hey i got a question for all u motor people!
2001 dodge ram 1500 318 5.2 gas engine
so recently i built a motor i had the crank turned, bored .030" over, new comp cam, aluminum heads, everything is new. i went to crank it for the first time but its so ****ing tight it barley wants to turn over. keeps killing my battery's. i honestly think its a starter or the wrong barring around the crank, (too tight). what do u think? before i pull it apart and measure the difference by plastagauge or micrometer and bore indicator

my reasoning on being too tight: the piston to cylinder wall clearance is with-in spec. however the guy who machined my crank could of not gave me the right barrings because its too tight around the crank. is this normal? the guy said sometimes it takes 3-4 trys on new motors. let me know what u guys think its brand new 0 hours 0 miles.

 

Did you turn the crank over while you were building it? You would of had to. How hard was it then?

 

Sounds like you picked the wrong machine shop. See how hard it is to turn over by hand. With your stiffer valves springs and higher compression than stock it might be a little harder. Maybe compare it to your old motor that you had.

 

Agreed! The machine shop where I live won't bore the cylinders out till they get the new pistons because they want to make sure it's right. I know that on the last engine I built, I was able to turn the crank in the short bock without issue.

 

**** no not even close to being right, he cut the crank he should be able to have cut it so the bearing's have the right clearance. If the bearings are that tight and it does run up you will **** the crank and the bearings. Are the bearing caps installed in the right orientation?????

 

What kind of slug you got in that thing?

 

the machine shop turned my crank, got me pistons and rings, also supplied the barrings. could it be my starter? or is it a barring. i dont want to spin a barring id rather measure i just didn't measure during assembly cos i thought the machine shop did it for me since they supplied me with the parts. piston to valve clearance is good. ima just pull it measure it and start from there. thanks

 

im almost 100% positive everything is correct besides the barrings. um ill double check when i pull the motor tomorrow but honestly i think the machine shop ****ed up cos he said it takes 3-4 try with new motors to get the right clearance for the barring. he said use plastagauge to measure and then get the right ones from there. it was c3 in foxboro ma they usally do good work, also he builds nascar motors so i trusted him. i dont wanna spin a barring so its coming out for measurements

 

IF he turned the crank it was either .05 or .10 under most likely. Then all you do is get a set of bearings that are made for a crank that is turned under that much. But you always check your clearances when you're putting the engine together. That is why you have to plasti-gauge the clearance.

Good luck tomorrow.

 

Didn't you turn the engine over by hand while building it? How hard was the crank to turn then?