Just installed my polished crank into my 5.3 block with Clevite H Bearings. When turning it over, it isn't hard to turn until it gets to a certain spot. You then have to put a "little" more pressure on the wrench and it will turn past that point. Everything went together nicely and I didn't have any issues installing the caps. Should I be worried, or is this normal with the H Bearings?

 

I would open it up and look , take the caps off and spin it , see if it still binds up

 

Take the caps off and look at the bearings to see how they look. Did you measure your bearing clearances? End play?

Do not spin the crank without the main caps installed and torqued. Main bearings are out of round until torqued into the block and/or cap. Out of round may not be the right word but the crank will not make contact with the entire bearing surface with the caps removed.

 

You can turn the crank without the caps on , the bearings fit in the block snug , the block is machined and the bear conforms to the block and caps , did you check end play before , you install the bearing halfs and the install the middle thrust bearing cap , rotate the crank and set the indicator on the snout . Pry the crank foward and back to check the end play

 

Took all the caps back off and started over. Now you cannot turn the crank by hand, but when turning it with a wrench, there is no binding at all. It turns very smooth. Is that what is desired?

 

Should spin easily by hand..............

 

After spinning it for a bit with the wrench it was then able to be spun by hand easily. The initial turn takes a bit more effort, but once it is spinning it spins with no binding. I think I may have it Lol

 

I'd take it apart.

 

Yes you "can" spin the crank without the main caps installed. You can do a lot of other things too. There is a difference in throwing an engine together and actually building an engine.

Of course the main bores are machined for the bearings and yes it is a snug fit. The bearing does conform to the block and main caps but not until you torque the caps. Have you ever noticed the bearing never sits flush on both sides of either the block or the cap? One side always sit slightly higher than the other. The bearing is forced into the block and the main caps while torquing. This helps the bearing to keep in place to prevent "spinning". You think the only thing that hold the bearing in place is the tab?

 

Your end result sounds correct. Only thing I would be concerned with is the amount of turning you had to do to get it to free up. What did you lubricate the bearings with? Did you oil the crank side only or both sides of the bearing?

 

ok don't get your panties ruffled

 

The crank without rods should spin extremely free, a single finger will turn it freely. If it feels tight something is wrong.
Take all the caps off, check end play and spin the crank. If it does not spin free at this point the block has some type of problem.
Put one cap at a time on, it should not change the drag at all. When the drag increases that is the problem cap, just need to figure out why.
Are the cap numbers in the right place, 4 on one side, number 5 on the other side?

Kurt

 

I used Red Line assembly lube for both sides of the bearings and then let some Lucas assembly lube soak into the holes in the crankshaft itself. I then used some motor oil mixed with Lucas Oil Stabilizer, and put some of that on the thrust bearings with the caps torqued down. Once you turn the crankshaft with the wrench, you can turn it with your hand. The Red Line lube is great stuff, but I think it works so well because it is really thick. I am thinking that might be why it is necessary to use the wrench to get it free from the thick lube and then it spins freely. I used the Red Line lube because this engine will sit for a few months while the tranny and rear end are acquired, so I want to be sure that it will have protection until start-up.

 

Here are a couple photos of the first time I torqued the caps down when it had the binding while turning. I can take a new photo tomorrow if it would help with determining what the issue was.

 

Did you check the crank for straightness? Bearings don't have the same clearance all around and could be binding for that reason.

 

You could also plastigage the crank with it torqued down in case to make sure u dont have a high spot or warpage

 

I was just thinking a similar thought. Crankshafts are heavy and do bend a little bit and retain different variances of curvature . So the best thing to do especially if vrank has been on the ground 4 a while is to set the crank in the block with the old bearings and no caps 4 a day or 2 , then You can put the caps on with the old bearings and it should spin freely , then remove crank and install the new bearings making sure everything is clean and lubed and install crank , caps ,,,,,etc and You should be good 2 go. The crank probably does'nt curve much more than .001" but is enough to slightly bind a little at least in My experiences.

 

I would check endplay. Did you shift your crank forward and then back before torqueing the caps to align the bearing thrust surfaces? Also, put your end main bearing halves in the block and leave the 3 inner ones out. Torque your outer main caps down with the bearings in them. If your crank spins nice and free your crank may be bent.

 

it is no longer binding while turning.

 

Yep. Sounds fine.

Also you shouldn't lubricate the block and cap side of the bearings, crankshaft side only.