H Engine Seems To Have A Hangup....

It really takes some oomph to get it to turn by hand, initially. After that, it turns no problem. This is with the plugs out, by the way. Also no battery, no starter, out of gear, PTO & belt pulley disengaged. I went over the valve train & push rods & everything moves just fine. Nothing stuck, bent, etc. The oil had a bit of clear water in it when I drained the pan, but no antifreeze was apparent. No evidence of rust on the inside of the plugs, though they're sooty & a touch oily. Put a squirt of oil in the cylinders before I started cranking. Might the mains be worn & settling when it's stationary for a while? Would that explain why I'm back to square one, with the engine sticking, after it sits for an hour? What else I should check before I drop the oil pan?

Thanks,
Mike
 
Piston rings are coated with oil when running. When stopped, they push the film of oil out from between their outer surface, and the cylinder wall. This causes stiction (a coined word meaning the sticking from friction) Unless the engine is tight turning in only one spot in the rotation, or way difficult to move, it is normal. I would not take the pan off unless there were stronger reasons than that. Jim
 
Stiction, I like that. Sounds like I can get the mag & generator back on & give it a whirl. Just a test firing for right now. Have to get the radiator redone before I let it run too much more than a minute or two. Maybe find a starter, too.

Many thanks!
Mike
 
what are u meaning turning by hand?... with the hand crank? have never heard of such a thing on a worn out engine. its the freshly rebuilt engines that take I bit to get them turning over , such as plastigauging brgs. a worn out engine you can pull over with one finger on the crank.
 
Yep, the hand crank. When I got it a couple weeks ago, there was no turning the engine over, via the fan belt. Figured it was tight from sitting. So I put my tow plate on the front pedestal, got out the wagon pole & connected it to my running H. Put the dead H in 2nd & gave it a short pull of about a foot & the rear tires spun opposite of each other. Got off, put the H in 4th. Same deal. Put it in road gear, dragged it another foot with the same results. Figured I'd push it back & come up with a different game plan. Backed it up a couple inches before I realized the tires were turning opposite each other again & stopped. Right before I hit the clutch, both wheels decided to cooperate & turn the same direction. "Huh", I thought. Ok, if I have to overhaul this bugger anyhow, I'm going to give it a little yank forward & see what happens. I let the clutch out in a hurry, dragged the tires about a foot before the engine went loose & the tires were turning in the right direction. Pulled it another 50 feet with no issue & stopped. Popped the dead H out of gear & tried again. Pulled forward about a foot with the tires turning opposite again & no noise out of the motor (distributor tripping is how I could tell the engine was turning). Backed up a couple inches, yanked it again & was off & running. Ok! Backed it up again & pulled the valve cover. Had my sister hop on the running H & pull it while I watched the valves. Had her drag it forward & it didn't hang up that time. Told her to keep going while I observe the valves. Everything was smooth there. Even got a little dribble of oil to pump up onto the head. Left it sit & went for the feeler gauge. Had .018 to .019 front to back. Figured that was ok for cold. Pulled the valve rack & checked the pushers. They were all straight. No wiggle or side play in the rockers. Put that all back together & pushed her back to it's spot. Dragged it again; no hangup. Let it sit for a bit & tackled the other jobs I had to do. Fast forward to today. Dug out the hand crank because I had the mag off to have it tested. Went to turn it over & nothing. I pushed on that crank until I could feel it start to flex & I let off (yeah it was out of gear). Decided to see if I could roll the engine backward a touch with the fan & nothing. Pulled the plugs thinking there was something seriously messed up going on. Waterlogged cylinder or something. Nope. Dry cylinders. I could see the top of #1 piston enough to recognise it at being flat. Figured while I was on the right side of the engine, I'm going to push on the belt & reef on the fan & see what happens. Put a little arse behind it & got it to budge. Grabbed the crank & gave it a heave & a ho. It made a whole revolution. Did it a few more times & called it good enough to go in for breakfast & fart around on the forum here. Got back to it about an hour later. Dumb thing was stuck again. Backed it up a touch with the fan & were all good again. That's when I decided to squirt some oil in the cylinders. Did so & cranked the engine over with no issues. Hooray! Stopped for a few to post here & run down to the dealership & pick up a few things aaaaand have them raid the Depot for more parts for me. Got home & checked the crank right away. Oh guess what.... stuck again. Backed up the fan & tried again. Got it to turn over. Made it a point to keep after it off & on for most of the day until I was satisfied. Just checked it before I started posting & it was not hung up this time. Wish I had a plow on the dumb thing. Would have had something to show for all the cranking I did. Think I'm getting Popeye forearms. Going to go out & try it again after I hit the send button. Oh, before I forget, it does have enough compression to feel it. But not enough to write home about. It will blow the can that's covering the manifold off. Don't imagine that takes much pressure though.

Mike
 

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