crank it til the light goes out...

morymob · Posted: Sun May 22, 2011 3:54 am Post subject:

End play checked???. May be binding up when flywheel tightened down.

ZENVWDRIVER · Posted: Mon May 23, 2011 8:23 pm Post subject:

i must say, i did not know to check for easy turning-over or not and really did not check it until i did most of my work. i place no blame anywhere yet.

i removed the engine from the 68 Westy this morning before i went to work. My plan is to begin removing everything and as i remove components check for ease of turning the engine over.

i'll bet i did sonmething wrong...anyway, i'll find out eventually. i have $900 into this project and will get to the bottom of the problem. i can't afford not to.

i'll post my findings.

Desertbusman · Posted: Mon May 23, 2011 8:26 pm Post subject:

Hope you find the problem and get it resolved. Maybe check the crank endplay before tearing the engine down.
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ZENVWDRIVER · Posted: Tue May 24, 2011 8:53 am Post subject:

...asked a friend in Albuquerque and he advised to begin dismantling and check for tightness as i remove parts...the 3rd thing i removed was the crank pulley and the engine turned with little effort.

So, i put another one on and same thing...i could not turn the big nut without a lot of effort...the pulley must be my problem or part of the problem...

...what should i do...buy a new pulley? i'll try that next.

GusC2it · Posted: Tue May 24, 2011 9:06 am Post subject:

Stop! Your problem is not your pulley. First pull off the flywheel and remove 1 shim to insure plenty of end play. Reinstall Flywheel. No need to completely torque the Gland nut.Then install your pully and check rotation. The distributor should be installed and leave the plugs out to remove compression resistance. we'll go from there.
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aeromech · Posted: Tue May 24, 2011 9:07 am Post subject:

...what should i do...buy a new pulley? i'll try that next

You've had two different pulleys installed and torqued with similar results. buying another pulley probably won't solve the problem.

Did the shop set the end play? I'm wondering if that could be the problem. Maybe try installing the pulley loosely while turning the engine. Slowly tighten the bolt while turning until you feel it bind. Then examine everything while looking for clearance. You might also be able to see marks on the pulley from it hitting something.

A better place to post this might be the performance section. Those guys are the big engine nuts.

Lastly, you know there are two kinds of pulleys, sand seal and stock. Make sure you have the correct one for your engine.
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Desertbusman · Posted: Tue May 24, 2011 7:50 pm Post subject:

^^^Do like Gary says^^^

Forget about the pulley for now.
Make sure the crank end play is correct. You have to measure it.

Carefully look at the pulley and also the case and see where it was contacting and binding up. An aluminum pulley? they are thicker. And they can hit the pulley tin and also the oil pump cover if it's not a standard pump and cover.

There is no nut to turn. It's a bolt head.
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ZENVWDRIVER · Posted: Tue May 24, 2011 7:58 pm Post subject:

babysnakes · Samba Member Joined: August 19, 2008 Posts: 7107

ZENVWDRIVER · Posted: Wed May 25, 2011 8:59 am Post subject:


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