first of all, for anyone who doesnt really care about the details- im looking to replace rod bearings on a d16z6. any advice on this? and am i correct in assuming each engine has different color codes and has to be checked before you order the oem bearings? i am just trying to get these ordered ASAP and need to know if i should tear my oil pan off now or if i can wait.

i have a 93 coupe ex with a z6 motor. i just rebuilt the head, and now i hear knocking. i am lucky i caught it, i was setting ignition timing and had someone slowly rev the car and heard a faint rattling between 1500-3000, and ONLY during acceleration, goes away when you hold it. also, more pronounced when the engine is warm. i have searched, and narrowed it down to bad rod bearing(s). it is not that bad yet, like i said, and through my searches i have seen much worse, its hard to believe people let their engines get that way without noticing. anyway, the motor has almost 300k on it, and its been very good so far. this is my dd right now, since i cant afford any other car. im not planning on building this motor or keeping it at all for that matter.. just trying to get it through the next year or so at the very least, while i can build my other engine in the garage and maybe eventually have enough to buy a different dd. so im willing to spend the $50 or so on rod bearings and hope for a decent fix, if not then i guess i will have to go searching for a replacement block or long block.

thanks for any help anyone can offer.

 

the guy i bought my car from said the same thing he rebuilt the head them it started knocking. I just rebuilt my longblock was about 865 part/labor. You are not going to fix a spun rod bearing for 50 bux its a least gonna be a couple hundred bucks machine the crank and the new bearings and seals


Modified by jimmy o. at 9:33 PM 9/30/2008

 

drain the oil, and pull the oil pan off.. start from there. then one by one push/pull on each rod cap.. see if there is any play.. if there is, theres your culprit. remove each rod cap, one by one, and find out which color bearings you have in there..
order some new ones, and use some plastigauge and check your clearances. if they're too loose you might need to get the next size/color up.. refer to the honda manual or helms manual for bearing colors..

 

again, first things to the point for those who dont care. i called the dealership about bearings, just to check prices, though i wasnt sure which i would need to order yet- and apparently they are all discontinued. i was fearing this, since i heard most of the main bearings were discontinued. in this case, i know they make standard size aftermarket rod bearings as well.. i also know that they dont have the exact tolerances that honda's do.... any advice on the best ones to get?

as ive said before, i just need it to make it a little while longer so im trying not to drop hundreds more dollars into it, otherwise i will have to keep the engine forever because its priceless, once i swap it out. i was kind of trying to get away with not taking the crank out. i have limited down time in this car, and i usually like to do things thoroughly but this is almost the last straw. i know putting new bearings in it might not fix it, but if it does, and it manages to last me a while longer, then its all good. like i said, the engine has close to 300k and i cant really do much else with it short of a total rebuild. if i start pulling the tranny off to get the crank out, and everything else... i would just replace everything and rebuild it, and i am trying to avoid that. if i put the bearings in and it doesnt fix it, or they fail again, then maybe i'll reconsider at that point. this is a simple enough procedure that im willing to try it first. you can knock on me if you want for not doing it the right way, because i totally agree its just a long shot and im sort of fed up with this motor at this point and just want to drive for a while. also at worst, the engine blows and i say *f it and bite the bullet and kill my wallet and just buy a new car and put this in the garage until i can afford to finish building the engine i want in it.

 

well, i just ordered some clevite bearings from summit racing, they were about $10 something a piece. ive heard good things about clevite, so i figured they were worth the extra $15 above the federal moguls. im planning on just slapping these in here and hoping that cures the knocking, because it isnt too bad yet at all. if not, then i'll have no choice but to rebuild the bottom end, so this is an effort worth trying for me. we'll see when they get here and i get them in this weekend.

 

ok, i have all main bearing cap bridge bolts loose... i left two in there so it doesnt come crashing onto the floor when i try to loosen it, but i can't get it to budge. i tried lightly tapping it with a hammer, but its just not coming loose. does anyone have any advice or tips for pulling this thing off? im just trying to make sure i dont f* anything up.

 

ok, well not like anyone is really going to help me, but i am having the same problem with the rod bearing caps. i havent done this before, and i dont want to damage anything. any good ways to get the caps off? i have the nuts off, but it will not budge. searched and searched, for any helpful tips, but all anyone/anything ever says is 'and then remove the rod caps, onto the next thing.'

 

again.............. not like anyone cares. but i got everything replaced and its running again. the journals all looked ok, the bearings themselves had slight wear marks on them, but nothing serious. so i think this wasnt my problem. but i replaced the bearings anyway. i know you're supposed to get the crank machined and get undersized bearings to match appropriate clearances... but i did it anyway. it runs fine, for now. the knocking is still slight, so i believe its either piston slap or maybe i need to adjust my valves, im doing valves this week to see if that helps. also in case anyone does search this thread for something similar, i'll report any trouble with just swapping the aftermarket bearings.

 

ne luck? did u check valve lash? i had a similar problem i tried swapping the head and that didnt work and i just sold the car to some1 who swaped the motor.

 

i heard from honda yesterday that the colored bearings r all discontinued only standards available

 

it has been about a month since ive changed my rod bearings. i got the clevite 77s, standard replacements. my old ones turned out to not be too bad, everything was still ok, but i changed them anyway. yeah, everywhere i looked they said they were discontinued, so much for that. i actually had greens, the ones i pulled out.. and apparently thats what the standard aftermarket sizes are closest to, so i dont think i'll have any problems. i havent had any problems yet... nothing has blown up so i must not have f*'d it up. i am going to do my valve lash today.. first time i have had time, i drive every day and hardly ever get a day off from work, and engine needs to be dead cold and i never have enough time to let it cool and do it. so... we'll see. the knocking/rattling/clatter or whatever you want to call it, is still there. ive basically narrowed it down to piston slap- when i rebuilt my head, i made the stupid decision to clean off my pistons, with seafoam deep creep.. i think that wiped out the gunk sealing around my piston rings, and although they are worn, that crap was sealing them up.. now i wiped all that out, so im sure its just the piston rings knocking. i know its still not good, but nothing i can do about that- im not ripping anything else apart on it, until i get a new car or something. so drive until it blows, basically but i dont think it will. it might just be my valve lash too, so we'll find out!