Lend Me Your Opinions! Walking Seven Bolt

[ArticNemesis]

Alright guys... My seven bolt walked.. Actually it ran... about an 1/8 of an inch in play.. enough to make my crank pulley hit the frame.. bad day for the 7 bolt.. Did it with almost no warning too.

So here is my problem / resolution, and I need your input..

Originally, I was going to swap in a 6bolt.. That isn't an option anymore due to lack of funds... So I'm stuck with this out of spec "running" crankshaft.

Some time ago, noslaser posted info about dowel's "possibly" working on motors to keep them from walking.. Now, bearings can be had for rather inexpensive, i can get the dowel kit for $50 bucks, and I can do the block myself. I was going to replace gaskets while I was at it..

However, I can't get in touch with noslaser. (people are busy, I understand.) But i also can't find any follow up info on the dowel experimenting with crankwalk.
Does Anybody have any follow up data.??? Did it work, did it still walk.?
His theory was absolutely genius, as I have seen a few companies start making the dowel kit, and after looking at the engine, Lando was correct in how it doesn't all fit together right.

Please, no responses like save up for a 6-bolt.. I plan on still swapping a 6bolt in the future but as of right now, I need this car for work.. No car, no money.. No money, bank repoes the dsm.. (then no need for a 6bolt, but then no nice, fast car.. )

 

[jpolizo]

Well, I don't know about the dowel thing. Even if it worked, once, are you willing to bet on that?

I've thought about this a lot ('97 GST) and I pretty much came to the conclusion that if I didn't go with a stroker what I would do is get another 7-bolt short block from Mitsubishi. Yep, you heard that right; my old one has gone 103K miles without a hiccup so I am totally pleased with it. Every single crankwalk "fix" I've heard of is unproven, and a 6-bolt conversion is expensive and not entirely problem free.

That's my 2-cents.

 

[ArticNemesis]

Heh, and what does mitsu charge for a short block (and there is still a chance that the one i get might walk)..? The dealer near me is unwilling to look at things from my point of few, and the walking crank is somehow my fault "timing belt was changed by non-ASE certified mechanic and there is an exedy clutch (which is OEM pretty much) on the engine.. Gotta love em.

[edit]
At this point and time, I think i am going to go with new bearings and try the dowel inserts for the main girdle to see if that tightens everything up.. At least maybe the engine will last for a few thousand miles so i can try and get enough funds to get a different block.

oh yea, I was probably going to do a 6bolt block, 7 bolt head like on the magnus site to keep pricing down...

 

[jpolizo]

I believe Norco has short-blocks for about $2K. Yes, it might walk again -- nobody knows the probability of that. Like I said, mine lasted over 100K miles, so I'm pretty satisfied with it. Supposedly, the newer engines had a redesigned thrust bearing and one unsubstantiated theory is that those are less likely to walk.

Your dealer sounds about as user friendly as mine. Keep in mind that they can *say* anything they want and it's up to you to keep them honest. I know of a Mazda dealer that told a female friend of mine that her warranty was voided because she had Jiffy Lube change her oil -- yeah, sure.

Good luck with your project; drop a post and let folks know how it goes.

 

[Lordpaxin]

i know a dude in west virginia who has a 6 bolt long block forsale, he is super cool, and wants like, 550$ for it, all it needs is a head gasket, and would be perfect for a 6bolt swap. didi mention he was cool as hell and scores with multitudes of hot sexy women because of his coolness?

 

[Defiant]

And does odd -and slightly unsettling- things to his motor.

 

[Generation X]

You should be able to buy a decent used 6 bolt, new timing belt, new oil pump, new water pump, and have a shop install the 6 bolt for you for around $2000 bucks give or take. The only other options are a EVO I II or III 7 bolt motor, and that's if you can find one, or a 1g 6 bolt swap. I wouldn't burn $2000 bucks on another 7 bolt engine that could possibly walk again. Even though yours lasted 103,000 miles, doesn't mean the next one will. It could walk on you in 20,000 miles, you never know. I'm kinda in the same situation as you except mine hasn't walked as of YET, but I have been looking at my options way ahead of time, for if and when mine does decide to take a long walk.

 

[stockmkt8r]

$18 crankwalk fix on www.vfaq.com under ENGINE i believe. I didn't see anyone post this, so just giving you a heads up, sorry if it doesn't lead to a solution.

Good luck bro!

 

[ArticNemesis]

Yea, I had read that and what it is doing is replacing bearings which I plan on doing, however that doesn't fix crankwalk, because it will just walk again, and you have to replace the bearings once again.. Funny thing is, I didn't know you could replace the main bearing while the engine was still in the car. Heh, ohwell. Here is what I am going to do for all that is interested.

The engine is out of the car at the moment, and over the next few days, I am removing all of the old main and rod bearings, and installing clevite bearings. Also going to check that the crank shaft isn't damaged from walking in the block. I am going to install the dowel inserts into the maincap that you can buy off of www.machv.com in hopes that this will keep the main cap from flexing and keep the crank from "walking". (Idea came from noslaser over a year ago, and I am willing to try anything short of replacing the engine due to lack of funds.) Arp main bolts will be added with the dowels, and all new gaskets and oil seals added to the block while it is out.

I will keep everyone posted as to what happens with the new bearings. I'll measure crank play after I put the new bearings, and then everytime I change the oil, I will drop the pan and measure again.

***And for the record, no shop will ever install anything on my car again. exceptions are tint, and maybe a rear transfer case down the road for AWD conversion. After tearing this car apart several times, it is nice to be able to know exactly what is causing something, and exactly how to go about fixing it, as soon as a problem happens usually..

 

[95AWD_TSI_TALON]

what you can do is put a 1g cam angle sensor onyour car and you can get a couple more miles outa your motor untill the crank actualy flops out thats wut my friend has been doing for the last 4 months and he just went 12.9 on his stock internals and a big16g so its not hurting his performance
matt
the directions to make the adaptors and change your spark plugs and injector wires is on vfaq or my friend is making them the hard way- but its FULLY PLUG AND PLAY if interested in one let me know