Changing lower engine bearings while engine is still in the car.

B

bsdlinux

Just Another BLACK Car
Joined
Jul 29, 2001
I have done this on Small Block Chevys before. Just wanted to see what you guys thought.:confused:
 
By all means do it! You have to jack the motor up to get the pan off, but it is no big deal to change bearings.
 
I have the very same task ahead of me [bearings] as I just received my new ones...there is no way in hell I would do this with the engine in the car. It's 2 1/2 hours max to hump out that little thing and working on an engine stand sure is alot cleaner and easier! I'm sure it can be done from below, but I'll never know :D
Jim
 
I'm finishing mine up from under the car this weekend, its a bit of work if you want everything as clean and perfect as you can get it from under there as I did. Just make sure you have something comfortable to lay/creep on as your going to be under there for many hours. Also make sure you know the procedure for correct installation of the #2 thrust bearing, the top half of it is the fun one :mad: I hope to be back on the road by this weekend.
 
You don't have to do it on a stand, Just take your time. Take all the plugs out so it turns over easy, Loosen all the mains and do them first. That way when you do the rods you'll know the mains were done right as the crank should spin free when your done. The rods are a piece of cake, probably should'nt reuse the bolts. Get some new stock rod bolts, you could use ARPs but your supposed to check the rods when you use them. Stock rod bolts (new) are more than enough. Do a search on rear main, it will give you the best up to date tips on the rear main seal installation. YOU CAN DO IT!!!!!
 
Thanks Guys....:D

I have a lot of time to do it, since I have two Gns now. I still have one to drive when this one is down. ;)
 
I've done this at least 4 times now.

It's not really necessary to jack the motor up to get the pan off as long as the crank is situated right. If the pan get stuck on the front journal of the crank, just spin the crank over.

Someone else already mentioned it, but REMOVE THE SERPENTINE BELT. I'll even repeat it, REMOVE THE SERPENTINE BELT!!!!!! I didn't once and the upper half of the #1 main bearing is IMPOSSIBLE to get a new bearing in with the belt pulling the snout of the crank upward. Ask me and my 2 sets of destroyed #1 bearings how I know this. :mad:

Obviously, when you do this, make sure to get a new rear main seal and replace that while you're down there. I also put studs in the mains the first time I did it. But that's up to you. There is a detailed procedure for doing this bearing swapin the car in the chilton's manual as well..

Derrick
 
I used studs too way back in 93, without a align bore check and got away with it. Your really not supposed to do that or ARP rod bolts either without checking everything after. I got away with it and I'm sure others have too. Brand new stock stuff will live (TTY bolts). Don't underestimate the stock Buick parts as almost all have lived at dangerous levels.
 
10-4 on the belt!!


The reason for all of this was when I start the car I am getting a knocking sound for about 2 seconds when I start the car cold. After she warms up you can hardly hear it if at all. I believe one of the bearings was damaged when the original 206 cam lobe went down. This was caught early and I believe before any real damage was done.

The car will also smoke when warm and idling as well. But not when at speed. I believe I might have an exhaust seal issue with the turbo( haven't taken downpipe off yet ), intake side, intercooler, up pipe etc clean.

Mind you this happened on a 3k rebuild when the previous owner had it. I haven't found any metal anywhere in the engine, turbo , etc.. yet. Only a trace of metallic powder on the oil plug, not anywhere in the oil, etc.. I even filtered the oil looking for some metal and found none. The original owner flushed the hell out of the engine. Anyway we will see what I find when I take the pan off.

So The bearings get changed.


:cool:
 
I wouldn't take too much stock in not finding much metal while draining your oil,because the bung is on the inside of the pan and sticks up about 1/4 of an inch which will not allow any real trash to come out.
Pulling the motor is only about a 2 or 3 hour job and you won't have that much oil in your face while changing bearings either. If that is all it needs.
If a cam lobe was lost then metal has gotten everywhere that oil goes to include the oil cooler which can not be thoroughly flushed out. With that in mind If it were mine,I would pull it.
I am Speaking from an unfortunate experience.
 
I too have done this years ago, in the rain nonetheless, without pulling the motor. It is an achievable goal for a younger, energetic go-getter. These days I wouldn't attempt it, as it's really a pain, and certainly does not offer the ideal cleanliness factors or abilities to check tolerances. However, I'm not suggesting you not do it, as long as you have patience, and are willing to come out from under there for a breather, when you get frustrated. And you do not have to jack the motor up,,, but yes,,, remove the belt by all means!
Since you don't rely on it for a daily driver, do you have the ability/equipment to go on and pull the motor to do it properly? You may find you would benefit more from doing that, and being able to analyze if other things need to be replaced/redone as well. Just something to consider...
 
Jeez thats funny, I had to jack up my engine to get the pan off and I never took the belt off to get the front bearing in. Did it 4 times before I rebuilt the engine. Oh well, that's why they are all differant.;)
 
maybe you damaged the bearing without knowing it when installing the upper 4 times.:eek:
 
Didn't damage anything, I freshened the motor up once a year before race season. They went in nice and easy. No sweat! Motor lasted me 8 racing seasons without a rebuild or ever a head gasket! The last year 2001 went the fastest 11.47. Stock block & heads no port work. The oil pressure was low at idle, 12# hot. Which still isn't that bad but I wanted to rebuild it with new tech parts. That engine would still be running today if I didn't rebuild it!
 
Originally posted by Russ Merritt
Didn't damage anything, I freshened the motor up once a year before race season. They went in nice and easy. No sweat! Motor lasted me 8 racing seasons without a rebuild or ever a head gasket! The last year 2001 went the fastest 11.47. Stock block & heads no port work. The oil pressure was low at idle, 12# hot. Which still isn't that bad but I wanted to rebuild it with new tech parts. That engine would still be running today if I didn't rebuild it!
Click to expand...

Is this a common thing for these motors?
 
I hope I get the same use and dependability out of my motor so far so good!
 
Update:

Well I knew I had an issue with noise, but I wasn't sure it was it bearings. Change the oil yesterday after the car had been sitting for about 2 months. Cranked the the car over with the orange wire off. Took the oil filter back off, WTF!! no oil.

So I took th eoil pan off ( 30-40 min ), check the pickup and it had a bunch of crap in it.:mad: Most of it was gasket material I guess when the previous owner changed the cam. I found no metal in the oil pan, other than graphite size powder. Typical in a newly rebuilt engine.

Anyone know where I can pick up a new oil pickup?

Also been checking the bearings , look good so far.
 
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