S14sr crank hard to turn.

[S14DOOD]

Ok well i am building a s14sr and i put the crank in and lubed everything up and torqued everything to spec, my question is has anyone ran into problems with the crank sticking after instalation? I you let it sit for a min and try and turn it its real hard to turn.

[S14DOOD]

I forgot to mention im using clevite bearings and the only thing done to the crank is that it has been balanced.

[Davidna2fi]

So just the crank is installed in the block, no rods connected to it? It should spin with your pinky, actually should free spin if there is no oil pump connected to it. If it's hard to turn now, it'll lead to something really bad once all that heat is built up in the block and can potential cause a main bearing to spin since it'll seize to the crankshaft due to heat.

Do this, loosen each cap going from front to back while trying to turn the crank, until you reach the middle one. If it still is seized or hard to turn when the middle one is tight but all others are loose, it's a good bet that your crank is warped slightly somehow, or the bearings you got are too thick in some journals, OR option 3 (really easy mistake) your caps are not positioned right the all the numbers facing the same way in relation to the 5 main cap which only goes on one way and then the number faces a certain direction. Check and make sure the gritty face on the 5th main cap is facing outward towards the flywheel, look at the numbers and see how they flipped.

You'll notice the journals that are having issues as well since the bearing will have a light discoloration on the contact points that are causing it to seize. Just shine a light on the bearings and you'll see the discoloration appear shiny vs the dull silver color.

Hope that helps, oh also wiggle the main bolts when you are threading them down into the holes in the block, hand thread all of them until just the head is visible and no shank on the bolt, I wish I had a video of my method so that the caps are aligned properly and easier to torque it down.

[godsmack]

^ pretty much covered it for ya.

[S14DOOD]

Thanks a lot man im gonna try what you said and see if I can't find something. I used the FSM to get all my torque specs.