Rod Bearings. Do Them or Not??

[SHO_ROLLER_2]

I want to hear people's opinions.

Keep in mind, I would have a REAL mechanic do them if I had them done.

My car has about 200K miles on it and has had Mobile 1 since 90K miles. I've been told that I should do them by some people and others have told me not to even think about it.

SO WTF?!?!

 

[ViPER1313]

In my opinion, do them. My thoughts being that if the bearings are worn, oil pressure will be lower throughout the entire motor, increasing wear throughout, and if a bearing actually is worn enough to spin it will destroy the entire motor. I think if done properly the procedure should prolong the life of the engine.

My personal experience is that my bearings at ~135k miles looked like they would have lasted another 100k miles. 40k miles on the new bearings and no issues. Peace of mind gained, nothing lost.

EDIT: Also, I couldn't get a local shop to touch the work when I went to have mine done. You might have to look around unless you have an active SHOForum mechanic who lives near you.

 

[pitaSHO]

x2. Do them. They're relatively cheap to do and a lot easier than replacing the motor. I've seen bad ones on motors around 175k and good ones on 280k motors. The problem is there is no warning. When the oil light comes on it's almost too late already.

Nike. Just do it.

Chris K.

 

[CWhalenSHO]

Just do it! As long as you do it right and follow the correct procedure, you'll be fine.

I just want to know how you're going to be able to get the Y-Pipe off the exhaust manifold studs without breaking them. That's why I haven't done my Y-Pipe install and my rod bearings.

Those things are so rusted on there, I'm afraid they are going to snap if I try to get them off.

 

[SHO_ROLLER_2]

I'll find somebody to do it. I will NOT touch them.

 

[cfamilyfix]

Just do it! As long as you do it right and follow the correct procedure, you'll be fine.

I just want to know how you're going to be able to get the Y-Pipe off the exhaust manifold studs without breaking them. That's why I haven't done my Y-Pipe install and my rod bearings.

Those things are so rusted on there, I'm afraid they are going to snap if I try to get them off.

I just broke every single one of mine....I'll deal with them later....:laugh_ti:

 

[elarm1]

Stop being Pusses.... Do them!

 

[ycode90]

Doit.

 

[jonheese]

Don't do it!


























Just kidding. Do it.

 

[shospeed143]

as long as your old bearings have not failed yet I would say do them. if they have failed and you have metal in your oil then you would just end up doing it again soon after you replaced them. they are not that hard to do your biggest problem is is just getting your Y pipe off then the rest is just small bolts and keeping your bolts organized. there are plenty of right ups that would help you out on this job if you want to give it a try.

 

[justin mccluske]

Do it!

 

[93rev2sev]

You have 200k miles?

You want a "real" mechanic to do the work?

I say skip it. The number one draw for changing rod bearings is the fact you can do them yourself for under $100. A "real" mechanic is likely to charge $400-$600.

 

[rubydist]

imho, a mtx w/ 200k is in desperate need of rod bearings being replaced.

 

[sperold]

Think long and hard about doing it yourself.
Buy an electric impact gun (after you get some advice) to get some of the exhaust bolts off, sure some are going to break, so have some new ones ready and a plan to get them in. Alternatively, I took my car to an exhaust shop and had them replace the studs before I did anything myself, and that got me way ahead of the game. That way, you at least have a specialist doing the hardest part of the job. If your Y pipe has been off lately, disregard all the above.
And buy that flex connector behind the cats as well.
Buy your new torque wrench and whatever gaskets your pan needs and get lots of advice on removing the pan.
Even after you buy everything, it will be so much cheaper than farming it out to someone.
If you live near a top notch shop that does a lot of SHO's (find out when their ace guy takes his holidays first), then, maybe turn it over to someone else. But take the day off work and go to the shop.... so you see, having someone else do the work will be hard too.
If you took it to one of the shops (like Area91 or whoever) that you see on this forum, you wouldn't need to take the day off.

As far as whether you should do it, it really depend on how much you challenge your motor. If you demand top performance and test the rev limiter occasionally, then you need to do everything you can to help it out.
With the same mileage, I am not planning on doing mine, but I baby my MTX, doing long hauls of highway driving.

 

[sho4life]

if you hook up an oil pressure guage will that tell you how "good" your bearings are? when they start to get too worn you should have lower pressure correct? i remember right before my bearings went out the light would flicker at very low rpms.. but the 4 second burnout did it in.

 

[jonheese]

In theory that would work, but it would be far from accurate. There are plenty of other things that affect oil pressure almost as much, if not more. For instance, a damaged/dying oil pump (although pretty rare) could cause low oil pressure. A piece of debris lodged in an oil passage somewhere could cause high oil pressure (i.e. could raise the oil pressure enough to hide worn rod bearings). Also, if the main bearings were worn (which I think is also fairly rare), that could cause low oil pressure even if the rod bearings were fine.

I suppose you could use it as a rough guide, i.e. if you hook up a gauge and the oil pressure is low, go ahead and change the bearings because they're likely (although not guaranteed) due, but if it's normal, that doesn't mean that they're fine.

 

[AREA 91]

In my opnion, change them.

This is coming from a guy that has done 20 + sets of rod bearings.

Why risk junking the entire engine for a few hundred bux and an afternoon.

FWIW I only charge $150 labor for a rod bearing job.

 

[SHOtime2511]

Ill do them for you in the parking lot of our next track day.

 

[zach44102]

area 91 where are you located because i might have you replace mine for 150. well in a couple months. doug is welding my diff and im buying a trans from bamsho.

 

[sho'noffmtx]

My car has about 200K miles on it and has had Mobile 1 since 90K miles. I've been told that I should do them by some people and others have told me not to even think about it.

i had 107k on my car with mobil 1 since new according to the previous owner and it went boom.

just change them...