Engine Rebuild Struggles To Turn Over

[nick9one1 2]

Ive nearly finished rebuilding my 1.9 and gave it a first start last night. To begin with it took ages to start which I expected, then it fired up for 10 seconds or so. There are a few things I need to finish such as breather pipes, throttle cable, ecu temp sensor etc so I didnt really expect it to fire.

 

But my problem now is that after that furst run i can ony get it to turn over properly with the spark plugs removed, the oil pressure builds up and all looks promising. But when I put the spark plugs in it really struggles to turn, almost as if there is too much compression. I have had the head skimmed but I doubt it its anywhere near 11:1 so i wouldnt have thought the starter needed upgrading.

 

Could the starter be faulty and need replacing? or is there another reason this could be happening? I 've done a search on the subject but havent found anthing that seems similar.

[welshpug 1,678]

have you turned it over by hand?

[large 33]

Check your timming marks and that you can still get the dowels in the holes. you could also try adjusting the dizzy. First off do as Welshpug said and turn it over by hand.

[jonnie205 1]

yeah check cam and ignition timing

[CosKev 16]

Could also be bad earth on engine,so starter not getting full power.

[Cameron 16]

Is your battery fully charged? If you spent ages turning it over it could well be a bit flat.

[nick9one1 2]

i can turn it by hand and the timing marks do still line up. I checked the earth and there is practically no resistance between the starter and batt negative.

[Cameron 16]

Get your multimeter out and check the battery voltage while cranking. Any less than about 9V and you'll need to charge it up or get a new one. It's not likely to be valve or ignition timing, it would still turn over quite happily even if they were quite far out. Most likely to be flat or dead battery or nackered starter.

[CosKev 16]

Are you tryin it with just your battery????

 

New built engine will be tighter than a old one.

 

Get either a boost starter on the battery when tryin it,or jump leads off another car to give it a good kick

[t16ryan 1]

Check your belts arent over tightened, as had this with a guys 1.9 he done and when i looked at it he over tightened the alternator belt,