How to turn the crankshaft

[Joshua]

Hey guys, anyone have a good way to turn the crank? My 1600 has been sitting for a bit so I wanna crank the engine with a ratchet to free it up a bit so that I can get it preped to run.

[bakerjf]

Jack up the rear right, or left wheel, put it into second or third and turn the rear wheel.

[redroadster]

Pull the plugs and crank the starter till it oils up top
Its too tight to use a rachet much

[C.Costine]

If you are concerned about getting it lubricated before starting it, the most common procedure is cranking with plugs out as red roadster said, or if you want to be more sure, you can pull the oil sending unit and use an air pressurized spray can and tube fittings to pre-pressurize the system. I took two engines apart last year and found the rocker arm shaft galled on them both.

[notoptoy]

Better, if all you want to do is pre-lube (smart if the engine has been sitting) pull the distributor and the tower, remove the Oil-pump to camshaft gear (just lifts out) and drive the oil pump with a powerful drill with a standard screwdriver blade until you see oil coming out the rockers. Note the position of the distributor, and most especially of that gear so that you can put it back together the same way. Since you will not (should not) be turning the motor, the timing etc. will not change, so just put it back together EXACTLY how it was when you took it apart. Pictures are always a good idea.

[C.Costine]

Better, if all you want to do is pre-lube (smart if the engine has been sitting) pull the distributor and the tower, remove the Oil-pump to camshaft gear (just lifts out) and drive the oil pump with a powerful drill with a standard screwdriver blade until you see oil coming out the rockers. Note the position of the distributor, and most especially of that gear so that you can put it back together the same way. Since you will not (should not) be turning the motor, the timing etc. will not change, so just put it back together EXACTLY how it was when you took it apart. Pictures are always a good idea.

Notoptoy, the method that you describe is the one that I used last spring before starting mine after rebuild. It worked, but only very slowly because with any amount of speed on the drill there was a lot of oil splash. It didn't take any power from the drill. Maybe I should have had a rubber stopper that fit the distributor mount.