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Turning The Engine Over On The Battery


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#1 bdean

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Posted 17 November 2019 - 08:47 AM

I’ve just had my engine rebuilt. It will be a while before I can run it up. I want to fill it with oil and turn it over every now and then. Can I use the battery and jump leads and turn it over on the starter? Do I clamp the negative to the body of the starter and the positive to one of the terminals? Which terminal for the positive?

#2 absx2

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Posted 17 November 2019 - 10:20 AM

I would guess its not ideal as the best thing you can do with a new engine is run it up properly with a couple of thousand revs to break the cam in followed by driving it down the road. In other words putting a load on it to bed the rings in.

The rebuilt motor would have been put together with assembly lube I hope, particularly the camshaft and the oil pump would have been primed so if it was mine I would squirt some wd40 type stuff down the plug holes and wrap it in a plastic bag and leave it alone.

If you rock the crankshaft 10 degrees each way on occasion it won`t hurt, that way you are not pushing the cam lube away before it`s had the chance to do anything.  



#3 DeadSquare

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Posted 17 November 2019 - 12:08 PM

When my grandfather laid up his car during the war, Rolls Royce told him to hand crank the engine 180 degrees once a week.



#4 Magneto

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Posted 17 November 2019 - 04:05 PM

Yes, but that wasn't a brand new un-broke-in engine, was it?

 

I agree, put some motor oil down the bores (not WD-40) and seal off all the openings and put it in a nice tightly sealed bag till you need it.



#5 Curley

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Posted 18 November 2019 - 03:03 PM

If you're storing the engine rebuilt I'd keep it in the house & turn it over by hand one a month. 






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