teardown pics of my bearings & crank... (56k warn)

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teardown pics of my bearings & crank... (56k warn)

By teal_dx
- Fri Sep 07, 2007 2:17 am #22498 For those who have not been following my engine troubles... here's the original thread: http://civic-eg.com/viewtopic.php?t=1541
there was a knocking sound.... Problem solved! It's definitely rod knock.

I was able to go through the bottom of the engine to check all the bearings so I wouldn't have to pull put the whole motor.

Here's the tear down pics...

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First lets have a close look at the main bearings and see what you all think...

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some signs of wear, but I don't know from experience if that amount is normal or not.

I looked at the crank surfaces for any signs of wear...

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main 1

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main2

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main3

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main4

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main5

And now on to the rods...
First I took pics of each rod end to look for signs of discoloring due to excessive heat...

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rod #1

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rod #2

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rod #3

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rod #4

Look at Rod #2 at the crank... it is a different color than the other pics, and you can see it again in the background of the rod #3 pic. #2 bearing is probably bad and generating a lot of heat, but the rod end looks normal even though the crank looks like it saw some temperatures... Since the rod is not discolored from heat, it looks like the bearing has not spun :woot:

Now for the Rod Bearings:
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Rod #1 Bearings

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There's the crank surface for the #1 Rod bearings.

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#2 Rod Bearings

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There's the crank surface for the #2 Rod bearings. This is the one that got hot and discolored.

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#3 Rod Bearings

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Crank surface for the #3 Rod bearings.

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#4 Rod Bearings

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Crank surface for the #4 Rod bearings.

#2 is by far the worst, I'm going to bring the bearings to the builder next weekend. I wanted to get some opinions from you guys too.
Do I need to have the crank micropolished?
I've only seen used bearings that were in bad condition, how do my bearings look (I know #2 rod bearing is bad, what about the others, do they look to have "normal" wear?)
Last edited by teal_dx on Fri Sep 07, 2007 3:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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By ohDirka
- Fri Sep 07, 2007 2:22 am #22500 they don't look too bad but it was definitely a good thing that you noticed this when you did other wise you would have some serious issues down the road...i didn't even notice the noise when i rode in your car, but when you drive it everyday you would notice
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By PetrolHeaD
- Fri Sep 07, 2007 4:29 am #22510 what does rod knock sound like? a rattling?
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By ohDirka
- Fri Sep 07, 2007 5:01 am #22511 like a click.. you'll know when you hear it
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By teal_dx
- Fri Sep 07, 2007 3:20 pm #22545 rod knock is a higher pitched knock than your typical main bearing knock. And usually happens at mid range rpm. also some times when you are in gear at mid-high rpm's and you let off the gas, you can hear a rattle or vibrating sound known as 'back rattle'

I had all of those symptoms. Dirk, the day you rode in my EG we had the windows down so the rod knock was covered up by the wind. A few days later the knock got a lot worse and that's when I knew for sure I had a problem.
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By ChicagoMike
- Fri Sep 07, 2007 3:22 pm #22546 Does your builder know any of this is going on yet??
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By teal_dx
- Fri Sep 07, 2007 3:33 pm #22549 yeah I told him on the phone I was going to go through the bottom of the motor to have a look inside and he said "bring in the bearings and we'll figure out what happened"

From what I've seen with my untrained eye, the crank looks OK and I can get by with just replacing the rod bearings. But I'm a noob to bearings so I put up pics for anyone who knows what used bearings should look like.
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By chnzgoofball
- Fri Sep 07, 2007 6:44 pm #22581 i would get the crank micropolished just to be safe...
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By york62
- Fri Sep 07, 2007 8:51 pm #22592 i am going to get my crank done, when i get the missing key way
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By chnzgoofball
- Fri Sep 07, 2007 9:38 pm #22604
york62 wrote:i am going to get my crank done, when i get the missing key way


cant wait!! :woot:
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By Sire
- Sat Sep 08, 2007 11:16 pm #22735
chnzgoofball wrote:i would get the crank micropolished just to be safe...


That's easier said than done... Let the shop look at it and see what they say, and if it's their fault, let them fix it for you.
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By teal_dx
- Sat Sep 29, 2007 4:18 pm #24595 Update

I took the bearings to the shop a couple weeks ago and they weren't sure why it happened. but they measured the bearings and said that there wasn't enough of a wear on them to cause any noise. Then i explained all the symptoms and we were both like hmmm :headscratch: sure sounds like rod knock. Then he suggested the thrust bearings and maybe the crank was moving. But this isn't a DSM so I don't think that is the case :lol:

So he ordered new bearings. I picked them up Monday. I went to the shop in the back and the builder said "I'll take care of you up front (at the register)" I thought that was really cool of him to at least give me new bearings.

I got up to the register and showed them the bearings and they started charging me for them, so I told them that the builder said they were taken care of.
Well they went back and talked to him and apparently I misunderstood him and he said "They'll take care of you up front"
That was enough to make me decide to search for a builder next time. I spent $1000 there and the motor is knocking after 1000 mi, I was at least hoping for $20 worth of bearings for free after all these troubles. But at this point, what's another $20 in this money pit... so I paid & left.
I lost my big tube of ARP molly lube somewhere [smilie=BangHead.gif] so I got a .5 oz of ARP lube and a rod stretch gauge from Summit last night. So today is the resurrection of my civic :woot:

I doubt I will be installing the turbo this season though... I have to do some work on my mustang and I've got an EK with a F'd CVT tranny waiting to be converted to a manual. So it looks like I'll be driving it NA for a month and putting it in storage for winter.
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By ChicagoMike
- Sat Sep 29, 2007 5:01 pm #24600 Hang in there Bri. That shop doesnt sound very good at customer service, and I'd definately wouldnt be giving them any more of your hard earned money. I've said it before, I'll help out if possible, even though I'm 2500 miles away, I do have access to some engine builders that wont do a half ass job. :thumb:
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By ohDirka
- Sat Sep 29, 2007 5:19 pm #24601 man that sucks that the shop screwed you over like that...whenever ive had a motor rebuilt ive always had it done by someone that takes pride in their work and they guarantee their work, these guys seem like they done back their work very well kinda sucks but remember man im not to to far away if you need help with anything just let me know
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By ee8
- Mon Oct 01, 2007 6:07 pm #24831 you should measure your crank before putting new bearings in. measure it and then see what to do.

I assume your builder measured the crank before mounting these bearings?
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