Thread: New Goodwrench Engine won't turn

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Hi,
A friend of mine just bought a new Goodwrench-engine, slightly higher powered than stock, rated 290hp, at 350ci. The problem is, we can hardly turn it over by hand, it takes about 60 lbft or more to turn without the plugs in. It's brandnew. Is that normal? The firm I bought it from said this number is impossibly high, but it was like that right out of the box. The next guy I talked to (at that same company) said that that is normal, and that a standard starter will hardly manage to start a new goodwrench motor. What a load of BS. I'm certainly never buying anything there again.
The problem is: what is causing the drag? I know freshly honed walls and new rings cause drag, but that much? Can it be that the cylinders need more oil on the walls? I've tried squirting oil in through the plug holes (not a lot, but some), that hasn't really changed a lot.
Next problem: the cam is new, so I don't want to spin it more than necessary before it fires...
Any help?
Thanks alot,
Max

Try preoiling the engine and see if a bit of fresh oil circulating through the system will help.... If the bearing clearances are on the tight side, engines will turn hard when new.... Lots of drag on the rings, too before they get seated....

We've had several people bring freshly built engines to us that were hard to turn---most had been assembled with some thick goop ---generally cleaning the bearings and putting them back together with 5-30 they would turn easy

If you want to get into it---turn it upside down, take off the pan and take the rods loose and push the pistons to top of bore---see how crank moves then---take mains out , remove crank, clean bearings, measure clearance, put to gether and check for free movement after EVERY main ---if all goes well with mains , do the same to rods, clean, 5-30, torque , turn( you won't be able to turn completely over , but you can turn some---also make sure the bearings are right size for crank---if this doesn't resolve the issue, and you want to go farther , take it all the way down and fix whatever is wrong

In my experience, it if takes more than 35 ft/lbs break-away torque, somethin' ain't right.

Is the motor in the engine bay? If it is and if it is mated to an automatic transmission, just maybe the torque converter is jammed.

Thanks for the input!
I know the new rings cause a lot of drag, but that much? We're just talking to the company who sold it to us, they said they would take it back, but if they find no problem, they would return it and we would have to pay shipping costs Knowing that company and their lack of knowledge they would probably force-turn it til it's OK and then send it back, probably with the cam lobes near circular. We have preoiled it, but with 10-40, maybe that's too heavy? We'll try again tomorrow, maybe it'll just have to come out again. I hate buying new stuff that works worse than old stuff
Thanks,
Max

PS: It is mated to a trans, but the converter is OK, we've also tried taking out the bolts to the converter and taking off the fan-belt, but that doesn't change anything, so we put em back on...

Originally Posted by techinspector1

In my experience, it if takes more than 35 ft/lbs break-away torque, somethin' ain't right.

I agree with Richard, I think this engine sounds too tight to me. After I rebuilt my 350 I could turn it over easily with a breaker bar if the plugs were out.

You say it is a Goodwrench engine, did you buy it from a Chevy dealer? I would call back and get someone who is in charge and get some solid info from them. I would be concerned too.

Don

Goodwrench engines come with a warranty, start it up. If it breaks take it back!!

Originally Posted by Geezer2

Goodwrench engines come with a warranty, start it up. If it breaks take it back!!

I too would fire it up. I've never tried torquing a new motor, but some of mine have been hard to turn, I think the honing is the culprit, if it is too aggrssive it would cause the rings some serious friction, but that's no problem.

I don't know about the GM crates but some of the Fords are broken in and run hot tested for 20-30 mins. Checked for leaks and good oil pressure. I'd investigate a bit further. Even some of the better aftermarket builders do this to avoid problems down the road. Hope you find some answers, that has to be pretty frustrating.

you said about 60 lbs---how did you measure that???? It will take more to start it turning than to continue turnig it

Hook up the starter---turn it without plugs for 5 inutes with starter---receck torgue required---let starter cool, do again---within 20 minutes if it isn't better return it

Haha, turn it on the starter... The starter smokes after about a minute of turning it. And yes, the starter does have the right distance from the flexplate and no, the starter isn't the problem. This starter will easily start my other motor, and the starter in my motor won't turn this b**ch either. The Crate engines do have a warranty, but only if you have them hooked up by a certified Chevy dealer. That is not an option here in Germany, they charge so much I could buy a second engine (about 2-3000 bucks). We thoroughly spraid the cylinders with oil last week and spun about three times to distribute it a bit, maybe the oil has seeped past the rings by now... We'll try again this afternoon and I'll come back with news.
BTW, we measured the torque by ataching a standard torque wrench to the balancer bolt. We've got a set of tools to take out the bolt if it breaks
THX for your ideas,
Max

You've got something VERY wrong there, I think. A starter should spin an engine without plugs in it like mad, with very little effort. Being overseas is really complicating the matter for you, if you were Stateside you could simply return it to the selling Dealer and get another one.

I bought a Goodwrench engine for a customer one time and installed it in his Vette. Very good value for the money. It fired up right out of the box and ran great, but even they build a bad one now and then.

If it were me I would be on the phone with the dealer explaining that I am trying to do the right thing, that is why I went through all this trouble up front to pretest it. I would tell them a known good starter won't crank the engine without plugs, that should clue them in enough to realize you have something abnormal here. That engine is too tight and I don't think it is piston friction doing it, perhaps too tight bearing clearance?

Not sure what the routine is for you guys in other countries, so you will have to get to the right person at your dealer and get some answers. I don't think it is wise or realistic for you to be tearing into a new motor to check clearances and stuff.

Good luck.

Don

OK, we've got it.

It was a combination of things, that's why doing one thing at a time didn't change much.

1. ring friction. We sprayed quite some amount of oil and WD40 in every cylinder, that got quite some friction out, together with the oil we'd sprayed in last week.

2. starter is a bit weak. We didn't notice that before, because the engine wouldn't be turned by the good starter due to ring friction.

3. The TC must have a fault somewhere. We disconnected it AGAIN, and that was the last bit we needed for the engine to fire up.

4. starter too tight on the flexplate. Only a bit, but a shim helped. Probably it wouldn't have been an issue, but when we found out we would have to do more than one thing at a time we thought we might as well do everything we can think of.

Once it fired up it ran like a clock immediately. What a feeling (immense clouds of smoke because of all the oil still in the cylinder, but that was over in a minute )
We let it run in for about half an hour @ 2000 RPM, next week we're going to measure whether we've damaged the cam, but I shouldn't think so. We hooked up the TC again and even with that it works now. I guess the worst of the honing friction is over. We haven't actually driven it, we're leaving that til next week, you bet the weather is going to be rotten...

I've never fired up a crate engine before, only rebuilt ones (and only ones rebuilt by me, so I know whats going on (mostly )) so I'm very thankful for your input,

Max

PS: a word on "dealers" in Germany: They are dealers. They specialize in selling stuff. They are not mechanics. The only help you can get is from workshops (costly), so called "experts", and forums, of which my favourite is CHR (do I get a cookie for saying that???). So a lot of our work is trail and error, with the error getting less every day, we're heading the right way!!

Last three crate motors I fired were tight but as long as the starter turned them over they fired right up. Better a crate motor then a junk yard hopeful.