I have a B18A1 block bored .5mm over, cp pistons, eagle rods, and gsr crank, oem acura bearings and thrust washers.

To get to the point I thought maybe I bent a valve and that was why my crank was hard to turn. Today I pulled the head and is was perfectly fine. So I tried to turn the crank by hand and it is still very hard to turn at a certain point in the rotation (when all the pistons are about even and when the 2nd and 3rd piston are on the up stroke). The tranny, axles are still connected to the motor. The oil pan is dropped and inspected and the bearings look fine (without tearing them open just yet.)The crank was purchased used and inspected by myself, it was never micropolished or checked for roundness.

My question is what are all the things that could cause the motor to bind at a certain rotation, and spin freely everywhere else in the stroke. My findings have led me to believe a spun bearing, but there are 400 miles on the break in. Please let me know...its my birthday today so my birthday wish is for everyone to respond with everything that could be the culprit.

Thanks.

 

So the motor has been ran? did it exhibit any problems while running if so? why did you tear it down?
You will need to disconnect the trans and any other accessories to eliminate the possibilities of it being something other than your rotating assembly.

Did you at least plastigage your bearings before assembly to check your clearances? I usually always spin the crank by hand when the bottem end is assembled just to check everything over, some even use a torque wrench on the crank to measure the amount of resistance the rotating assembly takes to turn. There are so many things that could cause your problem, its just a matter of using process of elimination now my friend...

 

you need to remove your trans to be sure

but things i know it could be would be the endplay on your crankshaft, its what thrust washers are for.
rod bearings or main bearings
piston to bore clearance
i rod clearance between the crank throws could be too tight

the list goes on and on...

 

The motor ran perfectly for 400 miles. No problems when it was running, ran very strong. I tore it down because coming off an on ramp it just died. i thought it was a alt belt that I had install wa slipping and it was running off the battery. The tranny is still attchhed. There was half a bolt in the oil pan. Maybe the other half is stuck in the oil pump.

I plastiguaged everything while installing the crank and rods. The crank spun fine when I assembled it.

 

Well im going to check the bearings today. I plastiguaged everything before. But I didnt get the crank micro polished or checked by the machine shop

 

in general you gotta check your clearances in the engine(rod&main bearings, pistons to bore.........is there any sound associated with the hard spot? i doubt the tranny would have one spot where it binds but its free elsewhere.....BUT it is possible.

 

and btw guys, plastigauge is garbage. its ok if you are rebuiding to stock for grandmas car, but anything performance oriented needs micrometers.

 

is the transmission in gear? are there spark plugs in the cylinders? is the timing right? look at the valve train when you are turning the crank and see if you see any valves sticking or anything unusual.

 

i built my B18A1 with wiseco pistons and ACL bearings. Did the same thing, still does to a cetain point. new parts IMO are the culprit. i know for a fact that i dont have a spun bearing or anything else. like they said, a micrometer/ inside/outside caliper is the way to go. i hit everything with a measuring tool. she runs like a raped ape. as for shutting off. which mark did you line up on your crank for TDC. if it is at the ignition timing mark, your like 16 deg advanced and that would cause it to shut off. the hard turn on the crank should not meen anything. but, tear it down again to be safe if thats what u wanna do. G.L.

 

I was going to get a micrometer to heck clearances. Where can I buy one at though. The is no sound associated with the hard spot. Thats why Im so stuck

 

The tranny has been check in gear, out of gear, clutch in, everything. The head is off. The timing belt is off. Valves are perfect!

 

Thanks yeah I got to find the culprit

 

well, money dont grow on trees so being careful is good. and no sound was associated with mine either. Run her till she blows! i was worried to but if u are confident in your work and know for a fact you forgot nothin, the way you make it sound, you should be good! but if its torn down, hey, checking cant hurt. buying a Micrometer or caliper set can run u 50-150$ depending on quality. Sears, lowes, i got mine from grainger supply.(i dont know if i spelled that propperly.) any other questions and i will help best i can. P.S. i built her sturdy and i run her very hard some times(I.E.) 330 am freeway runs at retarded speeds, so that may ease your mind a little and we have the same motor. What trans u have?

 

Okay I will go by sears first after school then lowes and try to find a micrometer. Even if its not the crankshaft im pulling the crank and having it micropolished no matter what. Since I found half a bolt in the oil pan my findings have led me to believe something is binding in the oil pump (which was not brand new) So I am pulling that first today, then going from there (i.e. bearings). From what I have heard the easiest way to check for a bent rod is by disconnecting the rod from the crank and then trying to spin the crank, if binding does not occur then in fact the rod is bent (and Im calling eagle and telling them it is defective since it was not abused on the break in). Im running a LS transmission, that actually I came to like very quickly, I hate b16 trannys because of such short gears, but I would love a gsr tranny but too much $$$.

 

wow. eagle make an awsome product. to see you say that a rod may be bent is disheartening. i have built other b18s with eagle rods and the crank is still to this day still hard t turn. 3 yrs ago. have the rods checked for straightness before you return them, this will give you the proof you need to have Eagle replace them free. it'll save you time and agrivation. send me a pm and let me know what happens, im curious.

 

how much did the ls tranny run you

 

I know that is why I went with eagle. Stupid me not getting the ls eagle rods, and instead changing everything to gsr internals now Im doubting it. Car was very fast running on stock p75 map (RICH) I just want to get to the bottom of this. Everyone is in awe about this problem. Seems like Ive had some wierd problems with this motor...i.e. the oil pressure sender snapping from the block and having that tig welded shut. So eagle will not just replace them if it is bent, I have to show them proof. They should do that if their product is faulty. I still dont suspect the rods as being the problem, steel forged rods do not bend with normal driving

 

$250

 

You should probably find out where that bolt came from. Then figure out how it got dropped in your engine, or why something wasn't torqued down enough to have a bolt let loose. And something like that is not an issue with a rod being faulty.

 

wow 250. awsome. and i agree with the rods not bending under normal wear. and i would def getem checked before a return if thats what u wanna do. all they have to say is that you bashed on them or dropped them or somethin and thats it, i've heard companys say they checked them and there fine....and they werent! i've seen it before. if u getem checked and thier bent, and you send them back and they say no refund or there not bent, you have an ace up your sleeve. they really dont wanna give any money back. but i agree. wish you could try to turn my engine to see its ok man. you sound ike you put together a strong build so you should be ok. run it man, RUN it.

 

Tell that to my 43K mile B16 that was boosted for 17K miles.

 

lets see how it does at 100k. i understand most honda engines are kinda throwaways, but why not treat everything like a race engine built to run 100k between rebuilds? what does it cost in the long run? plastigauge i terrible...........would you trust a micrometer made out of plastic? of course not, then why trust a smaller cheaper piece of plastic to tell you clearances?

 

Well the cylinder three spun a bearing. Getting a new crank tonight and hoping that my number three eagle rod is salvagable. **** sucks.

And Im getting a micrometer, plastiguage is better than nothing. Some people dont even plastiguage. The book says plastiguage that is probably why people use them

 

Did you find where that bolt came from? good to see you found your problem

 

plastigage works fine if you know how to use it, a micrometer wont measure the crush of the bearing caps, if you ask any professional engine builder they use plastigage,