Engine woes - hard to turnover by hand. Got 'the fear'!

[Sss107]

Hi all, short version of story. My mate put a a new engine (used with low miles) in 10 days ago after mine dropped a valve. New Cambelt kit, dephaser, aux belt and tensioner etc.
I've done 300 miles so far and been nursing it about. It starts up perfectly but idle is alittle lumpy. I appreciate that this is common but I had 'the fear' so I booked it in with a Renault Specialist to make sure it was ok.
They checked the timing and confirmed it was spot on. They replaced the post cat 02/lambda sensor as it had an error stored. (Doesn't do anything so not sure why they bothered but hey ho!)
Anyway, they stated that the engine is tight/hard to crank over by hand.
What does this really mean? Is it possible that as the used engine had been lying around, it's alittle harder to crank till its been driven for a while?
Should i look at a compression check?

Any suggestions welcome!

 

[bashracing]

if it pulls ok keep an eye on the oil and coolant and keep driving it

 

[Sss107]

if it pulls ok keep an eye on the oil and coolant and keep driving it

Will do - cheers

 

[Jimbob 2705]

Personally I'd compression check it for piece of mind, doesn't take too long to whip the inlet manifold off and take the plugs out

Although I have no idea how the compression would affect how hard it is to turn over by hand...that sort of things straight over my head

 

[coverman]

Higher the compression, the harder it is to turn ove. With all plugs out, it should turn over relatively easily as there will be no compression

 

[tom172w]

Higher the compression, the harder it is to turn ove. With all plugs out, it should turn over relatively easily as there will be no compression

Exactly this, as advised keep an eye on fluid levels and keep driving it. Would've thought it's no problem really.

 

[Jimbob 2705]

In that case then, surely an engine which is hard to turn over is a good thing? (If it's high compression and not caused by some other issue that is)

 

[HarvB]

If it runs alright just keep driving.

As said the higher the compression ratio the harder it should be to turn over by hand, if it starts there's no worries.

 

[Sss107]

Appreciate all the replies! I'll do a compression check just for peace of mind. But as you say, keep an eye on the fluids and keep driving! (On that note, hasn't lost any coolant/oil and it's made it 450 miles- time will tell!)