302LVR

Hello all. I may need to change conn rod and crank bearings soon on my 98' prelude since i'm getting a slight rod knock on the car since the oil pump went bad. I was wondering if u guys can recommend any high performance brand that might handle abuse a little better or should i just stick to oem honda replacement bearings? I know this isnt a part thats too expensive but anything that wont break the bank would be ideal. Worst case scenario, if an aftermarket high performance brand is too expensive i'll just stick to oem but hopefully you all can point me in the right direction. Thanks for the help.

motoxxxman

I personally always use ACL Race bearings (tri-metal). NOT the new alumaglide (aluminum).
I've had more than one mishap from King bearings in the past, and oem bearings can be a pain to size properly and aren't as good as aftermarket tri-metal. Some may say differently, but this is my opinion and experience.

just make sure to get standard size, NOT the +0.001"undersize or any oversize. and of course make sure to measure bearing clearances with some good ol plastigauge to ensure its within spec. if it's not within spec, more than likely there is some damage/wear to the crank. I've never had a single std size ACL bearing be out of spec.

snobordboy

OEM is the best, as you can get the exact sizes needed. ACL, King, Clevite are all others I have heard to be used with success.

302LVR

Thanks for the input. I've also heard good things about ACL and Clevite but not really from that King brand. I will most probably be using the standard size unless i have lots of wear or damage but i doubt thats the case. I haven't driven the car any since the slight rod knock started so i'm pretty sure i have minimal scoring or damage but we'll see once it's taken apart. Thanks once again and i'll stay open to suggestions till further notice although majority rules.

motoxxxman

well you pretty much need to use standard size bearings if you get anything aftermarket. the +0.001" bearings are for super high hp engines that get hotter and expand further, as they actually make 0.001" MORE clearance than std size. and the oversize bearings are only for if you get the crank machined (ground down) which is a HUGE no-no for honda motors. If you have any amount of damage to the crank, you'll need to replace the crank. if there's any measureable wear to the crank, you'll also need to replace the crank. So really, it's STD size or nothing at all lol. and all oem bearings are STD size per se, the different colors are just different thicknesses by 0.0001"-0.0002", but not for wear, it's for getting to an exact spec and compensating for differences manufacturing tolerances.

302LVR

Awesome. Thanks for the info. I'm pretty sure it's not that hard if i use the manual to walk me through the job. I'm pretty sure i read up somewhere that the different colors on the bearings determines what location they go installed in on the block. I'll make sure and pay close attention to the instructions in the manual. Ohhh, one more thing! Can the oem rod bolts be re-used or are they torque-to-yield or one-time use bolts?

Aradin

I would stay away from ACL race bearings on a stock engine in a daily driver. They have a little more clearance but the surface is much harder which makes debris more likely to damage the crank over something like a traditional bearing. I've used regular King bearings in 10+ H/F engine builds and never once had a bearing issue with them. All different sorts of builds too, stock rebuild, high HP turbo engines, etc etc.

The rod bolts can be re-used without issue most of the time. If you check the lengths on them and one comes out even a small bit longer than it's supposed to be then it's bad and needs to be replaced because it's permanently stretched and the metal is compromised. 90% of the time you won't have that issue unless you've been stressing the bolts with lots of high revs and other things of that nature over the life of the engine.

302LVR

Great info! Thanks! I'll make sure and check the rod bolt lengths for any stretching once removed. Also, wouldn't the harder bearing surface mean it's more resistant to wear and abuse over an oem material bearing? At the end of the day this is pretty much for an oem rebuild. I've thought about maybe going turbo in the future so if anything i wouldn't mind having something that would hold up to abuse similar or better than oem bearings if anything.

Aradin

Yes and no. The race bearings are generally for applications with much higher horsepower(way more than you'll make on a stock block), extremely high RPM conditions(again, more than you'll make on a stock block), or other factors like poor engine geometry. Any engine will have some debris get into the journals once in awhile. With the race bearing, as it is harder, you have a greater chance of damaging the crank itself whereas with a regular OE style bearing the debris would pass through mostly unnoticed. I've seen a few B series guys locally with the same thought process and I've also seen them trash a few cranks in rapid succession.

If you plan to run the engine for a long time, say 5+ years, it may be beneficial to run an OE style bearing for longevity. You will snap a rod or bust ringlands on a stock block long before bearings become an issue.

Another side note, if you're sure you want to go boost, take the time to gap the top and second rings a little wider when you do the rebuild. That will go a long way towards keeping the piston ringlands from cracking when you add boost to the equation.

302LVR

Makes sense. I guess u can say the bearings act as a fuse and take the wear and abuse before the crank pins and journals. I will probably just be doing a stock rebuild so i'll probably stick to an oem style and std size bearing. This engine probably won't be "built for boost" for a few years so i'll probably worry about that when the time comes. Thanks once again for the input.

motoxxxman

I disagree with what the guy above said. the hardness of the bearing surfaces is not very different. and no the bearings have zero effect on what damages the crank and what doesn't regarding debris. When debris passes through, it will either get stuck in the bearing surface, or it'll just blow right through. And debris getting caught in the bearing will happen no matter what type of bearing is used.

I can also personally say I've used the same crank in every one of my motors for my personal car, with a total of over 600,000 miles on it. the last 350k-400k are with race bearings. zero crank damage.

JRCivic1

I have an affinity for the H22 engine... I have been a fan since 2002 when I swapped my first one into my '95 DX Coupe. For a street car, I always recommend using OE colored bearings. The oil clearances on the H22A, especially the mains, are very unique and require the ability to be able to alter the clearances by .0001" at a time. "Standard" sized bearings from any aftermarket manufacturer do not offer this level of fitting... especially if the crankshaft has been micropolished and/or the block mains have been line honed/bored. This doesn't mean that "Standard" bearings won't fall within the clearance ranges for all five main caps and four rods, but there is a difference between building and blueprinting an engine and stating it is "within spec".

In my experience, motoxxxman's results are EXTREMELY attypical and are not indicative of the typical fate of H22A engines with generic aftermarket bearings. I have seen countless oil pressure failures/losses that begin with the loss of VTEC operation and rapidly progress into rod knock or engine seize. Even a blind squirrel finds an acorn every now and then...

302LVR

^^^The last 2 sentences you wrote kinda explain what i'm experiencing now. After putting a re-furbished head with new mls gasket, valve seals, seats and the whole nine, i immediately started having issues with vtec not working properly. It wasn't till i actually hooked up an oil pressure gauge that i finally found out i had a bad oil pump which lost pressure as the oil thinned out @normal operating temps. This explained the loss of vtec after i checked that all the electrical components for vtec were working properly.

Unfortunately, i drove the car for a few miles not knowing this and developed a slight rod knock. I'm pretty sure the damage is very minimal as it happened about 1 mile away from home and i babied the car home but i won't know for sure till i open her up. I'm pretty sure i might have to micro-polish that crank manually or get it machined it if turns out worse than i thought. Hopefully it's very minimal and i can check my tolerances with a micrometer and plasti gauge and go from there. I'm pretty optimistic cuz the oil pump does create good oil pressure upon start-up and lubricates properly and the rod knock is very slight. Regardless, this is the first time this car gets new rod bearings and i just wanted to make sure i'm getting the proper parts for a basic oem style replacement as i don't plan on any future mods anytime soon. Thanks once again to everyone for the feedback.