Alright, when my balance shaft seal popped out and I lost all of my oil, I was obviously pretty afraid of the condition of my rod/main bearings.. After replacing all of the crap(timing belt/water pump/cam seals/main seal/bs seal/retainer), I started the car up, ran fine, drove it down the road, no weird noises.. Drained the oil again and dropped the pan..

I found sparkling metallic, almost paint flake looking pieces in my oil pan and about two rounded pieces of aluminum looking metal, about 1mm long and less thick...

I also found white residue at the bottom of the pan, looked almost like coffee cream but not mixed with the oil, just traces of it.. I have read this could mean I am about to spin a rod/main..

SO, basically, since I have not spun a bearing yet, do you think I could replace the main/rod bearings without having to pull the engine and get machine work done to the block/crank?

This is my daily so I need to get this **** back on the road.

 

I also can't get the damn block girdle/cap bridge off, any tips/tricks? The bolts are out, it just won't budge.. tried crowbar/huge flathead/hammer(actually broke the wooden handle in half from prying lol)..

I took off #2 and #3 rod caps for the time being.. bearings look worn, probably normal for 110k motor, I will post pics later..

Is it possible to replace the main bearings without droppin the crank?

 

The girdle can be a bitch. Get it mounted somewhere good so it won't move much. Take a crowbar and stick the long end in between the block and girdle, being careful not to hurt any mating surfaces. Pull on the crowbar a bit to give it tension, then smack it with your BFH. Get it a little loose on one side/end, then move to another place and pry/smack. It will eventually separate and pull the dowel pins out.

About the bearings. The oily sludge at the bottom sounds kinda normal. The flakes can be a bit normal......a bit. Is there any significant amount? Because if there is, check the bearings themselves. Check the journals on the crank as well.

Keep us updated.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by LudeyKrus &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The girdle can be a bitch. Get it mounted somewhere good so it won't move much. Take a crowbar and stick the long end in between the block and girdle, being careful not to hurt any mating surfaces. Pull on the crowbar a bit to give it tension, then smack it with your BFH. Get it a little loose on one side/end, then move to another place and pry/smack. It will eventually separate and pull the dowel pins out.

About the bearings. The oily sludge at the bottom sounds kinda normal. The flakes can be a bit normal......a bit. Is there any significant amount? Because if there is, check the bearings themselves. Check the journals on the crank as well.

Keep us updated.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Thanks for the reply/tip, I have the #2 and #3 bearings out, and they look OK I would say, I will post up pics soon, and the crank looks fine so far but I need to get that girdle off, I will try what you said, Thanks a ton for the reply

 

you need to drop the crank to repalce mains

sounds like its time for a rebuild.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by v4lu3s &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">you need to drop the crank to repalce mains

sounds like its time for a rebuild.</TD></TR></TABLE>

lets not jump to conclusions, and oh, Merry Christmas!

 

try tapping it on the sides all around with a soft mallet or a dead blow. then pry it off evenly all around. dont get hit in the head when it lets loose!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Rosko &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">try tapping it on the sides all around with a soft mallet or a dead blow. then pry it off evenly all around. dont get hit in the head when it lets loose!</TD></TR></TABLE>

lol, I will have to give it a go, takin a while b/c I refuse to work on my car on Christmas haha..

here are pics of #2 and #3 respectively, just one side for now..

 

thse look like normal higher miled bearings to me.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by v4lu3s &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">thse look like normal higher miled bearings to me.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yea thats what I thought, but I have yet to check the mains, which I hear go first?

Who knows, not messin with it today, just wanted to post em up..

Thanks guys..

 

I can't get the damn girdle off argh! My crowbar doesn't fit right, can't get any good leverage spots and its awkward on my back tryin to get this thing off..

 

Yea, I definitely just used a crowbar/jack with the crowbar braced on the subframe, and used the jack to apply pressure.. the girdle didn't budge, the crowbar bent in half..


There ARE only 10 bolts correct? lol..

 

yep 10 of them

I started prying it from the one end and when it broke loose I hit it with mallet a couple of times...

 

Alright finally got the damn thing off..

Ok I am assuming this is normal wear for a 110k mile motor,

Crank main #2



Here is #4





#5



Bearing # 4



Bearing # 5



Good thing I checked huh? Do you guys think the crank is OK, did I pull em soon enough?

 

Looks ok from the pics. Do you feel any grooves in it?

 

looks a bit heated but not damaged. if no scratches then replace bearings and you're good to go.

 

#4 is kinda iffy to me, this is the first time I have ever done this.. there are no grooves that I can feel or anything, it just looks a bit different than the others..

 

Doesn't look that bad from the pictures.

 

bump, anyone else?

 

Looks pretty normal to me. Polish the journals and put it back together with new bearings and you should be fine. Stuff can hang out in the pan for quite a while, so some of the stuff you found in there could be old. Make sure the screen on the oil pickup is clear while you have it apart. You should also be able to see up into the cylinders a little ways. Make sure that looks ok too. Good luck.

 

Alright, so I checked out my rod/bearing colors..

Rod1 - C2 - Green
Rod2 - B2 - Yellow
Rod3 - B2 - Yellow
Rod4 - B2 - Yellow

Main1 - 33 - Green
Main2 - 34 - Green/Brown
Main3 - 33 - Green
Main4 - 34 - Green/Brown
Main5 - 34 - Green/Brown

I have a couple questions.. On the rods, the only code on the rod I could find was on the machined side of it, firewall side, and there were TWO numbers though.. one number was stamped just on the rod part, each rod having the number "1", then on each rod, partly stamped on the rod and partly on the cap(half and half), was the number "2".. after looking at the actual color on the bearings I determined the half cap/half rod number to be the right one.. strange, any input?

Also, on the mains, the ones with "Green/Brown" which should I go for? the one with the tighter tolerance since its a higher mileage motor, or should I go with a looser tolerance on the main's I am worried about? I am going to be plastigauging of course but just checkin before I order the parts.. As a note, I had "33333" on the block, numbers instead of letters.. and on the crank the numbers were on the opposite side of letters, except for the 1st main, where it was stamped above the rod letter, is that the correct number? just making sure!!

Let's get some more replies!

 

im in the middle of doing my bearings too and cannot get that girdle off for anything im almost ready to give up then i remembered that im a retard and didnt check h-t for any answers but can u tell me exactly how u got it to free up?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by BLK93PreludeSi &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">im in the middle of doing my bearings too and cannot get that girdle off for anything im almost ready to give up then i remembered that im a retard and didnt check h-t for any answers but can u tell me exactly how u got it to free up?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Hey, well I just got the crowbar and instead of trying to work it off in the middle, I went to the very edge of girdle and just started RAPPIN on the think hard back and forth(i had it braced on somethin other than the oil pan surface) and it eventually came off, those dowels are a biyatch!

dont give up!

 

there are only those 10 bolts right?? because this thing will not EFFIN let go and its gonna be gettin dark soon so ill go give it one more go for today.

 

yup only 10, I know its a bitch, I probably spent 4 hours trying and giving up and doin other stuff, then tryin some more..