"Elle" <honda.lioness@nospam.earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:Ipcmi.7645$Od7.784@newsread1.news.pas.earthli nk.net...
> 91 Civic, manual transmission, here. I am doing a timing belt replacement.
> The front of the car is on jackstands, and I put the transmission in 5th
> gear. I freed the pulley bolt just fine, but then I wanted to rotate the
> engine so #1 piston was at TDC blah blah. I thought turning either of the
> front wheels by hand would, via the manual transmission, also rotate the
> engine. But no luck. I put the pulley bolt back in and rotated the engine
> to get #1 to TDC. As I turned the crankshaft pulley (via a socket on the
> pulley bolt), the front wheels turned roughly in synch with the pulley's
> rotation just fine.
>
> What might have prevented my turning the engine by manually turning the
> front wheels?
>
>

Of course, if both front wheels are off the ground the far wheel simply
rotates the opposite way because of the differential.... Whenever I do that
I say "D'oh!" or something similar in effect!

Mike