F430 F1 - can engine be hand cranked ?

I'm in the middle of a starting issue on my F430 F1 2008 24kkm. When starting about 3 weeks ago, i'm getting a mechanical noise from the starter, but no rotation - battery was new about 2 months ago. Tried with a booster on terminals behind seat - no change. Removed starter to check solenoid copper terminals - quite pitted - so I've go new ones on order.
Decided to check to see if I could rotate the crankshaft at the 36 mm nut on the end pulley - I can't rotate it in the CCW direction - I can go backwards without difficulty, but didn't go more than 45 degrees - then return in the CCW but becomes solid (spanner is about 18 inches lever arm, and I kept constant pressure to allow the pistons to depressurise but no movement) - I don't think this is normal? I reconnected the battery and checked system is in neutral but no change.
Next step can be to remove spark plugs....
Thanks for any guidance. Cheers, Paul

 

Thanks for the feedback guys. The car still has the origin exhaust manifolds, and I understand metal parts can be drawn into the cylinders when they fail - however its difficult to imagine to fully block the rotation because pieces would only be small to go through the valves (previous car use was about 7 days before and no symptoms of an engine issue - normal temp, oil pressure, tickover) No sign of water in the oil either. Can I do any damage to rotate the engine backwards ? ie - clockwise when looking at the flywheel from gearbox - have heard stories that the timing chain tensioner doesn't like that).

 

Wade, your suggestion about a flooded cylinder. Is it possible that the car runs fine then at shut off the cylinder fills with coolant due to a blown head gasket ? Or is an alternative petrol due to some other type of fuel injection anomaly ?

 

Found oil on spark plug of cylinder 2, and oil is visible in the cylinder. Crankshaft now rotates with spanner on crankshaft. The max level of the oil remains below the spark plug thread with piston at TDC. I'm assuming a blown head gasket.
I'm thinking that next step is reinstall the starter, connect it to external battery and rotate the engine with the plug out with something to catch the oil spray. New spark plug. Start-up briefly to clear the engine. Get the cheque book ready (
Are blown head gaskets common for this engine ? I don't push it so hard and always wait to get to temperature before taking revs up.

 

Thanks again guys - there is some evidence that overfill or transport could be the cause. The car was serviced at Ferrari Manchester in January, then it was shipped to Switzerland on a transport truck with the car inclined (nose down or up I can't remember). Still puzzling me is that I used the car in March & April after the delivery, and it wasn't until the 3rd start I had the problem. I just got some separate advice to check the state of the breather system to see if any oil there.

 

I drained the oil and collected 10.5 litres - refilled with 8 litres. Rotated engine with plugs out using external battery connected to starter. Reinstalled plugs and checked rotation with spanner on crankshaft - all ok. Started engine - huge quantity of smoke (neighbours thought the house was on fire) that eventually cleared after few minutes. Allowed engine to sit for 2 days, then rechecked manual rotation with spanner - ok. Restarted, no smoke, and got engine to temperature - needed to add 1 litre oil to get to minimum mark on dipstick. Allowed engine to sit for 3 days, then rechecked manual rotation with spanner - ok. Restarted no smoke. So doesn't seem to have been heavy overfill (btw what's the oil capacity between min and max on dipstick?) more likely due to tilting during transport - but still don't have an explanation how oil migrated to the cylinder after its first use at full operating temperature (eg excessive oil sitting in cam casing then migrating down valve stem to open cylinder ? or is 0.5 to l litre overfill enough to submerge the piston in the crankcase).

 

Forgot to mention I disassembled the breather tubes, air boxes and inlet manifold - presence of oil but not excessive. Apart from oil in the folds of the large rubber bellows, there wasn't much at the 8 trumpet ends of the inlet manifold. Cleaned up any oil and reassembled