quick questionon thrust bearing

[bob123131]

Replacing my thrust bearing due to excess play and i think i need the 95 96 ones because my car was built in aug of 96 but it is a 97. Everywhere i look says 97 up bearings thats refering to the year of the build not the year of the car correct? Just wanted someone else's opinion before i buy the wrong ones and wait for a week for them to get here.

 

[RoasT BeeF]

I would go with the build date of the car. I believe from 4/92 to 5/97 are all the same. Have you taken it apart yet to see if it has the thrust washers?

 

[bob123131]

No i did a build about 1400 miles ago and endplay was fine and at somepoint my harmonic dampner went out and made no noise, but it had a wobble so bad it wore through my timing cover and was smacking a bolt on my block. The only reason i even found out it was broke is it actually had somethign hit my oil pump sprocket and screw it up. I understand about blocks twisting etc with a newly milled head and the theories of crankwalk, but im hoping there is a chance that the wobbly bancer connected with the original .0065 play let the balancer nail my block everytime i let off the clutch causing the now .013 play i have. My car never showed a sign of walk i just thoug i would check the enc play because of how screwed up the dampner was. So theoryetically im hopin that all led to premature failure of the bearing and a fresh one might then last a long time if the crank is fine and the play was caused under the normal condition of my motor. At time of build play was .0065 at 97k miles without any machining or anything.

Does that seem like a logical idea to any wisemen or veteran dsmers.

 

[RoasT BeeF]

So you replaced mains 1400 miles ago? You would know if it had thrust washers when you took at apart at that time. What bearings did you use? OEM, ACL, Clevite?

 

[bob123131]

No i didnt do a full build my crank looked perfect i have done a few builds and never come across a crank like mine so i just replaced all the rod bearings rods valves etc without pulling the motor from the car the mains are the originals and yes i figured out its the main style not three pieace style. Those are from motor build june 07 up. Now im kinda curious what people think of my theory?

 

[RoasT BeeF]

Depending on how long it was driven while damaged I think it's safe to assume that the wobbly balancer was AT LEAST partially responsible. But theres really no way to tell for sure IMO. Perhaps someone else can chime in.

 

[bob123131]

Yea i doubt its thw whole problem if any too, but ot me it makes since how it could ave cause premature failure, and im really not found of putting in main bearings without macine work or pollishing, but i figure i can change them and keep a close eye on it and see if starts to go out of spec quick rather than just do a full build or go to a six bolt when there is a small chance it wont you know?

If after like lets say 25k miles i havent come across any horrible specs i will let you guys know. I think im kinda streching for a possiblity here, but possibly due to alot of are balancers going out often and our tendancy to over tighten acc belts due to that darn squeky dsm belts we have been putting excess pressure on the dampner over time causing the front bearing to have play and in return putting stress on the thrust bearings/washer. I know that isn't a reason for crankwalk, but maybe a small partial added cause. I know i have seen to tight of powersteering pump belts ruin peoples water pump so whjy couldnt it be putting higher pressure on the crank than originally intended.