[FINALIST] - CraftsmanQuad's CraftsmanQuad Mark II [2019 buildoff entry]

Having an issue with the new engine. Was cranking over fine to start and just locked up. I can turn it with a breaker bar but it’s very stiff. Yes it has oil in it, and I can’t see anything wrong. Any ideas?

I pulled the spark plugs out and they were dry, so it’s not hydrolocked

Still hard to turn over without the plugs? Any odd noises rocking it back and forth?

What's the oil look/smell like?

No weird noises, oil looks fine. The engine has but 5 minutes of run time on it. Oil is valvoline 5w30.

There’s no play in the flywheel either direction, so it’s almost like the rods are overtorqued. But it didn’t do that from the beginning, and it wasn’t running when it froze. Just cranking like normal and it stopped so suddenly it was almost like it hydrolocked.

I moved the coils away from the flywheel and it’s still tight. The starter can barely budge it with the battery on the jump box, and I tried pushing the clutch in just in case the bind was in the driveline, no luck.

I’m just stumped guys, Am I missing anything obvious?

Maybe the starter is just a dud and the engine is supposed to be this tight just because it’s new? It hasn’t even made it up to operating temp yet. But last night it sounded like a happy running twin

even a new engine would not be tight without the plugs in it you should be able to turn it over very easy. maybe a magnet came loose on the stator. seen it happen before.

I don’t think it has a stator but I can pull the flywheel tomorrow to see. It doesn’t really seem to have any wiring provisions for a charging system, but I’d definitely like to add one

Does the engine have a compression release? The MM has a broken one. Makes it harder to turn but the starter can still start it.

No noises when turning it over?

Starter bendix is not engaged when you're turning it over right?

Is it always hard to spin or only in some spots?

Maybe something is dragging underneath it?

Sorry for all the questions, LOL. Just trying to get simple things out of the way first.

Always tough, but is slightly stiffer in one particular spot. Not by much. No noises to speak of, and the starter bendix is not engaged.

Im guessing something under the flywheel, had a couple do what your talking about, one the magnets came apart, another mice or something hid a bunch of dogfood and various nuts and other sh*t like that and part of a walnut shell got wedged up best i could tell, took off the flywheel and cleaned out the junk and it was good to go

As creepycrawler and others have stated, check under the fly wheel. I actually got a vanguard for free because it was “locked up” the magnets grenaded under the fly wheel and seized it up, also another thing that has happened to me is the starter gear would stick engaged and it would start binding with the flywheel gear and make it difficult to turn. You should have a charging system on the motor, they usually come with a pull start and no electric starter if it doesn’t have one, hopefully you had enough oil in it and hopefully it was lubed enough from sitting so long, hopefully a ring isn’t seized or something bad

Ok, thanks man. Looks like the next course of action is to pull the flywheel off. All my tools are at work, so I’ll be sure to bring them home tomorrow so I can tear into it

Hope something didn't get out of whack internally.

Sounds to me like you bent a push rod or the valves came apart, causing the unusually high compression. I would peek under the valve cover.

@mrshaft696 you also have a point, would explain the one harder spot, rockers may have been too loose a push rod May have fallen out

Pulling the spark plugs out would negate that though right? Unless it’s physically binding?

The whole time I was turning it over with the breaker bar I had the spark plugs out of it

CraftsmanQuad19 wrote:

Pulling the spark plugs out would negate that though right? Unless it’s physically binding?

The whole time I was turning it over with the breaker bar I had the spark plugs out of it

it would be a little easier to turn with the plugs out but not much.

I’ll pull the valve covers to verify, I pulled one yesterday while I was looking at it. I thought maybe valvetrain too

@CraftsmanQuad19 actually you’re correct I forgot the plugs were out, if it was a dislodged rod it most likely wouldn’t be the issue, so my guess is still under the flywheel or internal issues

I would say compression release but since it's always hard and you had the plugs out it can't be that.

If it ain't under the flywheel, well, hate to say it, but you'll probably have to pop the sump off.

It almost feels dry inside, but I checked and checked again that it has oil. Wondering if the oil pump is bad.

That’s my thoughts if it was running anyway. If it’s not something under the flywheel I’m not sure what it even could be

Are you sure your oil block off plate is correct? You probably should have oiled up the cylinder walls before starting it, got my fingers crossed no internal damage but if it felt dry inside

redzz02 wrote:

Are you sure your oil block off plate is correct? You probably should have oiled up the cylinder walls before starting it, got my fingers crossed no internal damage but if it felt dry inside

If the cylinders were dry, then they're probably scored by now. But if they're scored, I would think it would make some kind of strange noise when turning it over... You'll never know until you pop the heads though.

The oil filter delete basically just made the oil flow make a u turn back into the other port, and it’s a Briggs OEM part, so I highly doubt that’s the issue, but the thought had crossed my mind...

@CraftsmanQuad19 I thought you mentioned it was an oem part was just thinking, tear the fly wheel off and both valve covers if you don’t see any issues, cry and pull the heads, if it’s been sitting for 12 years, there is a good chance everything dried out, just because it had oil may not mean everything was lubricated enough to actual fire just yet, best of luck I have my fingers crossed

I shot some sea foam branded penetrating oil in the spark plug holes while I was turning it over, thick stuff like chain lube. Didn’t seem to help much. Really hoping it’s an external issue and I don’t have to open a brand new engine!