BLHTAZ Posted September 25, 2008 Share Posted September 25, 2008 OK...I finally addressed the oil pressure issue that I disovered the other day. The engine was running fine, but the oil pressure guage has never worked since I swapped in the full cluster. I decided to get a manual guage and check the pressure for the hell of it...and found it was bad. I ordered the rod bearings and an oil pump per the advice of our engine guy at the dealership. He said that the main bearings are rarely a problem and not to worry about them. Well...fast forward to today... We dropped the oil pan and got a look at the rod bearings off of #1 & #6 to start with. Both had some minor scarring on the crank and the bearings were definitely worn. Since it was a little worse than we anticipated, we decided to look at the mains...and guess what...they are in bad shape too. The rod bearing had to be ordered so I knew I was in for a battle finding the mains for a same day job, but I found some and had them within about 3.5 hours. Things get worse... We took the old bearings out and as we took a good look at them, we saw a little .010 stamped in the side. That's right...the crank has been changed previously and it is a .010 over crank so know I am off to try and find a full set of rods & mains to fit this crank. I finally found some after about 1.5 hours of searching and got them back to the shop at about 4:30 this afternoon. The engine was re-assembled and back on the road by 6:30 tonight :D The oil pressure is now running at 60 lbs at idle since everything is nice & tight, but will come down after just a little break in time. As I said above...it was at 12 lbs at idle prior to doing this job and would not go above 40 at any RPM. Now I just have to get my OP guage working so I can monitor it properly. I have a new guage...just need to get it installed ;) . I was going to make a DIY post out of this project, but due to Murphy's Law...I did not get to take but a couple pics and those are in my camera which is still at the dealership... :roll: . What a day... :brows: The one good thing that happened was that I found the set of bearings that we ended up using in Clevite 77 for $100 for the full set of rods & mains. The others (standards from Federal Mogul) cost me $150. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle Posted September 25, 2008 Share Posted September 25, 2008 Out of curiosity -- the factory sometimes used rods and/or mains that were cut .010 under. When they did, they put a code on the side of the block ... near the distributor, IIRC. Does your block have the code indicating your bearings were undersized from the factory? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLHTAZ Posted September 25, 2008 Author Share Posted September 25, 2008 Out of curiosity -- the factory sometimes used rods and/or mains that were cut .010 under. When they did, they put a code on the side of the block ... near the distributor, IIRC. Does your block have the code indicating your bearings were undersized from the factory?I will look and see next chance I get, but it may take a couple days. Should it be a code that I will recognize as indicating that fact or will it be some obscure code that I have to decipher through means that I don't know exist yet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtdesigns Posted September 25, 2008 Share Posted September 25, 2008 Keep us posted,, You know I need to do this too. I guess I should take a look at the side of my block just to see if theres any markings there. Eagle, any other details you can give on the markings? I'm thinking the builders used a stamp, which could be kinda hard to see... Brent, you said your crank was a little scarred.. What did your tech say about the scaring? I tell you I'm kinda scared to pull the caps in fear of the worse... a fubar crank :redX: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle Posted September 25, 2008 Share Posted September 25, 2008 Out of curiosity -- the factory sometimes used rods and/or mains that were cut .010 under. When they did, they put a code on the side of the block ... near the distributor, IIRC. Does your block have the code indicating your bearings were undersized from the factory?I will look and see next chance I get, but it may take a couple days. Should it be a code that I will recognize as indicating that fact or will it be some obscure code that I have to decipher through means that I don't know exist yet? Well, seeing as how you're the parts guru who works in a dealership, I guess the answer to both questions is "Yes." But ... since you're a decent sort of chap, we'll give you a free pass on this one: Just behind (as in, toward the rear of the vehicle) of the distributor on the right side of the block there is a boss. The 1988 I-6 engine manual shows it having a recessed, square drive plug in it. That's actually a carry-over from the older 4.2L engines. On the 4.0L, the oil pressure sender fitting takes the place of the recessed plug -- the boss is directly above the oil filter adapter plate. IF there is a bearing code for your engine, it will be stamped into that boss. The codes are: B = All cylinder bores 0.010" oversize M = All main bearing journals 0.010" undersize P = All rod bearing journals 0.010" undersize C = All camshaft bearing bores 0.010" oversize. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CWLONGSHOT Posted September 25, 2008 Share Posted September 25, 2008 Eagle, When is that book of your coming out????? CW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyComanche Posted September 25, 2008 Share Posted September 25, 2008 The 88 FSM, I'd assume. I think my 89 FSM has a little note about that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLHTAZ Posted September 25, 2008 Author Share Posted September 25, 2008 Thanks Eagle :cheers: ;) We "parts gurus" depend on the technicians to know all that kind of stuff and just come to us with requests for the correct parts. I was a tech back in the '80's, but I did not do major engine work so I never learned all that kind of detail...or if I did, I forgot it by now since I left the tech jobs back in 1989 :brows: . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ironhead03 Posted September 27, 2008 Share Posted September 27, 2008 Where did you get the bearings from for a hundred? Thanks OK...I finally addressed the oil pressure issue that I disovered the other day. The engine was running fine, but the oil pressure guage has never worked since I swapped in the full cluster. I decided to get a manual guage and check the pressure for the hell of it...and found it was bad. I ordered the rod bearings and an oil pump per the advice of our engine guy at the dealership. He said that the main bearings are rarely a problem and not to worry about them. Well...fast forward to today... We dropped the oil pan and got a look at the rod bearings off of #1 & #6 to start with. Both had some minor scarring on the crank and the bearings were definitely worn. Since it was a little worse than we anticipated, we decided to look at the mains...and guess what...they are in bad shape too. The rod bearing had to be ordered so I knew I was in for a battle finding the mains for a same day job, but I found some and had them within about 3.5 hours. Things get worse... We took the old bearings out and as we took a good look at them, we saw a little .010 stamped in the side. That's right...the crank has been changed previously and it is a .010 over crank so know I am off to try and find a full set of rods & mains to fit this crank. I finally found some after about 1.5 hours of searching and got them back to the shop at about 4:30 this afternoon. The engine was re-assembled and back on the road by 6:30 tonight :D The oil pressure is now running at 60 lbs at idle since everything is nice & tight, but will come down after just a little break in time. As I said above...it was at 12 lbs at idle prior to doing this job and would not go above 40 at any RPM. Now I just have to get my OP guage working so I can monitor it properly. I have a new guage...just need to get it installed ;) . I was going to make a DIY post out of this project, but due to Murphy's Law...I did not get to take but a couple pics and those are in my camera which is still at the dealership... :roll: . What a day... :brows: The one good thing that happened was that I found the set of bearings that we ended up using in Clevite 77 for $100 for the full set of rods & mains. The others (standards from Federal Mogul) cost me $150. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLHTAZ Posted September 27, 2008 Author Share Posted September 27, 2008 Where did you get the bearings from for a hundred? ThanksOne of my co-workers found them at a place called Auto Machine & Parts in Down Town Orlando. She knew of the place from many years ago when she and her husband had their own business and they used them for supplies and machine work. I tried looking for the codes on the side of the block, but I am going to have to clean it before I will see anything. There is an oil build up all around that area from the oil filter adapter o-rings leaking, but that was fixed the other day too ;) . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLHTAZ Posted September 27, 2008 Author Share Posted September 27, 2008 Here are a few pics that I did manage to get... This is a main cap This is the #1 rod. As he predicted...the upper halves were the worst worn. Pretty clean inside See the small scar on the journal. There were a couple like that, but they were not bad enough to warrant replacing the crank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLHTAZ Posted September 27, 2008 Author Share Posted September 27, 2008 I replaced the guage today and it works great :D . I can actually see how much pressure I have now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtdesigns Posted September 28, 2008 Share Posted September 28, 2008 I am basically a big chicken crap, because I'm really scared to pull the oil pan on my ghost to see why the oil pressure gets low.. Man,, I guess I'm going to have to muster up the go-nads and pull the bas+ard ... I'm torn, because I know its one of the two (maybe both like yours) and I really can't have my truck down for a whole crapping week.... Gezzz I wish I had a shop with a lift..... :cry: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
summerinmaine Posted September 28, 2008 Share Posted September 28, 2008 I am basically a big chicken crap, because I'm really scared to pull the oil pan on my ghost to see why the oil pressure gets low.. Man,, I guess I'm going to have to muster up the go-nads and pull the bas+ard ... I'm torn, because I know its one of the two (maybe both like yours) and I really can't have my truck down for a whole crapping week.... Gezzz I wish I had a shop with a lift..... :cry: Ditto. Except for the loss-of-use part. I'd like to get my oil pressure up a bit, but doubt that it would stop at bearings. My experience is that once you start trying to cure a problem on an old system (like my 300K miles engine), then either you break other worn parts as you proceed (like I just did on a fix I tried on the old camper), or you simply transfer the strain to the next weakest link. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLHTAZ Posted September 28, 2008 Author Share Posted September 28, 2008 I am basically a big chicken crap, because I'm really scared to pull the oil pan on my ghost to see why the oil pressure gets low.. Man,, I guess I'm going to have to muster up the go-nads and pull the bas+ard ... I'm torn, because I know its one of the two (maybe both like yours) and I really can't have my truck down for a whole crapping week.... Gezzz I wish I had a shop with a lift..... :cry:Like you said last weekend when you were down here...it just makes sense to do both since you are already in there. If you are going in, you might as well have everything you need on hand...ie; rods, mains, oil pump, rear main seal, oil pan gasket, oil & filter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLHTAZ Posted September 28, 2008 Author Share Posted September 28, 2008 IF there is a bearing code for your engine, it will be stamped into that boss.I cleaned it good and can not see anything there so I guess someone has been in this one before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLHTAZ Posted September 29, 2008 Author Share Posted September 29, 2008 I finally had a chance to drive it tonight after getting the idle (IAC) issue fixed. The guage stayed on around 60lbs for about 3-4 miles, but then started to move. After I got it good and warm, it was idling at about 35lbs and was running at around 50-60 at 2200 - 2500 RPM. It's pretty cool to finally see the guage work as it should after all this time with it not working...it actually moves with every little fluctuation of the RPM's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ironhead03 Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 Can anyone post a pic of where the codes are stamped into the block? I need to do my bearings also but i ca'nt find anything on the block. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLHTAZ Posted September 30, 2008 Author Share Posted September 30, 2008 Can anyone post a pic of where the codes are stamped into the block? I need to do my bearings also but i ca'nt find anything on the block. Thanks.As far as I have found...if there is nothing in the specified location (see Eagles previous post) then you "should" have standard bearings. Mine should have been standards, but when we opened it up...they were .010 undersize so there is no guarantee and the best thing to do is get in there and find out for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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