Crank spins a little less freely after torquing primary gear

[Doubleyoupee]

Hi all,

Still busy with my 3AJ project.
I replaced all the bearings, put new 4th and 5th gear and sent the crank to be balanced.

This month I put the crank halves back together and installed the primary gear, crank balancer gear, oil pump and clutch hub.
At this point, the crank moves pretty much effortlessly. It falls and rotates under its own weight.

However this week, after torquing up the primary gear nut to 120nm I've noticed the crank doesn't move as effortlessly as before.
It doesn't bind or grind. It feels smooth and there are no weird sounds. However it doesn't fall under its own weight anymore. When I stop turning the crank, it doesn't move back & forth anymore.. it just stops (if that makes any sense).
It's still relatively easy to turn (although slightly harder than before), I can crank it with 2 fingers by rotating the clutch hub no problem.

Is this normal? I checked for clearance between the bearing and crank and everything seems fine.
I didn't forget any spacers (triple checked).

Thanks!

[ActionManMelb]

Try giving the crank ends a rap or two with a copper hammer. As you tightened the right side nut it would pull the crank to the right, if the left side bearing is tight in the casing then you will get some preload on the bearings which could be the cause of the problem.

If that doesn't work back off the nut and test the friction. If it comes free then go back and progressively tighten and test the friction at each increment of tightening.

As Confucious say,"Man who go to bed with stiff problem, wake up with solution on hand!"

[Doubleyoupee]

Try giving the crank ends a rap or two with a copper hammer. As you tightened the right side nut it would pull the crank to the right, if the left side bearing is tight in the casing then you will get some preload on the bearings which could be the cause of the problem.

If that doesn't work back off the nut and test the friction. If it comes free then go back and progressively tighten and test the friction at each increment of tightening.

As Confucious say,"Man who go to bed with stiff problem, wake up with solution on hand!"

Thanks. I actually solved the problem yesterday . And yes, the bearing on the timing gear side was getting "preloaded" or twisted, instead of the crank moving towards the primary gear.

I ended up using my bearing puller and pushed the crank axle out of the bearing and towards the primary gear. Only took very minimal force and *tick* the crank moved.



It's now torqued to 115-120nm and 100% smooth. So if anyone every finds this, there should be no difference between before and after torquing. It should fall/turn from its own weight.

End result: https://i.imgur.com/2gkz2TI.gifv