Has anyone had trouble using a piston stop tool with the heads on? I was trying to use one earlier and never was able to get the piston to stop. It seemed like it was getting a little harder to turn a couple of times, but it only lasted for a second or so. Also, I took the bolt back out to make sure that I wasn't bending it or anything. The tool is installed all the way, with the little bolt threaded all the way in also.

Thanks for any help.

 

Did you remove the rest of the plugs? You don't want to be turning against engine compression with a stop in. It's too easy to put too much force to it. Your plugs are at a pretty shallow angle so the stop has to be screwed in pretty far though.

 

I thihnk scorp508 has an "issue" with one of these a few years back...

If i recall correctly I'll bet he would advise you not use one!

 

I used one recently and it worked fine. Only trouble was that i kept unscrewing the crank pulley bolt...and the stop I bought did have to be adjusted in pretty far to hit the piston.

The forum member advising me actually broke one off in the cylinder...so I was very gentle with the process...but it went OK.

 

Ok, so we screwed it all up. Spark plugs were out and belt was off, but it is still a little stiff turning it over. So stiff in fact that it was really a guessing game as to whether or not I was up against the stop. It didn't feel any different with the stop out either. Turns out we did hit it...and it bent. Hopefully the piston is fine. I gave up.

I was doing this to confirm crank reference angle before I started the engine I started building a year ago. Turns out, all the time I spent trying to find TDC was a waste. After no luck on getting the measurement, I decided to just start the car to see what it sounded like. 1-2 degrees off isn't going to break anything. I just wanted to see how well it was going to idle. Turn the key over and it fires right up!...for 2 seconds. Do it again...another 2 seconds. Ok, how bout just a little bit of throttle and maybe it will last a little longer. It fires right up, but about 4 seconds into it the car dies again. I look down at the computer and see it's lost connection (did I mention the FAST system?). Then I see on the car's display that SYS is flashing. I fried something. I have no doubt. I can only assume at this point it was the FAST system.

I've never been so sad in my life...too depressed to even be frustrated or angry about the situation. I've barely even looked at the car since Saturday. I'm sure this situation will turn into a different post after I feel less sick and actually feel up to investigating the situation.

Thanks all.

 

I forgot to ask if you ever found a way to avoid unscrewing the pulley bolt. I had the same issue.

 

I have. After you pull all the plugs, slip a 7/8" socket onto your ratchet handle and crank on your alternator nut. The pulley ratio makes turning the engine over a breeze, and because of the reduced effort, the alternator pulley nut won't loosen, when it comes time to back it up.

RACE ON!!!