I'm in the process of rebuilding an engine. I got 90% of the way thru and attempted to turn by hand via the front pulley and it waws *real* difficult.
I loosened up the tension bolts to the point where I could turn the tension bolts by hand, and tried turning the engine again with the front pulley, and it is much easier.

Could I be tightening the tension bolts too much? I tightened them to ~ 25lbs according to my torque wrench.

Any ideas?

 

Did you set the correct end play?

 

I ended up taking it apart again. One or 2 of the corner apex seal pieces must not have seated right. Turns ok now.

 

And this is why it's very important to turn the engine over by hand like you did. If it has good compression you will feel noticeable resistance on the compression stroke and hear a strong sound on the exhaust stroke (assuming the plugs are installed).

 

Agreed. In fact, in comparison, it's surprising the amount of resistance on the compression stroke with this tight engine vs the engine I'm replacing.

 

keep in mind the stock seals also have the corner boot glued in place, i generally break it off and install it by hand versus letting the rotation of the engine break the seal, which can give misleading results in how the engine feels when turning it over until they free themselves.

i also love the loud clicking sound they make when they break off the main seal when rotating... not.