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Stupid question - Crank bolt which way to turn??

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Old May 26th, 2009, 11:58 AM
  #1  
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Stupid question - Crank bolt which way to turn??

I need to break loose the piston rings on a 1970 Rocket 350 that has beensitting for 5 years, and I've
squirted Marvel Mystery oil into 7 of the 8 cylinders to get the rings to free up, but it's not working.
New battery too BTW......

I read that the Olds V8's all run counter clockwise, (After 1967) so does that mean if I am going to manually turn the crank bolt
Which way should I crank it manually ?? Counter clockwise???
By the way, I'm taking all the spark plugs out to make it easier.....

I'm just trying to be sure so I don't end up loosening the crank bolt and having to find the specs to retorque it down.

This is all I'm getting out of it right now.

Last edited by Aceshigh; May 26th, 2009 at 12:01 PM.
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Old May 26th, 2009, 12:19 PM
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Originally Posted by Aceshigh
I read that the Olds V8's all run counter clockwise,
All Olds DISTRIBUTORS run counterclockwise as viewed from the top. The crank turns clockwise as viewed from the front of the motor (ie, in the direction of tightening the balancer bolt). Or, if you are sitting in the driver's seat looking at the flywheel, the crank rotation is counterclockwise. By the way, this crank rotation direction is the same on virtually every automotive engine made except for Honda.
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Old May 26th, 2009, 12:20 PM
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Originally Posted by Aceshigh
I need to break loose the piston rings on a 1970 Rocket 350 that has beensitting for 5 years, and I've
squirted Marvel Mystery oil into 7 of the 8 cylinders to get the rings to free up, but it's not working.
New battery too BTW......

I read that the Olds V8's all run counter clockwise, (After 1967) so does that mean if I am going to manually turn the crank bolt
Which way should I crank it manually ?? Counter clockwise???
By the way, I'm taking all the spark plugs out to make it easier.....

I'm just trying to be sure so I don't end up loosening the crank bolt and having to find the specs to retorque it down.
In addition to removing the spark plugs you should also remove all belts while attempting to break things loose. Rather than trying to rotate the crankshaft in its normal direction it is best to try a bit of a gently rocking back and forth motion with about a 3 foot cheater bar on the wrench handle. If it doesn't break loose that way the only solution is to pull the engine. Of course the engine is unfortunately toast if there is a rust ring on enough cylinders to seize it up that tight.

In the past I've had to pull badly seized engines, remove the cranks and heads and then literally beat the pistons out of the cylinders using a wooden block and a sledge hammer. There is a boring job in the future.
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Old May 26th, 2009, 04:03 PM
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Belt removal too eh?? damn....
First I'm going to hit the starter a few times to make sure it isn't seized up.

Originally Posted by joe_padavano
All Olds DISTRIBUTORS run counterclockwise as viewed from the top. The crank turns clockwise as viewed from the front of the motor (ie, in the direction of tightening the balancer bolt). Or, if you are sitting in the driver's seat looking at the flywheel, the crank rotation is counterclockwise. By the way, this crank rotation direction is the same on virtually every automotive engine made except for Honda.
Okay....so all V8's run clockwise from the front, and they were talking about the distributor being counter clockwise....

Thats where I got confused. Cool thanks
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Old May 26th, 2009, 04:25 PM
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Originally Posted by joe_padavano
All Olds DISTRIBUTORS run counterclockwise as viewed from the top.

Now you tell me
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Old May 26th, 2009, 05:16 PM
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Originally Posted by Aceshigh
Belt removal too eh?? damn....
First I'm going to hit the starter a few times to make sure it isn't seized up.


Okay....so all V8's run clockwise from the front, and they were talking about the distributor being counter clockwise....

Thats where I got confused. Cool thanks

Thought you had already tried the starter bumping route to no avail.

but it's not working. New battery too BTW......
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Old May 26th, 2009, 05:30 PM
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Negative....I can't go do it with my lil guy here alone with me.

I have to have someone here to watch him so I can go under the car.
I will do it tomorrow though because I will have someone here.

Just gearing up for it.
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Old May 26th, 2009, 05:43 PM
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Originally Posted by Aceshigh
Negative....I can't go do it with my lil guy here alone with me.

I have to have someone here to watch him so I can go under the car.
I will do it tomorrow though because I will have someone here.

Just gearing up for it.
Hey don't let that slow you down. It's never too early to start educating the little guys about cars
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Old May 26th, 2009, 05:54 PM
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i had a similar problem with my 350 when i first got the car. i had to soak it i for 4 days before it finally broke loose. I used wd-40, then switched to diesel on the 3rd day. luckily, i was planning to rebuild the engine anyways, so the rust wasn't too big of a deal
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Old May 26th, 2009, 07:09 PM
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Originally Posted by Texascarnut
Thought you had already tried the starter bumping route to no avail.

I think he means he is actually going to hit the starter.
Sometimes that will jar worn brushes enough to make contact well enough to start one more time.
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Old May 26th, 2009, 08:26 PM
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Yep ^ ^
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