[Shotimes] Rod bearings

[Carl Prochilo]

Well at this point if a motor gets that bad you just replace it, or as some
of us do, upgrade to a 3.2L.  I'm sure Don D. is reading this.  Once the
supply of motors runs out, I don't know...

Oh, and I just rejoined the list recently after a 3 year sojourn.  I'm sure
I would have gotten lots of help had I asked.  Maybe it was just a
subconscious desire to upgrade the motor...

Cheers,
Carl Prochilo
92 Ultra Red Crimson
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Steve Tatro" <stevetatro_shotimes@att.net>
To: "'Carl Prochilo'" <gr8sho@prochilo.myserver.org>; "'SHOtimes'"
<shotimes@autox.team.net>
Sent: Friday, August 08, 2003 2:30 PM
Subject: RE: [Shotimes] Rod bearings


> There have been many people face this situation.  Some replace rod
> bearings at the first hint of the oil pressure light.  No damage to the
> crank journals.  Some people hear the bottom end knocking before they
> ever see the idiot light, and replace the bearings.  No damage to the
> crank journals.
>
> I helped (and I use the term loosely) Mark Mallory do his rod bearings.
> He had some that were the scarriest looking bearings ever come out.
> They had clearly spun and were making some noise.  Still, there was no
> visible damage to the journals.  He replaced them with some standard
> sized Clevite bearings, and is still going strong, AFAIK.
>
> Carl, you probably could've saved the engine had you responded to the
> first oil pressure light.  There's apparently some window of opportunity
> between when the bearings start to knock and when there's irreversable
> damage done to the crank.  I mean, who the heck is going to remove the
> crank, have it precisely reground to accept an oversized bearing, and
> put it all back together!
>
> Take care,
>
> Steve Tatro
> Red/Black '93 with 169k miles
> Cincinnati, Ohio
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: shotimes-admin@autox.team.net
> [mailto:shotimes-admin@autox.team.net] On Behalf Of Carl Prochilo
> Sent: Friday, August 08, 2003 2:19 PM
> To: SHOtimes
> Subject: Re: [Shotimes] Rod bearings
>
>
> Rod bearings that are in an impending state of failure are a silent
> killer at first.  This is why I believe people want an oil pressure
> gauge instead of idiot lights, CMIIW.
>
> This is what I observed on my 3.0L before it gave up the ghost last
> September.
>   1.. After the engine gets warm, and sitting at a traffic light with
> transmission in neutral, the red Oil light flickers slowly.  Give it a
> little gas and it goes away and usually stays off.  Engine is quiet as
> usual.  No perceived loss of power.
>   2.. Eventually after a few more drives this pattern will get worse and
> then the light won't go off once the engine reaches idle again.  Engine
> is still quiet.  No perceived loss of power.
>     a.. At this point I decide to get an oil flush and change oil and
> filter. No difference noticed.  Duh.  I ask some of the local people
> what might be happening and they don't give much help and can't diagnose
> the problem.
>   3.. At some point later, starting the car will sound like an old mid
> 70s motor that has bad timing and you hear a knocking sound.  Drive the
> car, sound goes away.  After engine warms up, you get same as 2.
>   4.. Finally the coup de gras.  You drive the car, knocking sound
> doesn't seem to go away.  It's really loud now but car still moves.  The
> noise gets to be so loud that you just don't want to drive it anymore.
> Now you have a real decision to make about the car. I'm not a gear-head,
> so throughout this whole time I have no idea what's happening until it's
> too late.  You probably read this and say WTF was this guy thinking, but
> I wasn't using the car a lot at the time and the drives were all in the
> roughly 10 mile per trip range.  Of course I know better now but at the
> time it was all new to me.
>
> I don't know if after any point during this sequence if the motor could
> have been saved if it had stopped being used and the rod bearings were
> immediately replaced.  I do know that once the crankshaft has been
> compromised that the repairs get to a whole new level of work.
>
> Cheers,
> Carl Prochilo
> 92 Ultra Red Crimson
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Bruce Malachuk" <bmalach1@nycap.rr.com>
> To: "SHOtimes" <shotimes@autox.team.net>
> Sent: Friday, August 08, 2003 12:59 PM
> Subject: [Shotimes] Rod bearings
>
>
> > Well with my center console out of the car and no sound deadening
> > material
> in
> > place I can hear a distinct knock at 3500+ RPM in my car when driving.
>
> > That
> to
> > me is enough readon to change the bearing, but I need to find the best
>
> > deal
> on
> > all that I need to do the job.
> >
> > Price wise is there anyplace out there that carries everything and has
> decent
> > prices? Rockauto doesn't carry the bearings but carries the gasket set
>
> > and
> egr
> > gasket to use as an oil pickup gasket.
> >
> > I wanna try and do this over the weekend cause I really hate the idea
> > of my car knocking like that.
> >
> > Bruce
> > 94 Opal Frost MTX
> > 93 Black ATX - winter beater then parts car :-)
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