Date: Sun, 15 Jun 2003 15:56:11 -0700
Reply-To: wilden1@JUNO.COM
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Stan Wilder <wilden1@JUNO.COM>
Subject: Re: rod bearing clearance (again)
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Recapping what you said, what I said I don't see that you have a problem.
I have thrown away engines because upon disassembly I found what I would
call very disagreeable bearing wear.
As far as a little spin that simply means with your finger tips on either
the flywheel end or the rear hub.
What you're looking for in this procedure is the absence of hard spots
(bent crank, pinched bearing, alignment pins too long, something out of
round).
This is only telling you that you "can" spin the crank, If you can't
you'll immediately know you've got something binding or bent. I've had
hard spots upon exercising this test and discarded bearing sets, new sets
of bearings corrected the problem.
Although the crank spins the cold oil acts as a brake. When you spin the
crank with the flywheel I doubt that you'll get more than 12-15
revolutions on the same test.
In the same exercise I've had rods that dropped very quickly, new rod
bolts with good alignment corrected that problem.
Move the questionable rod to another journal and see if it behaves
differently on the drop test.
Since rods are numbered I always put all number up in installation.
I've found mixed "flipped" rods in many engines.
Stan Wilder
On Sun, 15 Jun 2003 12:47:37 -0700 (PDT) Damon Campbell
<damoncampbellvw@yahoo.com> writes:
> 1) had the bore alignment checked on the wbx case -
> everything is within .0005" of nominal (but we are
> talking about rods?)
> 2)
> 3)
> 4) "little spin"... now, i'm not a strong man... not
> sure how hard a little spin is :-)
> 5) my rods definitely seem to drop faster than that,
> but i'll double check (not enough oil? who knows...)
>
> And yes, i do have newly reconditioned rods and crank
> and they do seem to measure quite consistently (at
> least as consistently as i can manage). I have been
> able to procure a bonafide micrometer in the right
> sizes to check the journals...
>
> Thanks for the tips - unfortunately, in this case at
> least, i am a little (lot) more comfortable with the
> numbers than little spins and hard clunks. They will
> be a good reality check, though.
>
> -Damon
>
>
> --- Stan Wilder <wilden1@JUNO.COM> wrote:
> > Deciding a go or no go on the parts you are
> > describing is more elemental
> > that.
> > #1) Case bore is of first priority.
> > #2) Toque the case up with the main bearings and
> > crankshaft in it.
> > #3) The bearings should be oiled with about 40 wt
> > oil.
> > #4) Give the crank (without the cam in the engine) a
> > little spin from
> > either end and you should have about 5 to 7
> > revolutions. (no flywheel)
> > #5) Install a rod with the bearing, again with 40wt
> > oil, torque the rod
> > properly. It should slowly drop from top of your
> > case cylinder opening to
> > the bottom evidencing some minor resistance. It will
> > drop in about 1-2
> > seconds if it's a fit. If you get a resounding
> > clunk, its a no go.
> > You are absolutely right in taking the care to mic
> > everything before hand
> > but unless you have newly reconditioned rods and a
> > freshly ground crank
> > and those parts consistently have exactly the same
> > readings from three
> > points 120 degrees offset then you are dealing with
> > the unknown.
>
> =====
> '84 Westy (Sparky)
> '65 Kharma Ghia (Dharma)
>
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