YOUR ROD BEARINGS SHOULD NOT LOOK LIKE THIS!
- Thread starter Gibbo
- Start date
Hopefully so, but I done very similar on an E46 and it was out lol.. nevermind only a small issue anyways!
Why I will get it double checked, but as I left the track rod ends on the steering rack and made sure I did not spin them, theory say toe settings will be spot on.
Of course camber and caster would not of changed as they can only be adjusted on my car at the top mount, this area has not being undone. But whole car will go on a hunter alignment soon to double check.
The rear subframe was the worst for me. I marked everything so I could put it back as was and it still ended up being out. Odd really. Anyways glad its all sorted for you dude and props for doing it on your back, I wouldn't have coped and taken the engine out lol!
If I'd have tried this it would have been a 316 when finished with loads of spare bits
Yeah thankfully no bolts left over!
Well looking at the state of that bearing it's obvious what the culprit is
Looking at the state of it, I'd say that had been on the way for some time, I don't think one little run over 8k would cause all of that wear.
Nice job though, you're brave/mad jumping into the engine internals without any experience. I would have sent it to a shop. Sounds like it has worked out well so far though.
Nice job though, you're brave/mad jumping into the engine internals without any experience. I would have sent it to a shop. Sounds like it has worked out well so far though.
The entire engine was on the way ever since it left the production line what's your point?
Gotta be honest here tldr
It was 2/3 runs.
The engine builder was 50/50 and said the car either has a fuel starvation issue or the wear was from all the track days and cylinder no.1 was on its last legs and as such a few spin rounds to 8500rpm could have stripped that shell extremely quick if there was some oil starvation especially at such a high rpm. With this time will tell!
But I see your point, for next few thousand miles and regular oil changes it is a case of monitoring things closely.
If a problem persist then I think the car has an oil starvation issue, oil pump maybe or crank/journals have an issue.
Shall keep a close eye on things as I don't want to grenade the engine as its a good one, so shall see how stuff goes. If it seems to be fine then great if not then a full on strip down will be done at a specialist at no doubt big money because if the motor gets stripped it will be going back together with uprated everything and I will build an NA monster.
Today I took the oil filter to an engine builder which was in the car for the 30-40 minutes when it was idling on cheap oil to try and flush anything remaining out.
They said there is still copper in the filter and some carbon deposits. They said all cars will have carbon deposits in the filter, particular more so on a brand new car or new engine.
They said the copper deposits is bearing material but it is very light and is residue debris which the filter is collecting, they said not to worry, the filter will pick it all up and because it is such a soft material it will not do any harm.
They said change the oil and filter in a weeks time and bring that filter for inspection as they would expect to see same amount of copper or less if the problem is now gone and what I am seeing is just residue. If there is more then the car has another issue such as oil starvation causing excessive wear or a problem with the crank. They did say though they think I will be fine, they had a good listen to the engine and said it sounds extremely healthy as S54's are normally quite rattly by nature, mainly from the vanos and top-end but easily mistaken as bottom end noise.
So fingers crossed.
Last edited:
The oil cooler is probably full of bits still. Can you take that off and clean?
Doesn't take long when a bearing picks up, they should only touch the crank when the engine is off and for a very short period when cranking.
The higher engine speed will have took the bearing past its designed rating. It was always on the edge of the design - hence the move to 10W-60 oil.
Doesn't take long when a bearing picks up, they should only touch the crank when the engine is off and for a very short period when cranking.
The higher engine speed will have took the bearing past its designed rating. It was always on the edge of the design - hence the move to 10W-60 oil.
Last edited:
I got a new oil cooler buddy as I was aware that would be holding onto a lot of residue debris.
The engine builder also pretty much said exactly what you just said and that if there was an oil starvation issue enough to cause the failure, so a bad pump for example he said the car would have being knocking within minutes again of starting up on the new bearings as it takes very little time.
He said not to worry, re-inspect the current filter in the car in a weeks time, drop the oil put fresh oil and a new filter in and then see how that filter looks in a couple of weeks and if all good then leave the oil in and just drop in a new filter.
We are on day two now, car was on 103,100 miles when rebuilt, now just gone over 103,200 miles, 100 miles on so lets see how she goes.
Funny that - two people who make a living out of understanding engines said the same thing.
If you after piece of mind you could always get the oil analysed for metal content (this wont pick up big bits but will tell give you an idea whats going on with the bearings).
I've seen much worse.
If you after piece of mind you could always get the oil analysed for metal content (this wont pick up big bits but will tell give you an idea whats going on with the bearings).
I've seen much worse.
Yes it is why I am talking to people who make a living from this, because if I went with what people say online I'd have built a completely new motor, lol.
Early days anyway, gonna be gentle on the car for a few hundred miles and keep a close eye on things before I start driving the car hard again.
Associate
- Joined
- 30 Nov 2003
- Posts
- 2,499
Congrats Gibbo on doing this work yourself.....especially without the aid of a vehicle lift.
Appreciate early days but hope the engine continues to remain healthy.
Appreciate early days but hope the engine continues to remain healthy.
Good work. Crank looks fine to me. You got lucky with that smaller bolt stripping though, in my opinion, glad the bigger one torqued back up with no issues.
After you shredded those bearings, apart from what ended up in the sump, remember that the pipe heading back up to the pump and filter will have had some debris sucked into it. This is probably what you're seeing in the oil filter.
After you shredded those bearings, apart from what ended up in the sump, remember that the pipe heading back up to the pump and filter will have had some debris sucked into it. This is probably what you're seeing in the oil filter.
Yeah the two local engine builders both said my crank looked absolutely fine, they said yeah of course if I was building a new motor and it was out then yeah of course polish it, but did my crank take any damage, they said no and as long as the bearings are now OK and there is no other component failing it will be good for another 50-100k miles which is around lifespan. One of them showed me a crank that was damaged and wow, it was mangled.
Yeah I absolutely crapped myself when that bolt spun, when I was putting in the new ones and torqueing up I was sweating pretty badly.
Yeah engine builders said to me stop worrying, just keep an eye on it.
Soldato
- Joined
- 13 Jul 2004
- Posts
- 20,356
- Location
- Stanley Hotel, Colorado
I wish haynes manual had pictures that good
I think you've been lucky Gibbo, and I hope your rightly feeling the satisfaction from saving the engine (which I feel you have) by your prompt action.
I wouldn't worry about any odd noises, I have a mate with an e46 M3, 03 plate, 214k miles, he bought it as a project with a noisy engine , 3(!) years later the car is still running - and performing - albeit with a fair racket untouched bar oil changes!
I wouldn't worry about any odd noises, I have a mate with an e46 M3, 03 plate, 214k miles, he bought it as a project with a noisy engine , 3(!) years later the car is still running - and performing - albeit with a fair racket untouched bar oil changes!