If you rotate your engine couter clockwise...?

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I have heard a few times that if you rotate your engine counter clockwise that it will mess it up. Well I was putting in a crank scraper one day on a 2.4 turbo neon '04 and I accidently turned it the wrong way I think a couple revolutions while checking clearance. Then it occured to me I had been rotating it the wrong way the whole time but by then I figured it didn't matter since I'd already done it. I put it back together and drove it for a year and a half and never had a problem. So why will it mess up your engine?

One other random question, if anaerobic gasket maker doesn't need oxygen to dry, what keeps it from drying in the tube? Does it perhaps never dry? I ask because I'm replacing an oil pump and used this stuff and a good bit seeped through as I torqued the oil pump down, I don't know if it will just harden and be okay sitting there in the engine or not. I could try to wipe some of it off with the oil pan off before I put it back together but I can't get to all of it.
 
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Lock-tite and similar products have an air space in the bottle or tube. It's enough to keep the goo liquid until used.
Spills will dry eventually I think.
 
So are you saying when it's not exposed to air anymore it will dry? And the air in the tube is what keeps it from drying?
 
If a dohc or sohc belt driven is rotated backwards and the belt isnt perfect, there is a chance you can skip the assembly a tooth or two. Many engines out there unlike the srt-4 will totally be FUBAR having valve to piston impact, if its allowed to run without everything rechecked. A procedure many guys do is to actually back it up slightly and then when the tensioner is put back into swing it moves everything forward and lines up. Since you were not playing with the tensioner or the cam gears etc you were "lucky." BTW I paid a guy to put in my cams, I'll only do it on that car if the engine is out.
 
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Yeah I think I have gotten myself in over my head on this one. Not sure how i'm going to be able to get it back together and get the timing right. Also when I released the tension on the belt, my cam gears jumped.
 
GM 2.4 quad fours are this way,do not turn backwards and always turn the crankshaft as you are tightening a bolt.It bends the valves on a 2.4 quad 4 if turned backwards.
 
the sealants cure by exposure to moisture.

the ealier comment on backwards rotation is correct: there is a chance that you can "jump" the timing belt - but I would think that the chance is minimal
 
A oouple of turns by hand in the wrong direction will not hurt anything, if the engine is in good shape.

And right, the air in he bottle is to prevent the stuff from hardening. We used to think we were getting ripped off with less than full bottles!
 
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