I was putting together my H22 tonight when i encountered something. The motor turns good until the up stroke of the number 2 & 3 piston, downstroke is fine. It almost feels like when there isn't enough clearance in the bearings, but there is .0017. I loosened the rod bolts and still does it. Any ideas on what it could be? All bearing clearances are good rods .0017-.0018, and mains at .0022-.0023.

To give you guys some background.
H22a4 MID Sleeves 89MM bore
je 9:1
Crower Rods
Pro drive oil pump
Moroso oil pan/pickup
Skunk2 Valve train (springs/retainers/valves) with 1mm oversized valves
Full port polish, and portmatched intake/exhaust/t-body
Honda intake gasket
Crower Turbo Cams
AC Autotechnic Intake manifold
STR 70 mm T-body
STR Competition fuel Rail
PE 880cc injectors
Pt-67 turbo
South Florida Manifold
Tial 40mm wastegate
AEM EMS
Saenz Transmission gears/ring pinion (straight cut)
Driveshaft shop custom axles (went into 01 accord v6, now actually will have power)

Shooting for 5-600 whp on 15 psi and maybe some NOS if it doesn't get there.

 

did it the crank turn smoothly when the pistons were out? how is the piston to side wall clearence. did you put a little oil around the pistons when they are in the block.

 

The crank turned fine without the pistons and with 1, and 4 torqued. When 2/3 installed and torqued still turns fine until the up stoke on them. When rods loosened but still attached still does the same thing. Side wall clearance is at .0045 and there is oil on the skirts/rings, and sleeves so they don't rust. I am thinking maybe something with the rings, even though they are gapped to spec.

 

did you check the ring end gap. thats the only thing besides the bearings i can think of.

 

Good job catching this before you put it all back together and in the car. Some people just slap em together.

Take it apart again and triple check the bearing clearances again as well as the ring gaps. Another thought - Are you using a crank from another motor or was it ever damaged? Did you have the crank checked for roundness?

 

Ring gaps were all set to spec for a nitrous/turbo set up. Bearing clearances all mic'd and plastigauged and remic'd. Crank was balanced, checked, and polished. That is why i can't figure it out. Even the bores were with in a .0005 top to bottom. My only explanation is the rings for some reason. I ordered up a new set from total seal, so i will hopefully have them by next weekend and see what happens then.

 

You can try a process of elimination. Take the rods and pistons out. With the crank in and main caps torqued, does it spin freely? Then try it with each individual piston/rod. And sometimes in the process of reinstalling something you may fix whatever misalignment you have.

 

I actually did that last night. I actually took each rod torqued it to the crank and spun the crank as it was sitting in the block. Each one was fine, so i torqued the cradle down and the crank turned fine. That's why i ordered the new set of rings its the only thing that i could come up with. I rechecked the piston to wall clearance and they all are .0043-.0045. I even replaced the thrust washers thinking maybe they are pushing the crank to far in one direction or possibly pinching it, but everything was within honda spec. I guess if the new rings don't do it, i am completely lost.