HELPP!!!! Crank won't spin!!
 

LS1 friends, i need your help. Last night i started to rebuild my block, i plastigaged it and found out the bearings were wrong -.-. So today i went to the machine shop and told em they gave me the wrong bearings so they gave me the correct ones and i plastigaged it and it was within spec so i started to torque the main caps and when i finished with the 1st pass on the inner bolts(15lbs), I couldn't spin the crank by hand and i tried using the ratchet and still nothing i had to use a cheater bar and it barely turned...please help and thanks

Lucrication?

You are going to need a better machine shop. don't waste your time.

Yea of course!

By rebuild, do you mean you had a machine shop bore/hone the block, align hone the mains, polish the crank, and do all of the other necessary general preventive maintenance on your block?

I had a similar problem when I assembled my 5.3, but it was due to me getting ahead of myself and torquing the ARP bolts too fast. Went with 4 passes. 20, 30, 40, and the final pass which was 60 for the inner bolts and 50 for the outer bolts. Turns fine now :)

What is the main journal clearance you get with plastigauge? Did you remove the plastigauge after inspection? With no rods hung a crank should turn by hand.

It was at .020 maybe a little under and yes i cleaned it off

Hey guys thanks for the help! I found out the main caps 1-4 were wrong i flipped em and torqued to spec and crank spins smooth, i guess i read the book wrong and ima beginner at this but thanks

No big deal man, can't learn if you don't try...not everyone is perfect (even though a lot of people on this site think they are, just ignore them) Good luck on your project...

From My own experience I would be willing to bet that You had You're crank standing on the flywheel/flexplate end 4 at least a day or two before You went to assemble it . If so what happens is the crank and block both sag maybe a thous or so ,,,,,,,so when installing the crank into the main bearings it's best to let the crank sit in the bearing halves in the block overnight so it will settle back and match ,,,,,blah blah blah ,,,,,,I know it sounds far fetched but it does happen. Other poeple on here have said the same thing in past threads

:huh:

That's not true. The main caps being backwards or the wrong main will cause the binding issues.

Engine building 101: Mark the main cap orientation and position prior to dis-assembly to ensure they are installed in the same position during re-assembly