Parking in-gear

But can you turn the crank by hand with a fully dressed big block with the spark plugs out? Try the above mentioned experiment, i.e. park the car in gear on a slope, place chocks 2 feet ahead of the wheels, remove the spark plugs, and see if the car rolls. No fair giving the car a nudge or push.

Quote: “Timing belts are more apt to jump when the crank us turned backwards… Turning backwards, the tensioner will be easily displaced, allowing the belt to jump.” Unquote

This is not a problem. Four cylinder engines bounce back and forth off compression when shut down, more than a 6 or a V-8. Ducati 2 cyl motorcycles have two timing belts; bounce even more off compression when shut down. The timing belt tensioner in my VW, for example, is fixed in place; is not spring loaded and therefore is not displaced.

Absolutely. I have many times adjusted the valves and done other work on cars that required rolling the engine. Once the plugs are out, a small end wrench on the bolt at the end of the cam and one hand is all that it takes to roll the engine to the next valve position. It does not ‘free wheel’ by any means, but it is not hard to turn.

On a freshly assembled big block with freshly honed raw cylinder walls, even with proper assembly lube, it takes quite a bit more ‘umph’ than a broken-in engine requires, but nothing you cannot turn with a 1/2" ratchet on the vibration dampener bolt.

I just put a torque wrench on our 3.6 V-6. It required 35 - 40 ft lbs to turn the engine. Doesn’t feel like much at the handle but there you have it.

The pall can break due to the stress of holding back 3000 # or more. It’s not meant to do that.

Ahhhhhh, no.

The parking PAWL is found only in automatic transmissions.

The OP said he’s got a manual.