I am looking at viewing a van with a recently rebuilt engine, the engine has not been run in yet but started a couple of times. The seller mentioned that they do not have a battery for it and said that it took them two batteries to start it as 'everything was still tight'.
My question is, is this normal for a newly rebuilt engine! Should I be concerned that it is that hard to start!
supernova2,
Sep 24, 4:35am
I had a FC victer that we had to tow start the first time.There was absolutely no way the Lucas starter was going to spin it fast enough to fire.Just to keep the neighbours happy we did it at about 3am as well!
franc123,
Sep 24, 5:03am
Until an expert tells you otherwise, yes you should be concerned.Either the starter is too knackered to turn it properly or else something internal hasn't been assembled corrrectly or has insufficient clearances.Get it checked out before agreeing to buy and make sure you ask to see receipts for the parts and machining/assembling work, be especially suspicious if its been a homie "recon" job by an amateur on the cheap.
morrisman1,
Sep 24, 5:06am
I would have expected a difficult start the first start but from then on would expect relatively normal starting.
lugee,
Sep 24, 5:06am
Sounds like it may have been rebuilt without assembly lube, which isn't ideal.
cheese-mike,
Sep 24, 5:17am
Alright cheers, We will see how well it starts tomorrow.
Thanks for the advice
snoopy221,
Sep 24, 5:18am
petrol! or diesel engine!
cheese-mike,
Sep 24, 5:39am
Petrol I believe, It is a 2 litre 4 cylinder Bedford
hijacka,
Sep 24, 5:48am
If it was a morris lol. Depends some or most engines its normal to be sticky ive rebuilt b series honda's and ej20s that have been sticky double checked clearances and all good. never sticky enough so it struggles to crank if its hard to crank then surely theres something wrong. good advice #3
intrade,
Sep 24, 10:01am
dingdingding.alarm!- ! there is no such thing as tight engine when its rebuilt. a rebuilt engine will start after 3 rotations you have to not rev the crapola out of it for the first 1000km.
intrade,
Sep 24, 10:05am
as above if the starter is at its end then it could be that it wont start easy otherwise there is something not right. depending on what it is but a van engine is not like a high performance engine with extra compression for more hp. So i would probably forget about it.
intrade,
Sep 24, 10:07am
good test is to run it warm and then it has to start first pop again. stop it and start it again straight away.
falcon15,
Sep 24, 3:01pm
a engine should not be tight if its just been properly rebuilt. they may have stuck the main caps on in the wrong places or over tightened somthing. Why are they selling it straight after they went to all that trouble and expense to rebuild it
stevo2,
Sep 24, 4:06pm
Should not be tight after a rebuild Nothing to do with original post, but. I recond a 350 chevy, It started fine when it was cold but wouldnt turn over when hot. I had raised the compression with new flat top pistons and changing to smaller combustion fuelie heads which gave more compression (up around 10.5 or 11 to1) than the starter could cope with. I changed to a Tilton Super Starter and that sorted that out.
bellky,
Sep 24, 4:42pm
engines can be tight after rebuild
franc123,
Sep 24, 4:58pm
Yes but not that tight that it can't be turned by the factory spec starter motor and a fully charged battery of the right size!It sure as hell needs investigating further.
drog,
Sep 24, 6:56pm
Correct.
whqqsh,
Sep 24, 7:03pm
I had an early Commodore that needed tow starting first up after a rebuild, starter wouldnt do the job. Had no worries with motor after that for the year or so then a mate bought it off me & had no worries up to when he sold it several years later
phillip.weston,
Sep 24, 7:07pm
the first few hours are crucial for running in an engine. I've always been a fan of not babying the engine - you run the engine exactly like how you're going to drive it after it's run in, but make sure you load up the engine plenty of times and never let the revs sit at a constant speed for more than a few moments.
richard198,
Sep 24, 7:11pm
I've rebuilt VW & bike engines and they all spun freely on start up. Be afraid! Very afraid!
richard198,
Sep 24, 7:12pm
Shouldn't be!
bellky,
Sep 24, 7:43pm
this is true for piston engine but not rota (my true love)
stacie_nz,
Sep 25, 2:07am
how odd
shane.64,
Sep 25, 2:18am
Taking two batteries two start it would make no difference its still only 12 volts unless wired x ways this would be 24 volts ! Find out as it maybe just the batteries
bellky,
Sep 25, 2:53am
24 volts will make it turn
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