Trouble finding rod bearings

[haydenm315]

sdpatt:
Here is the post I remember making in a reply near the bottom of the thread in my own rod bearing service topic .

My engine seemed to be doing quite well with no unusual mechanical noises before I decided to change the bearings. But after reading the many posts in the Forum about bearing wear and bearing failures, I though it would be good insurance for the life of my engine to change them now. I had noticed that the sound of my engine was rougher than that of all of the engines I had serviced and thought that only the bearings could be causing it. Apparently they were, as even my wife has noticed that the engine sounds smoother and quieter. After seeing my bearings and knowing their excellent oil history, I would think that 150,000 miles would be a good milestone to consider replacing the connecting rod bearings.

Definately good stuff there. I love how you put search terms at the bottom. That's exactly what I searched for the other day. Might as well follow your steps. I might hold off on the bearings for a little while. It's just a precautionary measure on my part. I'm not having oil pressure problems and there is no knock. 120k it is? There are stories on here about rod knock under 100k. I don't know the oil history of the car before me. The low oil system doesn't function. Having no indicator could spell trouble for previous owners that didnt' check the oil. There is a small oil pan leak on my car. Those are my excuses to rip the bottom end apart and go to town. It's a little hot right here for me. I was beginning to show symptoms of heat stroke today on the roof. We're in the 90's again. Weather must be pretty rough down there in Texas. Does your car mind 110+ degree weather. Have you done any work on the cooling system?

 

[stevetatro]

Don't worry about recommendations. Everyone has an opinion, they all differ, and none is 100% correct.

While I greatly respect Scott's opinion, I sometimes disagree with him. It's not a bad thing; he's still obviously one of the most knowlegable SHO people on this Forum.

If you don't know the history of your car, and you would feel safer doing the rod bearings now, then do them. If the previous owner abused the car by lugging the engine, or by driving hard with before the oil warmed up, your bearings may be worn.

If the car was driven and maintained properly, there's no reason the rod bearings won't last 200k miles. Lots of SHO's have gone this long (including Scott).

Call NAPA and have them order them. Six sets of CB1435P. Put them in. Forget the mains, for now.

Good luck.

 

[sdpatt]

If you have any reason to suspect that your engine's rod bearings are worn, by all means, replace them. I recommended a mileage figure that would be appropriate if you knew the maintenance and useage history of your car. If it was bought used then be on the safe side.

As far as the Texas heat and my car, I have only replaced components with stock as they wear out. No cooling system upgrades have been necessary as long as the system is operating correctly. Once again, maintenance is the key word here just as it was with the rod bearings.

 

[haydenm315]

sdpatt:
If you have any reason to suspect that your engine's rod bearings are worn, by all means, replace them. I recommended a mileage figure that would be appropriate if you knew the maintenance and useage history of your car. If it was bought used then be on the safe side.

As far as the Texas heat and my car, I have only replaced components with stock as they wear out. No cooling system upgrades have been necessary as long as the system is operating correctly. Once again, maintenance is the key word here just as it was with the rod bearings.

I went back to the napa place with my piece of paper. I got a different guy this time. I gave him the part number and he said, "Just let me do my thing". He asked me for year, model, and 3.0/3.2. I told him to order me the standard size. He went on to give me a talk about how I should not touch my rod bearings if there isn't a problem. I told him that I drive the car hard sometimes, and want to have it for a long time. A spun rod bearing is definately something I want to prevent. He came up with the same number that I had for the kit and all was good. They will be here in a week.

After leaving napa, I went out and bought me some oil pressure and water temperature gauges. This should give me a good indication of what kind of condition my rod bearings are in. I'd also love to know the temperature my engine runs at. The NORMAL gauge is quite weak.

<small>[ August 16, 2003, 04:32 PM: Message edited by: haydenm315 ]</small>

 

[79pace]

My red 93 ATX has a spun bearing in it right now at 117K miles and the engine is pretty clean inside. No build up or residue on anything. Just goes to show. It can happen early even if the car has been maintained. It also depends on how hard its been driven maintained or not maintained. I am getting ready to pay a shop that I know very well $1100 to pull the crank and put in a re ground crank with all new bearings for me. Its not cheap but I dont have the time to pull that crank out myself.

 

[haydenm315]

79pace:
My red 93 ATX has a spun bearing in it right now at 117K miles and the engine is pretty clean inside. No build up or residue on anything. Just goes to show. It can happen early even if the car has been maintained. It also depends on how hard its been driven maintained or not maintained. I am getting ready to pay a shop that I know very well $1100 to pull the crank and put in a re ground crank with all new bearings for me. Its not cheap but I dont have the time to pull that crank out myself.

That's crappy. I read that a lot of 3.2's are showing more rod bearing wear than 3.0's. Maybe the automatic puts more stress on the motor when compared to a properly driven mtx? I'm paranoid of rod bearing failure so I'm going to be replacing them as a precaution. It's only $50 for the set of bearings. The plan is to prevent the $1,100 job. People at auto parts stores seem to be on the, if it aint broke don't fix it kick. They look at me funny when I'm telling them I'm replacing the bearings as preventative maintenance around 100k.