4G64 Crankwalk Confirmed

[jimbob_843]

Alright guys i now officially have crankwalk. And no, i dont think i have it because i am paranoid, i can litterally pull my crank side to side in the block. Nothing is knocking so i assume the bearings aren't completely shot yet. Hopefully crank is fine. Could i just put some new bearings in and keep a close eye on the end play? Or would it be best to get a new crank? I believe my clutch being misadjusted was the culprit but who knows. I know the correct way to fix it would be to get everything machined, honed, all the good stuff along with new bearings, or the ever so popular belief, 6 bolt swap. But money is super tight so a new crank and bearings would be the most i can spend currenly without saving up. Anyone had any luck with just swapping bearings in? Any advice is appreciated.

 

[rlacasse1]

If your crank is fine just do the bearings. You should be able to see if it got ate up when you pull it apart.

You will be fine as long as the crank is and you can get away with it.

 

[g4ebguy90]

I thought the whole REASON for crank walk was because the thrust bearing always gets ate up on the 7 bolts, causing it to fall apart damage the crank and allow movement... if u can move it with your hands i would deff believe your crank needs to be grinded down, polished etc and that the middle bearing on your crank is practially gone, pull the pan and check for metal particles....

 

[jimbob_843]

I'm not letting this turn into some "I thought all 7 bolts walked" BS. No offence but this is merely for advice on experiences with just swapping new bearings in with a walking crank and the outcomes . Assuming the crank is ok at this point. The bearings must still have some life if its not knocking and rattling everywhere. We all know ANY engine can walk, just really sucks mine did.

 

[ArticNemesis]

Are you sure that your harmonic balancer didn't just let loose, and that is what you think is moving?

You are talking hundredths of an inch for crankwalk, nothing that you can physically move by hand, you need a micrometer to measure it.

 

[donniekak]

Are you sure that your harmonic balancer didn't just let loose, and that is what you think is moving?

You are talking hundredths of an inch for crankwalk, nothing that you can physically move by hand, you need a micrometer to measure it.

The part about the damper is a good idea, usually if the crank moves visibly it eats the crank sensor and stops running.

The part about only being hundredths of an inch is incorrect. I have seen plenty of walked blocks where you could move the crank in and out 1/4", and hear an audible clink.

 

[Talipse96]

To be able to give aaccurate information you need to know what the damage is.

Almost every post is going to tell you to take it apart and check the damage that has been done.

I have a crayon, what should I draw???

 

[ArticNemesis]

I have seen plenty of walked blocks where you could move the crank in and out 1/4", and hear an audible clink.

Sorry, but the crank cannot move 1/4". The torque converter or flywheel would hit the outside block way before that. If it is moving a 1/4 of an inch, you have a bigger problem than that.

 

[g4ebguy90]

Im sorry i shouldnt have said 7 bolts always crankwalk, idk why i said always.... im going by personal experience here.... but i mean the crank walks cause of a bad bearing right??? so i just assume the bearing is horrible and if u can move it by hand th crank is deff damaged. But idk i dont know to much about 4g63's at the moment comapred to most people here.... but i just assumed you didnt know to much about this subject because u just act like u can throw new bearings in, and be on your way....which from my own personal crankwalk experience and my own torn down engine, my crank could move .008 i believe which was overspec, and my 1 middle bearing was chewed up, and i had metal in the pan, crank was good except the one journal was off by 3 thousandths.

 

[jimbob_843]

Yeah I'm not a noob when it comes to crankwalk. I am getting an audible clink heard on tranny side of block and my end play is deffinately more than .008 and not 1/4 of an inch. If it will make you guyys happy I will rent a micrometer to measure it exactly. And like i said this is just assuming that the crank is fine(not saying it is). I will find out tommorrow if it is or not. So.... has anyone ever attacked crankwalk with putting in new bearings on a walking engine? (Assuming that it was caught before damage could occur) Again thanks for the help

 

[g4ebguy90]

i assumed crankwalk is after damage has occured.

 

[jimbob_843]

Yeah i guess the damage would make it a walked crank. But the process of the end play increasing would be considered a walking crank. It is possible to catch it before catastrophic failure which is what I am hoping for or atmost a damaged crank. The endplay eye to crank measurement is about 1/16". If the crank is damaged then #### it I got a 64 crank less than 5ft from me.

 

[Talipse96]

i assumed crankwalk is after damage has occured.

Now thats full of win.

 

[g4ebguy90]

ok this is what goes down i believe...

1. on (some) 7 bolts.
2. The middle bearing on the girdle or what have you, wears more than the others I believe this bearing is called a thrust bearing.
3. Eventually after many miles or more hp this bearing starts to deterioate.
4. Due to the bearing becoming worse, the crank starts to move a little
5. Eventually this breaks down the bearings surface and destorys it slowly sending metal particles out and about.
6. If u catch it in time you can replace the bearings AND IF YOUR LUCKY just polish the crank.
7. if your unlucky or in your case you have severe movement of the crank, you probaly need a regrind and polish with diff size bearings then stock.

MY crank like i said only moved .008 that is nothing..... at all its like .001 over spec, and my bearing was falling apart and my crank journal was deff out of spec and needed a regrind.

But just pull it apart, mic the crank look at the bearing and u will clearly know what to do.
o and im sure u know this, but buy new main bolts.
and even worse i believe the rod cap bolts are torque to yeild so idk what u can do about this.... u may need to pull that engine.

 

[jimbob_843]

Exactly! But it is different in every case of cw. I am aware of getting new main bolts also thanks. I'm sure the crank is most likely damaged. If it is I'll just put in a new crank because there aren't any decent machine shops locally. I assure you everything will be plastigauged before assembly. The motor is my baby, I've built it from the ground up. Will update after work tomorrow and tell the damage! Thanks for the help now I am leaning towards just getting a new crank and bearings.

Alright, dropped the pan and the main girdle to check out the damage. All bearing surfaces look pretty decent, little but very minimal wear. Most likely from bearing material in oil. So... The thrust surface(clutch side) was pretty groovy like the 70's. It appears that it has caused minimal damage to the direct contact on the crankshaft. Minimal but in no way acceptable by me. Will get on later to post pictures. And i didn't measure end play because i already knew it was too much and was too eager to check the damage. Looks like my car is gonna be a jack-stand hero for a little while.

 

[jimbob_843]

Here's what she looks like

 

[jimbob_843]

Alright so.... in this case, the thrust bearing wear was enough to damage the crankshaft. So with the damage to the crank I'm not going to reuse it and just swap in another one with all new bearings. I caught it just in time before any serious damage was caused to the rods or block. End of story thanks for the help guys.