Is my 5.7 too tight?

[drakon543]

there is one module that the shifter shaft goes through if thats the one your referring too its the neutral safety shift position indicator.

 

[SnowDrifter]

Lets to back to basics for a sec

How did the engine turn during assembly? Easy? Smooth? Any points where it feels like it's catching?

How about now? Can you put a ratchet on the crank and turn it over?

 

[Rocket Man]

Lets to back to basics for a sec

How did the engine turn during assembly? Easy? Smooth? Any points where it feels like it's catching?

How about now? Can you put a ratchet on the crank and turn it over?

That’s too easy to figure out lol.

 

[redwing4900]

She turns smoothly always has, but a little tighter than a350 boat motor that i have sitting next to it. It takes About 5-10foot pounds more to turn the crank of the rebuilt motor without spark plugs than the clapped out 80's motor no plugs. Since i was getting no crank from the starter i assumed engine problem, but maybe it's just the starter needs to be shimmed.

 

[Rocket Man]

She turns smoothly always has, but a little tighter than a350 boat motor that i have sitting next to it. It takes About 5-10foot pounds more to turn the crank of the rebuilt motor without spark plugs than the clapped out 80's motor no plugs. Since i was getting no crank from the starter i assumed engine problem, but maybe it's just the starter needs to be shimmed.

A good starter will turn it over without plugs unless it’s seized so I’d start there.

 

[SnowDrifter]

If it turns by hand all the way around 360 degrees I think you've well ruled out a seized engine. That's good news!

Like Rocket man mentioned I'd start taking a glance at the starter.

As a sanity check, what does your battery voltage drop to when you attempt to crank? Or even better, if you have access to a DC clamp, how much amperage is it pulling? The goal here is to differentiate between an electrical problem, where the starter fails to actually engage, from a mechanical problem, such as the teeth meshing (or not) in a manner that causes it to bind

 

[redwing4900]

Thank you for the replies. Today i was able to get a VERY slow crank from the engine via the starter but not even close to being fast enough or strong enough for the engine to start. I have a friend with a load tester i will check that next. I also swapped the starter relay didn't notice a change. With spark plugs in i was able to get the same slow cranking but again not nearly fast enough to start. I want to test the starter relay next I'm hoping there's just not enough power being transferred to turn this thing. Here's another flex plate pic once i took out the thin metal trans shield i think that helped the starter to turn. More work on it tomorrow by the way the teeth are engaging the flex plate no slipping.

 

[Rocket Man]

If the starter is cranking it the same speed with the plugs in or out then I’m pretty damn sure you have a starter problem. Otherwise, if it was cranking slow with the plugs out due to too much friction, when you put the plugs in which adds compression to the equation, it would either stop it or slow it down.

 

[redwing4900]

I have been to the starter rebuild place 3 times for this issue and verified that the 2starters I'm using (oem and gear reduction) are good. I question the voltage at the starter when the key is turned maybe it's losing voltage at that time which might indicate a starter switch problem.(?)
As I'm thinking about it i will retest this tomorrow : when i use my starter bump it doesn't want to turn over but the key turning only allowed it to happen hmm. Maybe it's nothing.

 

[drakon543]

its also possible to have a bad section in the power wire to the starter. older guy i know was chasing a problem on his truck for days before i came over for a few beers one day. i happen to notice a very slight swollen part on his power cable. we pulled it out and sure enough at some point it got a small slice in the cable. in that one spot moisture ate the cable apart. so test your continuity of the power cable and ground cables to be sure.