Engine knock- rod bearings?!?

[FOMOCOTOSHO]

Ok everyone, I need some help asap..

My '95 ATX started knocking a couple days ago and I had it checked out. I talked to Kurt @ NE SHO and had 2 different guys locally listen to it and they told me it was the rod bearings.

My q is should I also do the main bearings too? Kurt told me just the rod bearings is all I need.

Another q is how do I do this without pulling the motor? Kurt said you can do it but is there a special way of doing this? How can you replacing bearings with the crankshaft & everything still in? Any special tricks or trips?

Last q, if I do the main bearings, where can I get the thrust washers? Rock Auto has all the bearings & seals I need, but the description on the main bearings says "requires thrust washers not included in set" and they don't sell the thrust washers. Where should I get these? Or is there somewhere else I can all the parts at once?

Please help?!? I sold my other car now so this is all I got.

 

[JRA2000TL]

I was told you only need to replace the rod bearings; not the mains. The mains do not tend to go on these cars, and I've never heard of them spinning. The thrust washers are obsolete, so you will have to reuse the existing ones if you choose to replace the mains. The main bearings are about 80 bucks, so you could probably save your money there. Get the rod bearing kit from RCM. It's 65 bucks and includes your RTV, oil pan gasket, and oil pickup tube gasket. I usually buy the rest of my stuff from RockAuto though.

www.shophoenixproject.com has a step by step write up with photos on how to change the bearings (yes they can be done w/ the engine in the car).

 

[whiteman_01]

You can do rod bearings without tearing the motor down. It actually not too bad of a job. As for the mains, i would think youd have to tear the motor down to do them, but im not positive. Just do the rod bearings and you will be set anyways. Just dont drive the car anymore till you get them done.

 

[1995SHO9]

www.shophoenixproject.com Has a step by step guide as listed above.

You can buy the rod bearing kit here: http://www.rcmautomotive.com/id19.html

Get the rod bearing kit.

There easy to do, you do not need to pull the whole engine, Just the y pipe and oil pan, oil pickup tube and skirt.

As far as main bearings, don't worry about those.

Hope that helps.

Oh, and dont' drive the car.

 

[FOMOCOTOSHO]

You guys rock!! Thank you!!

 

[Mr Anonymous]

My '95 ATX started knocking a couple days ago and I had it checked out. I talked to Kurt @ NE SHO and had 2 different guys locally listen to it and they told me it was the rod bearings.

OMFG!!!

You mean to say that you called Kirk on the phone and he gave you advice for FREE!?!?!?

I can't believe it. SHO maintenance and troubleshooting is a closely-guarded secret! You usually need a secret decoder ring and handshake to get that kind of information!

J/K obviously, but it's just ironic given the complaining in another thread about cam welding that SHO information is limited to a handful of members in some secret society! :sun:

Good luck! As mentioned, main bearings on these motors never fail. I've seen oil-starved motors that completely seized that still had good main bearings. Get the rod bearings done and you should be OK, just don't run the motor any further until you've got the new bearings installed!

 

[shoon]

Surprised nobody mentioned this, but if its knocking, there is a good chance you have already spun a bearing and possibly damaged the crank.

if you can, park the car rip it apart and inspect the bearings / crank before sinking any money into it. It's possible you might need a new crank as well. Any scoring is bad. Measure the crank with a micrometer and make sure you are within spec and standard bearings will fit.

Hopefully you can get away with just bearings, some people have had the same problem and been able to get away with it. but as already mentioned don't start / run the car at all. Good luck!!

 

[somedude_001]

Surprised nobody mentioned this, but if its knocking, there is a good chance you have already spun a bearing and possibly damaged the crank.

if you can, park the car rip it apart and inspect the bearings / crank before sinking any money into it. It's possible you might need a new crank as well. Any scoring is bad. Measure the crank with a micrometer and make sure you are within spec and standard bearings will fit.

Hopefully you can get away with just bearings, some people have had the same problem and been able to get away with it. but as already mentioned don't start / run the car at all. Good luck!!

my atx had a nasty knock from wasted rod bearings at 199K. In my case the crank was fine so I installed the bearings and later installed a turbo on the car. 33K later I cracked a piston that was unrelated though.

 

[ultimatesho]

my atx had a nasty knock from wasted rod bearings at 199K. In my case the crank was fine so I installed the bearings and later installed a turbo on the car. 33K later I cracked a piston that was unrelated though.

agreed on that.....the 92 had a bit of knock when i changed out the RB's in it......crank was fine

 

[FOMOCOTOSHO]

So I have a quick related question. I re-installed the Superchips programmer back onto my car just before I started getting the engine knock. I didn't notice a big power difference but I did notice that my tranny would allow my to run up to 7500rpm before shifting instead of 7000rpm... would THAT be the reason I spun the bearing possibly? Is it unsafe to run a stock motor up that high? Can I keep the chip after I do the bearings?

 

[St Louis SHO]

7500 rpm on a stock engine is useless. Even most cammed motors do not make power up there. So I'd ditch the chip, fix the bearings and be ok with it.

 

[somedude_001]

So I have a quick related question. I re-installed the Superchips programmer back onto my car just before I started getting the engine knock. I didn't notice a big power difference but I did notice that my tranny would allow my to run up to 7500rpm before shifting instead of 7000rpm... would THAT be the reason I spun the bearing possibly? Is it unsafe to run a stock motor up that high? Can I keep the chip after I do the bearings?

I am assuming it would only let you run up that high if you manually held out a gear. If that is where the wide open throttle shift is when it is in D then I would probably not run that chip because it will slow you down. There is a benifit to be had here if you autoX and if you have a automatic tranny thought if it eliminates the need to shift.

Also if you have a automatic, reving it this high will destroy alt's very fast unless you install a under drive pulley.

you really need to NOT drive this car untill you get new bearings installed. the job will take 4-5 hours with hand tools if it is your first time and will cost about 60 bucks. if you spin a bearing then you will really be ******.

 

[FOMOCOTOSHO]

I am assuming it would only let you run up that high if you manually held out a gear. If that is where the wide open throttle shift is when it is in D then I would probably not run that chip because it will slow you down. There is a benifit to be had here if you autoX and if you have a automatic tranny thought if it eliminates the need to shift.

Also if you have a automatic, reving it this high will destroy alt's very fast unless you install a under drive pulley.

you really need to NOT drive this car untill you get new bearings installed. the job will take 4-5 hours with hand tools if it is your first time and will cost about 60 bucks. if you spin a bearing then you will really be ******.

Thanks for the reply somedude. The tranny does run up to 7500 with the shifter left in "D" now with the chip, it never did that without it.
The car is parked as I wait for my bearing kit to arrive from RCM.. though as history goes it may be april before I get it. I know Mark is busy but it's very poor service to take so long to ship orders and without any kind of reply or response to customers. I wish we had a better source for bearings. I'm having to walk to work now until I get my parts.

 

[ultimatesho]

The car is parked as I wait for my bearing kit to arrive from RCM.. though as history goes it may be april before I get it. I know Mark is busy but it's very poor service to take so long to ship orders and without any kind of reply or response to customers. I wish we had a better source for bearings. I'm having to walk to work now until I get my parts.

took me i think 4 days to get my kit in........but i have heard some say its taken a while for them to get theirs

 

[genob2]

Crankshaft supply in Minneapolis has had bearings to my door in 2 1/2 days twice. Their pricey (69.00) but fast

 

[ckinney89sho]

ok im not sure how long its been or even if its been done on mine, but it sounds like a problem that i want to avoid at all costs. I just did my CPS about a year and a half ago and now i need my water pump done. so should i do the RB's when I do the 60k. I didnt know any better back then im learning a lot just reading and asking. thanks guys and girls for all the help. big kudos to all

 

[SuperHO]

simply put...if the engine's got 100k on it, just do em. they ain't hard, and $75 shipped is cheaper than an engine. and remember...assembly **** is your friend.

 

[ultimatesho]

ok im not sure how long its been or even if its been done on mine, but it sounds like a problem that i want to avoid at all costs. I just did my CPS about a year and a half ago and now i need my water pump done. so should i do the RB's when I do the 60k. I didnt know any better back then im learning a lot just reading and asking. thanks guys and girls for all the help. big kudos to all

as SuperHO said do em........if ur unsure of when or if theyve ever been done do em......ull thank urself when ur done, cheap and easy insurance......and it beats the heck out of replacing a engine because you were to lazy to do em

 

[Janice]

Thanks for this info. Guess I will be getting mine done sooner than later.

 

[jonmon6691]

Don't drive the car. And depending on how much experience you have working on cars, it may take much longer than 4 hours. Start on a Friday night and give yourself all weekend. Chanced are, something unexpected will happen/break and you'll need the extra time.