Rod Bearing Cap Movement? Quick help Please...

[GSXlaunch]

Well guys I have a problem I think and I need some sound advice. My car is a 1990 GSX with about 117k miles on it. I have the engine out of the car and am working on removing the balance shafts. Since the oil pan needed to be pulled I decided to check the rod bearing cap movement. To my amazement they move, very slightly side to side (towards the timing belt then towards the tranny). They all seem to move about the same. What really freaked me out is that they also moved (although extremely minutely and less then side to side) front to back or towards the intake then the turbo. Is this normal or is it time for a rebuild? I dont have a gauge but let me stress they move front to back just enough to let you know they are moving. Before you answer let me say: the car ran great before I pulled the motor to do the balance shaft emlimination...held 19-20 psi with zero knock (race gas) and pulled hard all the way to red line, did not smoke one bit, oil pressure never went low, absolutely did not knock at all on start up, partial throttle/high RPM-never, held a good quite idle...freakin thing runs perfect IMO. According my logger I was getting ZERO knock from idle to 7k rpm at 20psi with the race gas. Now I find this movement and am pretty much freaking out. Hopefully I am being overly dramatic but I had two people already tell me it needs a rebuild. Well, I need to know from the experts. I've spent so much time, so much money, been yelled at by my wife, kids, neighbors...now, well you tell me. I cant imagen a car that runs so well needs a rebuild. The last compression test I did was somewhere around 160 in all four. The oil looked fine and the oil pan had the average dirt and grime in it but nothing major. I expected that since it was the first time it had ever been pulled off. Forgive the stupid questing but does the egine have to be warm in order to check the tolerance of movement in the bearing caps? I am thinking expanding metal...but I am somewhat of a retard when it comes to block internals. The car has been sitting for a little over two months as I was upgrading the clutch and figuring out how to mount my new FMIC. Your advice is much appreciated.

 

[Suparata]

It should move side-to-side (thrust play) but it shouldn't move front-to-back (excessive clearance). You should probably look deeper into it.

 

[GSXlaunch]

Ok, I have to apologize...I lifted the engine as high as it would go on the hoist. This gave me a better angle to see how bad the caps would wiggle. I am happy to say that they did not move at all front to back (towards the turbo then to the intake) at all. They still moved side to side but I am understanding this is normal. I guess when I checked them earlier the hoist was not up very high and my arm was at a weird anlge. Oh well, I feel stupid, but at least I will get some sleep tonight.

Last question is should re-torqe the bearing caps??? Or just leave them alone...thanks

 

[BISHILVR]

pull a couple of rods and mains and use plastigauge on them to make sure everything is kosher before you re-assemble everything and have to take it all back apart 6 months from now........it's simple and cheap insurance to do right now...........

 

[GSXlaunch]

Okay, so let me make sure I got this straight...I should pull a few rod bearing caps and crank main bearing caps to see if they look okay? Wouldnt I have to pull the piston/rod out? Again, I miss-judged the excessive clearance movement. Everything seems to be in order. I am leaning towards leaving it alone. With in 6 months I should have hit my goal of 12 sec qtr mile times so by then I will be ready to go ahead a rebuild it and set a new goal. Thanks for the help and sorry if I wasted anyone's time.

TT