I am posting this for a friend. He is having the weirdest problem with his 97 civic manual. He is trying to set his timing to TDC, but he says he cant turn the crank no matter what... counterclockwise or clockwise. The car is in neutral, the spark plugs are out, and he's removed all the other drive belts cept the alternator and timing belt. Everything checks out from what he's told me and I cant think of why it would do this... anyone?

 

What happened before this? Sounds like a rod could be broken and it's wedged against the block or one of the pistons seized..

Give more info...

 

Nothing is wrong with it prior. He wants to replace the timing belt. He drove it into his garage to start working on it, so he couldnt have messed it up beforehand.

 

umm... is it out of gear?

 

Make sure he's not turning it the wrong way. You only want to turn it counter clockwise. Other than that, there should be nothing holding it from turning. I can do it with my plugs still in with a normal ratchet...

 

Tell your "friend" to start lifting weights....

 

ok, he used a 4 ft pipe and he got it to turn. He said it went "pop" (i dont understand why it would do this) and after that it now moves freely.