1997 GSX AUTOMATIC crankwalk

[ssdragon]

Hi, my best friend just bought a 1997 GSX with 60,000 miles on it. the car runs fine and shifts fine but has a ticking noise which im assuming is the lifters. It also has a CEL which its going back to the dealer to fix. My question is this since i've been trying to read up on crankwalk and '97 is the worst year for it. How often does a auto gsx/gst have crankwalk? It seems to be more of a 5 speed thing from what ive read.

 

[1g_tsi_awd]

Crank walk is overrated and 95-96 were the abd years... I believe 97-99 had the revised crank? and see if you can move the crank at all... Otherwise don't worry about it.

 

[ssdragon]

It didnt know the revised the crank again after making the 7 bolt. Thats good to know.

 

[clipse-T]

I thought automatics did not crankwalk...just the manuals. Someone correct me if i am wrong.

 

[vaboys2ndgen]

your first post about manual trans/auto trans is correct it is MORE prone to happen in 5speed trans. but has been known to happen in auto trans also. just not seen as much

 

[95blackGsTurbo]

5 speed is more prone due to the force of the clutch on and off all of the time. Auto's are very rare to walk but then again any motor can crank walk. And as far as years, 97 is by a landslide the most likely to get it, in 98 and 99 they stated using split thrust bearings which kinda sorta helped fix the problem but wasn't a sure fire fix obviously.

 

[DSMDirkah]

My buddy has a 95 AWD auto and it crank walked. Threw me off because it was an automatic, so I was just thinking a tensioner or something. Low and behold he had .012 of play. I put a pretty six bolt in its place and man, that has got to be the hardest swap considering the adapter plate makes no room ;x

 

[ssdragon]

since they changed some things to help alleviate the issue in the later 7 bolt engines, would it work to try and use some of those parts? Im surprised there are no vendors that offer better parts around the crank seeing as how they could make a killing from it. Also, if the engine crankwalks, is the engine junk or can it be fixed and strengthened? I know most people will say go 6 bolt, but i wanna look at different avenues. Thanks for the helpful comments.

 

[luvmygst]

My buddy has a 95 AWD auto and it crank walked. Threw me off because it was an automatic, so I was just thinking a tensioner or something. Low and behold he had .012 of play. I put a pretty six bolt in its place and man, that has got to be the hardest swap considering the adapter plate makes no room ;x

Just curious what adapter plate are you talking about? The 6 bolt should drop right in. The major issues are the electrical ones. I have never seen one with an "adapter plate"WTF just curious.

 

[4SFED4]

I thought automatics did not crankwalk...just the manuals. Someone correct me if i am wrong.

If you run into a problem with the converter you can crankwalk an engine. I broke 2 converter bolts, stretched a flexplate that led to my 6 bolt tearing up the thrust bearing. The break happened due to the converter bolts backing out even with Locktite. I now tack weld my converter bolts an sacrifice them and the flexplate every time they must be separarted in lieu of the cost of destroying my engine.

It is also common in domestic V8 cars to develop crankwalk from similar problems.

Also, if the engine crankwalks, is the engine junk or can it be fixed and strengthened? I know most people will say go 6 bolt, but i wanna look at different avenues.

If you catch it in time the motor can be saved. I had to replace the crankshaft, but the rods and pistons were fine. The crank ate through the soft part of the thrust bearing on the flywheel/flexplate side and had just started to contact the center main cap. The inner surface of the thrust bearing was apparently harder that the crankshaft because it chewed into the crankshaft.

My motors have around .004 of end play on an unground factory crank, from the time of assembly using standard Clevite77 bearings.

I have one motor that has a .010 under crank with around .008 end play. Reason for that being is the flat face of the counterweights were slightly trimmed in the regrinding process. However that engine is still spun to 10K with no adverse issues yet.

 

[ssdragon]

clevite bearings? wouldnt those replace the faulty bearings and prevent crankwalk from ever happening? maybe im brong but i thought the bearings were the main reason for crank walk.

 

[Meh987]

If it were the bearings that caused the problem, that would be the fix to the crankwalk problem. However, no one really has an exact answer to what causes it. There are some theories though.

Here's Magnus Motor Sports theory:
http://www.magnusmotorsports.com/tech/crankwalk.htm

 

[95 gsx]

Just curious what adapter plate are you talking about? The 6 bolt should drop right in. The major issues are the electrical ones. I have never seen one with an "adapter plate"WTF just curious.

It's a spacer made by IPT (Import Perfomance Transmissions) that will allow an auto trans to bolt up to the 6 bolt motor. Otherwise the torque converter would crush the trans pump when installed on the block because it is spaced further from the motor. I went through that whole headache too but eventually just did a swap after the auto trans died.

 

[Eclipse98_RS]

Doesnt crankwalk just overboost your car? If you have the supporting mods to handle it, it should be ok?

 

[clipse-T]

Doesnt crankwalk just overboost your car? If you have the supporting mods to handle it, it should be ok?

na man..it ####s up your motor .

 

[Defiant]

Oh, dear. Look at the time. I had no idea.