Engine Wont Turn Over after New Clutch

Best place to start is to drop the shift linkage at the trans and put the levers into a neutral position and see if that is it... naw... too simple. But sometimes you get lucky. Then loosen up the transmission bolts to see if that frees up the disc (in case its in backwards). Anyway, success teaches us nothing and the problem is going to be something simple.

Bob

 

Some times trying to make a hot rod out of and old car.Did you have any lathe work on flwheel to make ligher ,on front side and now its up against to block and will not turn now?

 

Check to make sure its in neutral!


I am sticking with the "bolt too long" alibi ..... think about it, THE ENGINE DOESNT TURN, even if the disc was in backwards that would just keep the clutch from disengageing by binding on the flywheel and if the trans was in neutral the engine would still turn over ..... something is binding the flywheel to a non-rotating surface.... probaby a bellhousing bolt that was mis-used on the flywheel.

 

That's one of those things that should be taken apart in the reverse order of assembly, undoubtedly will be a DOH! moment....

Bob

 

Well, today my shop teacher took a look at it for me... Shining a light up in the bellhousing you can see on either side of the flywheel and there is nothing touching it. I used a pry bar to get the flywheel to move and he said it seemed good to him.... It turns now, but not as easy as it did. I don't know why it's so tight, but I trust Shepp's judgment.

 

I don't like hearing seemed by anyone.

 

Yes John, this happened to a friend of mine with a 427 chevy. Trans collar was pushing on the disk until the engine locked up. He pulled the trans in with the bolts, a sure fire no no.

 

Maybe the pilot bushing is a little tight on the input shaft, and that's why it will turn with leverage, but is tight? I dunno, just throwing ideas out there...

 

If the pilot's that tight , it'll never disengage enough to shift. Bite the bullet & pull it back down & determine what's wrong before you screw something up!

dave

 

If the pilot was too tight to turn, the motor would still turn over fine in neutral. A tight pilot would make it grind going into a gear, because the clutch and trans input are still spinning, even though the clutch is depressed.


Something is wrong if you had to break it free with a bar.

 

Why did you change the clutch disc this time and how many have you changed in this car?

 

Did you Change the Pilot Bushing.?
if so mabey its the Wrong Size and when you put the
Trans in it, thats what is Causing the Binding
& you Can't see the Bushing unless you drop the Clutch

Just my 3.5 cents

 

fory, dont get me wrong but we wont know unless its asked .... you do realize that compression is gonna make it dificult to turn the engine at the flywheel by hand, even with a bar working the ring gear? ... when your shop teacher looked at it did he try turning it and say it was OK ... or did he just do the visual inspection?

 

Y ou have gotten some good advice, im sure you will see your problem. Experiance is a lousy teacher.....you get the test first and the lesson later !!

 

"I used a pry bar to get the flywheel to move and he said it seemed good to him.... It turns now, but not as easy as it did"......

pretty far out, but you didn't create or have a crank thrust issue did you? My last experience w/ a flathead did.... causing crank to move (significantly) when clutch
depressed

 

Driven disc is in backwards....... When you tighten the trans bolts you force the crankshaft FORWARDS forcing it into the engines thrust bearing.

 

I know it's compression because it turned easy before... The disk i double check and (according to what written on the hub) the flywheel side is facing the flywheel. When i disconnect the clutch fork and slide the throwout bearing back I can clearly see the clutch hub. My shop teacher felt it and said he thinks it's good....

I also didn't draw the tranny ok with the bolts. Once it stared to slide into place, It slide all the way up to the bell housing without the bolts and with no problem. Maybe because it sat for so long without being ran that everything is dry of oil? Would that cause it to be stiff?

 

Also this is the first time I'm doing the clutch in this car, and it need replaced because the old one was OLD (installed in the 70s with lots of miles since then)

 

My pilot bushing was custom made at a machine shop in town.... Maybe it is too thick and the input shaft is binding on it?

 

From everything that you have said the next step is to loosen the bolts a little that hold the transmission to the bell housing and then try to rotate the engine. With the transmission a little loose it would allow the crank to move off the thrust bearing if that is the problem. If you can rotate the engine easily like you did when you installed the clutch then the problem is probably in the pilot bearing.

 

Ok, so trans is back off today... Pilot bushing was ineed to thick. As soon as I loosened the bolts it freed up and moved easy. I guess just the space of the lock washers compressing was enough to make it tight. Tomorrow I'm gonna turn it down on the lathe and see how that does.

 

Told ya it was something insidious and simple.... and only cost you some elbow grease and some time, a good find. Do you have the old bushing to compare it to before you take a cut on the new one?

Bob

 

Unfortunately, the new engine didn't have a bushing in it to compare it to... But as i machined it i would check the fit on the input shaft. When the trans bolted up it went on easier this time, and the flywheel is easy to turn by hand even with the trans in gear, and i checked for good disengagement. All is well now!!!

Thanks again for the help!!!

 

^^^^^All right, great to hear your back in the saddle.

 

Glad you found the problem and fixed it.

 

Good for you, and glad you took the advise from here to NOT run it until you knew it was OK.
No one can beat this HAMB forum for technical info!!!
Cheers.......