New Motor Won't Turn Over

Rod

Rod

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Joined
Jan 12, 2018
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Vacaville, CA, United States
My son and I recently began a restoration of my 2001 Wrangler TJ. We recently installed a 4.7L Stroker with a remanufactured NV3550 manual transmission. When we attempted to start the new motor, it wouldn't crank. When trying to manually turn the crank, it wouldn't budge. Pulled the starter (in case it was binding the flywheel), still no change. We're thinking our next move is to slide the tranny back to see if that frees things up and allows the crank to turn. Any thoughts out there on what could be going on?
 
Don't pull the transmission. Pull the sparkplugs as @59 wagon man suggested. It is much easier. Also if the transmission is binding it then rocking the jeep back an forth should move your motor. Plus if the trans was binding it there would be some slop. It wouldn't lock it up tight.

If one of you hits the clutch, it will separate the trans from the engine, no pulling necessary. That is literally what your clutch does. Even if say your clutch plate was in backwards, Your clutch pedal wouldn't feel right and say just for argument sake that was even possible if you put the trans in neutral the engine would turn over, but in any case you would still get wiggle if it was a problem with your trans.

I hate to suggest this, but it sounds like your motor is hydro-locked which pulling the plugs will tell you, or it is seized and you will most likely be pulling the motor back out.
 
If the jeep rolls in neutral, I would say trans is not locked up. Did motor turn b4 install? Possibly a bolt or something lodged in the flywheel? With replacement trans and engine, a lot of possibilities. I would also start by removing Spark plugs. If it still doesn't turn, pull transmission back. Go from there.
 
Jeepaholic said:
If the jeep rolls in neutral, I would say trans is not locked up. Did motor turn b4 install? Possibly a bolt or something lodged in the flywheel? With replacement trans and engine, a lot of possibilities. I would also start by removing Spark plugs. If it still doesn't turn, pull transmission back. Go from there.
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an i think jet skis get hyperwaterlocked when you to far under, an you got to pull the plugs out..:)
 
Why not just take the bolts out of the torque converter and attempt o turn it over then with the coil disconnected
 
Did you confirm that you put the correct rod and main bearings in? Don't dismiss the idea too quickly. A buddy of mine made a mistake on his 283-powered Vette, putting in oversized bearings on a standard crank, and that thing wouldn't turn over, either. If they weren't matched to the crank size-wise, that would qualify as an issue. For instance, .010" oversized bearings on a standard crank, .020" oversized bearings on a .010" under crank, etc. It would definitely explain a soild lock of the motor. Just a suggestion. I don't claim to be an expert at anything.
 
Last edited:
Rod said:
My son and I recently began a restoration of my 2001 Wrangler TJ. We recently installed a 4.7L Stroker with a remanufactured NV3550 manual transmission. When we attempted to start the new motor, it wouldn't crank. When trying to manually turn the crank, it wouldn't budge. Pulled the starter (in case it was binding the flywheel), still no change. We're thinking our next move is to slide the tranny back to see if that frees things up and allows the crank to turn. Any thoughts out there on what could be going on?
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Thanks for all the replies. We'll get back to it next week and sort this out. But for now, we said "to hell with it. Let's go fishing!"
 
Squatch said:
Did you confirm that you put the correct rod and main bearings in? Don't dismiss the idea too quickly. A buddy of mine made a mistake on his 283-powered Vette, putting in oversized bearings on a standard crank, and that thing wouldn't turn over, either. If they weren't matched to the crank size-wise, that would qualify as an issue. For instance, .010" oversized bearings on a standard crank, .020" oversized bearings on a .010" under crank, etc. It would definitely explain a soild lock of the motor. Just a suggestion. I don't claim to be an expert at anything.
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Great thought, but we bought the stroker. Didn't build it.
 
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Jeepaholic said:
If the jeep rolls in neutral, I would say trans is not locked up. Did motor turn b4 install? Possibly a bolt or something lodged in the flywheel? With replacement trans and engine, a lot of possibilities. I would also start by removing Spark plugs. If it still doesn't turn, pull transmission back. Go from there.
Click to expand...
We didn't turn the crank before the install. Didn't even add oil until we got deep enough into the process. We'll pull the spark plugs and try again prior to sliding the tranny back. I'm with you....I think something is catching the flywheel.
 
Rod said:
My son and I recently began a restoration of my 2001 Wrangler TJ. We recently installed a 4.7L Stroker with a remanufactured NV3550 manual transmission. When we attempted to start the new motor, it wouldn't crank. When trying to manually turn the crank, it wouldn't budge. Pulled the starter (in case it was binding the flywheel), still no change. We're thinking our next move is to slide the tranny back to see if that frees things up and allows the crank to turn. Any thoughts out there on what could be going on?
Click to expand...

OK, finally found the time to get back to this project. When I received this motor from ATK, it didn't have a cradle for the crankshaft. I assumed that, like the other items I needed to add to this motor, the cradle was one of them. I called ATK and discovered that a stroker doesn't use a cradle due to the enlarged size of the crankshaft. Turns out my crankshaft struck the cradle and stopped during the initial start. It may be common knowledge to many of you out there, but it was certainly news to me! Thankfully, no damage to the crankshaft. If ATK had mentioned that up front, it would have saved us a ton of effort (transmission, clutch, flywheel, transfer case removal). We removed the cradle and got the motor running. Thanks for all your initial feedback. Checkout the photo of the cradle damage!

IMG_0696.jpeg
 
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