John---If time or money is an issue, try #1 of your choices. If the new
thrust washers get chewed up to quickly, then you'll have to go with #2
or #3. You'll buy yourself some time by doing #1, but you'll have to
watch for developing end play.
If you go with #1, you'll want to reduce the times that the rear washer
is doing heavy duty, by starting the engine (cold) with the tranny out
of gear and foot off the clutch pedal. Shift to neutral any time you
are stopped in traffic..
It would be very difficult to take out the crank without pulling the
engine. Given the weight of the crank and the gyrations one would have
to go thru, I would never attempt this.
Dick
From:
johncnorth@gmail.com(John North)
My thrust washers fell into the oil pan and I discovered them last week.
I uploaded a couple pics to
http://picasaweb.google.com/johncnorth/
These show the crank with the saddle removed. One pic of the crank
end, with the crank levered forward and the other of the first (is it
called?) journal with the crank levered to the rear. I do not
believe the slots in the block are damaged at either side. The slots
appear sharp and clean. However, the crank has worn down the main
bearing cap and the edge of the crank has just begun to wear into the
block. The crank thrust surface is no longer flat, but has a bit of
a curve. This can be seen in the first pic.
I have the main bearing cap being repaired. I found a welder who
says he can do it without warping the cap or scoring the surface. So
I think I can save the block.
For the rest I think I have three options:
1. Put in new washers, oversize if necessary and hope that the worn
crank will not damage the washers too quickly
2. Drop the crank and machine the thrust surface flat, then use oversize
washers
3. Get a new crank
Anybody see any others? Do I need to pull the engine to do #2 or 3,
or can I do it from underneath? Anybody machined a crank before?
Anybody want to say #1 could work?
Thanks for any help or suggestions.
John North
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