In the process of doing a LQ4 swap in my 96 SS, and have run into a Major roadblock. First, I tore down a lq4 that blew a gasket. I decided to rebuild it. I took the block and had it honed, and crank polished and the parts cleaned, as well as had the heads milled and valve job done. Everything was in spec, so I used all standard bearings. Plastigaged everything to just be certain and everything was in spec. Installed the cam, timing chain, etc. And proceeded to make sure everything turned freely, it turned the majority of the way and stopped. And I realized the timing dots were off by a tooth. Corrected that and everything turned perfectly. Turned the crank over during the whole process and had no more issues. This was in December. In January I started school back and im in my junior year of Chemical Engineering so I no longer had time to work on my car. So I had a mechanic pick up my car to finish the swap from there. Unfortunately the mechanic lied about being able to start right away and my car and engine sat 4 months at the shop. Fast forward to now. The engine is in the car, but now the engine does not turn over according to him. He said it turned some and then locked up after jumping the starter to turn the engine. Now he wants to go in to see what's wrong. Instead of checking the bottom end, he insisted on taking the heads off and see if I left a shop rag in the cylinder. I told him that's not possible because I videod the process. He took the heads off anyway and when he found nothing. He tried to save face, and claimed that I used the wrong gaskets and it's lucky he took the heads off because it would have overheated. He said the holes didn't line up. So I asked him to show me a photo of the said incompatibility as I used Factory MLS gaskets, and everything matched up perfectly with my block upon installation. And if they didn't fit an early model LQ4 with the 3 bolt type heads. How the hell did I thread the head bolts. he never sent a photo of course. He also said I torqued the heads down all wrong. So I asked him why was it wrong? And he couldn't answer. I showed him the torque specs used, and the angles used and said the only way thats possible is if my torque wrench and angle guage just didn't work correctly. But I know my standard and digital torque wrench can't be both wrong. He didn't originally know I built the engine myself until I started questioning his diagnosis. This was my first build, but hell, it isn't thermodynamics. Reading, studying, practicing, and then implementing are the basics of what's needed to do a basic rebuild. He said he might need to do a full rebuild. Does it sound as if this guy is trying to milk me for money? Because he has yet to show me facts on how I've done something wrong. He claims to build 1000hp ls engines all the time, but when he saw my pistons having numbers on the top, he asked what they were for, and I told him I numbered the positions for all my piston ring gap orientation 1-4. And he said, "What do you mean Piston Ring Gap"?At that point, i told myself that if he builds 1000hp engines, he must be using forced induction of some type, which in my mind means you should know all about piston ring gap and the orientation! My gut is telling me to just get my car and run and pay him for running the fuel lines, changing the fuel pump, installing my DBW pedal and installing my harness and just do the rest myself, now that finals are over and I have the summer to finish the rest. For those that read, what could cause my engine to lock up this way, spun bearing, the heads are off so it shouldn't be valve related. It's a fresh rebuild, so I can't imagine why it turned fine fully dressed before it sat for 4 months at the shop..but now it doesn't turn. And the main thing is that I haven't seen my car since he claimed this. I drove a hour to go meet him to look at it, and he was too busy letting comcast install cable at his new shop and couldn't open his shop to let me see it. I will be taking time off work to come take a look at this for myself..but I wanted to get advise on what to check and what to do to see why the engine is bound before going. Any advice would be greally appreciated. I've done lots of research, and I'm wondering did they use too long bolts in the flexpate. I've read about a misplaced bolt in the cam retainer but it turned freely during the rebuild and afterwards fully dressed with belts minus the spark plugs. I am stumped.

 

What changed from the time you dropped it off to the time it wouldn't turn over anymore?

 

Paragraphs are your friend, blocks of text are not......

 

Listen to your gut! You sound reasonable and competent to me,
I would get one or two good friends and get your car out of his shop
ASAP!

 

Thanks so much, I just wanted to make sure I wasn't over reacting to his actions.

 

He sounds like a clown. Any real mechanic would have a bore scope to save from having to pull the heads off to check anything at all.

 

Ok, On the mechanic issue. I don't know how he would know if you torqued the heads wrong. You cant check for that. I also don't know how he can say the torque amount was wrong, again, you cant really check this accurately. On his other knowledge, sounds a bit like an idiot.

BUT, I will tell you that the first thing that caught my attention in your post was the part where it would spin over by hand. You stated you were 1 tooth off on timing. There is no way IMO that your piston to valve clearance is in good specs if the piston hit the valve when only 1 tooth off. There should be more clearance. This alone could be the issue of it not spinning freely.

As for the time spent sitting. If you had everything lubed when you built it, had it bagged correctly which keeps out moisture, then you should be fine with no issue at all. Of course I would prime it before spinning it and starting it up for the first time.

Good luck getting this worked out.

 

Check your cam cover bolts. Check all bolts that go into the front of the block for interference with the crank.
I used the incorrect ARP bolts and had a similar issue.

 

Meant to clarify: cam plate bolts, not front engine cover.

 

yeah i did that before. ^ lucky I realized it pretty quick

go get your car, that guy sounds shady.

 

I actually took the cam retainer back off when it started to get tight in turning it. It never really siezed like it is now, but you definitely felt it reach a point and slow up, and it took force to continue past that point. And it's very likely I used the correct bolts the second time around, and that's why it spun freely. But I did mill the heads .030 so it will tight for the 228r, but definitely within an acceptable range.

And I actually went up there, and the guy I talked to is the owner but he doesn't do the work on LS swaps. They have a guy that actually goes between shops and only does LS swaps. After speaking with him about the torque and gaskets, he said, " We didn't check the torque on the bolts, I'm not sure why he said that. And your gaskets are exactly what this engine needs". Which goes to show that he only wanted to make himself not look stupid for taking my heads off when there was no issue there.

I've already let him know I won't be paying labor for that and my new head bolts will come out of his pay. I took my engine home to look it over, and the actual mechanic gave me his contact info, so he'll be assisting me without the middle man in getting this swap done. He has run the fuel lines, and is currently reworking my SS harness to work with my factory fuse block. I'll be breaking it down to see what has caused it to bind. And I did use lube, but I didn't use as much as I could, because I was under the impression that it would be running in 3 weeks and not 4 months. But it was my first build. And I've always read here that these things always take much longer than you think. So I'll take this as a learning experience.

So in my mind best case scenario I need nothing but to correct what is bound up. Worst case scenario I didn't use enough lube on the thrust bearings and my attempt at priming this beast wiped out that lube from bearing surfaces and destroyed my crank when turning the engine over thereafter. Either way, I'm pretty excited at getting back and figuring this out. The Engineer in me enjoys solving the problem. Hopefully there won't be many more.

Thanks so much Everyone! I will come back and post the extent of the damage or the solution to my problem. Sorry for the run on sentences and grammar, but I'm a southern guy who loves numbers, and run on sentences are so convenient on your mobile phone lol. I hope in the next 2 weeks I'll be

 

One other thing I don't see mention...did you check for push rod length?

That alone will cause issues.

 

I did, I had to check before I bought my cam kit from TSP. 7.375 length.

 

Come again?

 

Haha lol drunk, 7.375. Sorry I'll correct that misinformation. Thanks for pointing out.

 

But did you check it on the engine with the heads, cam etc installed?

 

We checked, and every thing was perfect. I'm off today, so I should have my answer soon. Thanks for everything you guys.