engine drag with plugs removed

[tab1324]

I need someone with a torque wrench to remove their spark plugs and tell me what amount of torque (ft/lbs) is required to turn the engine over. I know this can vary but I just need a ballpark. As I'm putting my engine back together, it seems like I have a bad primary shaft (dampener cam) but I cannot be sure. I talked about this in another thread but I thought knowing the torque of the engine drag might help others diagnosing stuff as well.

Tom b.

[TopCatGr58]

Square peg in round 6 point hole!

Hey Tom,

It took a little bit to find a way to affix my torque wrench that only has 6 point sockets onto the timing cover plate with only 4 points, but was able to! Regrettably it took less than 10 lbs of torque to rotate it! I know you were getting much higher values than that! This was on an engine that had been parked for quite a while, I had only put in some MMO down the spark plug holes months ago, it wasn't frozen, but I knew I wouldn't be working on it for a while.

I realize I could have removed the ALT cover to get a 6 point hex head bolt, but the timing cover was easier!

Hope this helps more than it hurts!?
T.C.

[tab1324]

exactly the feedback I was looking for

Yeah it helps out a lot... I can't seem to find a way to diagnose the primary shaft... The Clymers manual just says how to inspect it but it doesn't say how it works IE: cam dampener.

I've put the engine back together and I had these high torque values. So I tore it apart again. Once I had the case halves split again I turned the motor over by hand again to find the primary shaft not turning on the outboard bearing side. It turns but only after about 40-50 ft./lbs. of torque. The book says to torque the nut on the primary shaft to 51 ft/lbs. Is this a misprint possibly? What do other people have? And the order of installation says to install the shaft, then the spacer, then the gear, then the cupped washer with the cupped side facing the gear, then the lockwasher and nut... Is this right??? I tried the washer in both orientations just to see if I was misinterpreting but I got the same result. I believe when you torqe the nut, you're tightening the cam dampener "internal springs"... I don't know, maybe I'm totally off here...

When I loosen the nut on the primary shaft the turn over force of the engine is reduced. It seems to me that the cam dampener isn't working properly.

I went into this thinking it was the starter clutch making all the racket but now I'm wondering if something in the primary shaft is broken. I don't know how the cam dampener is built inside so I cannot assume the noise came from there. All the bearings are good..

Maybe the subject line for this thread should be changed to primary shaft troubleshooting.

Tom b.

[mro]

Other than your not mentioning the "o" ring on the primary shaft bearing housing, sounds like right out of the manual.


mro