2G 7 bolt oil squirters

[85Entropy]

I'm currently mid-rebuild on my 7-bolt 4G63, and like so many of us, I'm slightly concerned about Crank Walk.... I know it's mostly the thrust bearing wearing out, but I read an article today talking about how clogged oil squirters on the 7 bolt can have a hand in this, too. It makes sense, so I was wondering if anyone has some experience on how to really get them clean? It's down to the bare block right now, so I'm trying to get a plan in place for what to do next. Thank you!

 

[95REGF150]

Magnus originally theorized that the squirters robbing oil from the main bearing galley adds to the crank walk problem and so they block them off. I did so on my 2.3 build as well. However, in reality there is evidence to show that squirters working propperly, clogged, or completely blocked off have little effect on whether the thrust bearing goes out or not. If you read through to the end of the post on his website about him going through the testing you will see he came to the same conclusion.

I have read much on the subject of crankwalk. In the end it is still a mystery why the 7 bolt motors have such a problem with this where the 6 bolts dont. While still not a certainty to stop your motor from ever crankwalk the two best measures to prevent it seen to be careful and proper assembly of the thrust bearing itself to make sure the halves are aligned as well as the lightest clutch pressure plate that will hold the horsepower your making.

 

[85Entropy]

I swear I read the whole article, but I'm not sure why I didn't catch that part.... Oh well, it was a nice thought. Thank you for the reply!

 

[Patchez_]

you have to realize these cars are usually abused that being said after like 100,000 miles or so its not a bad idea to go thru a motor. i don't think the oil squirters cause crank walk but when a car looses a turbo, gets a new one and sold how do you really know the shape of the motor. i feel that the oil squirters can with other factors be a cause for crank walk but there will have to be other factors involved like low oil pressure from a wore oil pump along with extra clearences in other areas so there will be many factors to lead to crank walk. i feel the 4g63 just gets more trash talked about it in general because people do half of a mod path and run it hard cause it took it but in the end half a mod path doesn't have reliable written anywhere on it. i feel if you take the time to build a motor properly and put all the supporting mods for your set up and tune it there is no reason you cant make our cars run 500hp daily with squirters and not be reliable for another 100,000. if i had my block apart to that point i would consider blocking them off due to they are not required so why give the block any plausible issue down the road, just need to realize the squirters alone are not going to cause crank walk.

random thought: if you decide to do a balance shaft delete it may not be a bad idea to leave the squirters to help bleed off extra pressure.

 

[85Entropy]

The car currently does not have the balance shaft, but I was actually thinking about putting one back in, due to some things I've read, and my thought process of, "Well, if Mitsubishi thought they needed to keep putting this in, over the years, maybe they were on to something?" The car had a bad engine when I bought it, so I really do want to take my time, think this out, and do it right so I don't have to do it again in a few months.... That would be depressing.

 

[95REGF150]

Balance shafts and oil squirters are always the topic of much debate. You can read countless threads and never get a clear answer of which is better keeping or deleting them. Because in reality thats a choice you should make for yourself. I chose to eliminate balance shafts and squirters on my 2.3 because they were possible failure points and did not offer any real benefits to the car. The benefits of always keeping oil pressure in the mains far outweighed the piston cooling that the squirters offer which is not as needed with forged pistons. The balance shafts spin twice the speed of the crank and are known to fail bearings or break belts and throw the main timing belt bending valves. The only thing they offer is a little creature comfort in less vibration which I choose to do without in order to remove those failure points. The choices may be different for you.

Also dont worry about oil pressure when deleting both the squirters and the shafts. If you port the OFH relief valve as is detailed in many threads on here, the pressure will stay down where you want it.

 

[85Entropy]

Ok, cool, thank you for the information! As for deleting the squirters if I choose that path, would you recommend just having them welded? Also, how much vibration are we talking about? The last DSM I owned (1990 Talon TSI FWD) still had the balance shaft, so I don't have a point of reference.