rod bearing question

[99rtguy]

so im pretty sure ive got rod knock. first, whats the best way to determine the size bearings i need? plastigauge? and where is the best place to get bearings? i really wanna drive this car, but dont want to spend too much.

 

[DSM AWD TSI]

Plastigauge is what the factory manual recommends. The bearing size depends if your crank is stock or not and if you have to have it machined or replaced, either way you should probably take it to a machine shop to have it checked out and they can also tell you what bearings you need.

 

[lacroixdp]

The best way to determine what bearing size you need is to take it to a machine shop. They have the proper equipment to determine which sizes you should be running with. Plastigage is acceptable for final verification and measurement, but it will never be as accurate as a machinist's micrometer. Unless you have the proper measuring equipment at home, I wouldn't recommend trying to go at it on your own.

 

[JEFFREYCASTGSX]

Like stated above, your machine shop should tell you what you need and what you dont need. Take him the crank, tell him to do what needs to do to fix it, and depending on what he did to repair the crank(if its repairable) then from there he will tell you what bearings to get. Even then dont forget to plastigage the bearings so as to get the CORRECT clearance tolerances. As for bearings, just contact any of the reputable supporting vendors on this site and they should get you a good deal on a good part.

 

[4g64fiero]

Buy a FSM and a good micrometer and measure it yourself.

The FSM will tell you what size the crank journals should be and what size the rod journals should be.

I'll give you a good hint though. Buy standard bearings. There is no reason to run undersize bearings on a 4g63 due to the fact the FSM says to not cut the factory crank. If your crank is out of spec replace it. If the rods are out of spec have them reconditioned. The only way you will be able to tell is if you have a micrometer. If the machine shop sees the crank out of spec they will want to grind it and order undersize bearings. That is no good.

I know this is a debate but for the price of turning a crank you can find a nice virgin crank if you look hard.