TOPIC:

"Unless your charger has a 'Start' mode, it won't put out enough juice."

Right, my charger does not have a start mode, so probably is too weak. I have just charged up the battery of my old Mercedes and that has more than ample power, so I will try that tomorrow with some thick jump leads.

Kawboy, you are of course right in all that you say, but you forget, this is an engine on a bench. No connections to anything, its not even sitting in the frame.. haha! Just one positive lead coming off the starter itself, and the with negative I just touched the engine block.

My ultimate motive for trying to crank is 1) to see if the engine turns over, nicely, and 2) to do a compression test (as I am not able to do a leak test as I do not have the equipment)

Other thing I will do tomorrow is rig up a test bed to see if the tensioner springs have the same strength... I have a cunning plan, as Baldrick would say!

Paul

Just to confirm, even testing the starter with jumping cables and a battery - it didn't turn! I was shocked. I went to a shop where they fix starters etc. and have a set with heavy duty cables. Put the starter in a vise and connected the positive - booom!!! Span like it wanted to fly away. So, it turned out those compact jumping cables I bought were not robust enough.

I'd suggest to utilize a solenoid for this test. Connect the starter, battery, and solenoid with proper thick cables for maximum current flow and then activate via the solenoid.

SO, you have the oil pan installed, right? Oil to the proper level? Once turned a couple times the oil will fill some galleries and the level will drop, so it has to be checked again.

One word of warning - I'd squirt some engine coolant around the water pump. If you keep cranking the engine dry too much it might damage the mechanical seal. I think a couple seconds at a time.

I'd also keep the spark plugs out, which you keep off for testing anyway. Then, screw all of them back to keep things clean inside.

For the tensioner, I'd keep the cam cover off - easy this way to feel the chain by hand and see how it reacts to the tensioner, instead of doing it blindly. Also, I'd just spray oil everywhere on top of the cam shafts and gears when having the cover off before cranking the engine. And on top of the clutch as well.

Well... I'm obviously not cut out for this.

It turned fine on a battery (and I only did it for a few seconds), but compressions are:

Cylinder PSI
1. 75
2. 85
3. 0
4. 0
5. 40
6. 95

... there is an apt technical terms for this, but I'd fall foul of the standards of decency on this forum!

I guess I have to start again and this time not mess up the timings.

Paul

Don't be so hard on yourself. I'm thinking we chalk this up to distractions. Working in the cold is a distraction. Trying to get things done in the kitchen before the wife comes home, is a distraction. Working with a manual with dark pictures that don't properly show the proper assembly is a distraction. And I'm guessing this is the first major engine overhaul for you since you were reluctant to split the engine by yourself and we talked you in to it.

I learned a long time ago to recognize when the world is causing me to get distracted and I either walk away from a critical job until the world decides to leave me alone, or I get pissed off and tell the world to go and find another place to be. Multitasking is not in my nature and I recognize that and have learned to work with it.

You're going to pull the head again and remove the valves. Check and see if you bent them ( i have my suspicions) Cams out of time by 90 degrees cam timing is more than enough for issues like this.

Thanks for your kind words (again).

It IS my first ever engine rebuild and I am no longer scared of it like I was when I started, but I am just very annoyed with myself. I should just take more care and the Dutchman in me is mostly annoyed with the fact that I have now wasted two perfectly good head gaskets at GBP 75 each, and I now have to get another one!

Anyway, third time lucky I guess, and if this is the only major thing to go wrong, by the end of the project I will be pleased...

Onwards and upwards. Tomorrow I'll have a chat with the people that serviced the head and see what they say. If valve stems are bent, does that mean new ones?

Paul

McBoney wrote: Well... I'm obviously not cut out for this.

It turned fine on a battery (and I only did it for a few seconds), but compressions are:

Cylinder PSI
1. 75
2. 85
3. 0
4. 0
5. 40
6. 95

... there is an apt technical terms for this, but I'd fall foul of the standards of decency on this forum!

I guess I have to start again and this time not mess up the timings.

Paul

Just a thought here, before you pull head again did you set the valve clearance starting from the correct side of the engine. I know years back the first time I set the clearances I started from the wrong side of the engine and had similar results.