Seized built engine while cranking for oilpressure
 

Hey I built up a 1.9 vvt block with forged internals. While I was cranking it for approximately 20seconds to build up oilpressure it seized up my crankshaft. What was my mistake? Cams already removed still seized crankshaft :(
Wiseco pistons, k1 rods, acl bearings, boundary pump. 5w30 with all assembled parts being prelubed with assemblylube.

Was the block line honed

Do you mean the main bearings / crankshaft? no just cylinders were honed to 83,5mm pistons.

Tell us about your build, parts and machine work.

It was a used engine approx 80.000 km no problems so far but standard internals so i bought wiseco 83,5mm pistons with 8,5:1 Comp Ratio and Wiseco XX Rings, Boundary S2 Pump, ACL Standard bearings, K1 Rods (new cometic headgasket new valveseals) and took everything to the shop. There the block was bored and honed to fit the pistons. then i fitted the ringgap and put everything together. i measured the mains and the rod bearings with plastigauge and every tolerance was in spec.
I wanted to crank the engine without ignition/fuel to get oilpressure. Cranked it for a few times (10 sek) because i dont want to overheat the starter. right when the oilpressure was rising the engine stopped. Tthen i removed cams/alternator/starter/powersteering to make sure what seized... it is the crankshaft.
Engine is still in. at first i thought a valve dropped into my cylinder, but i removed the shims and saw that the valves are still in place. the crankshaft is not seized 100% you can turn it about +-1 degree in both direcrtions but then something crashes inside the engine. After a few hours of internet research i found a youtube video of two guys who describe a similar event. in this case it seemed to be the oilpump. Next weekend i plan to remove the engine and pull it apart to see whats crashing inside.

Did you use assembly lube when you put the crank back in?

yes i used permatex ultraslick as an assembly lube for everything

When you installed the crank before the rods did it spin freely by hand? Did you use main studs? If so were the housing bores checked or aligned honed? The bearing tangs have two different widths on the mains to prevent incorrect installation. I have seen people install the bottom bearing without the oil hole in the block. Obviously you have to pull the engine and disassemble it. Let us know what you find.

Check to make sure you didn't forget the gasket between the pump and pickup tube.

Yes it moved freely by hand. no main studs.And the main bearings were in right orientation.

both oilpump gaskets are in position.

Please follow up to this thread and let us know what you find.

The new oilpump is seized... on a brand new engine.

I would hope that in your case, with just starter cranking, the rod and main,s will be OK, and it may just be a cleaning and re-assembly. Was there much debris in the pump, etc.? Any obvious gall marks on the pump rotation parts?

I doubt the bearings are damaged from cranking since you used assembly lube. I also add a little assembly lube to the pump.

in my opinion it definately a case of warranty.. i hope i get a new one... what do you think?

I’m more skeptical of their products after reviewing the technical info on their page. If they have a lot of come backs because of quality issues combined with the normal failures from user error they might be difficult to deal with. I reached out to them before buying and they did not respond to my inquiry, so I assume they have poor customer service. They will probably claim it was caused by not following their instruction or from contamination. Good luck.

How in the hell does a gear driven pump, in a bath of oil, seize?

Yeah, I'm waiting for postmortem pics from inside the pump - swarf maybe jammed in there?

same thing happened to me. A new to me machine shop did my line hone and raised the crank centerline. That’s a no no on direct driven oil pumps. Engine never even ran it cranked and seized almost instantly.

I’d be looking into tossing the main bearings and filing and dowels on the new pump and measuring the crank to gear clearances when installed.