Went to the field with brand new saito 65. Mounted last night out of the box and cranked a prop on.

When I turn it over by hand there was a slight grinding feeling. Looking closely the aluminum back plate is binding on the housing at one point in the rotation, can even see a bit of aluminum dust where they meet.

Did I tourque the prop too hard and push it back?

Any suggestions? I did not run the engine in that condition.

Chuck

Tightening the prop would normally pull the crank forward if it could move it at all. Did you remove the backplate to see what is going on? In lots of engines I've taken apart, the crankpin has rubbed on the backplate.

how do you pull it? I thought you would need a special tool.

Remove carb and intake pipe, then remove bolts holding backplate and it should come out just by wiggling it a bit.

I think I used the wrong term....it is the drive plate that is the problem....the plate that the prop meets when installed.

Turned out to be a bit of a burr on the engine casing. cranking the prop down brought the drive plate into contact. Fixed it up just fine.