Thrust Bearing Alignment Need Help From Someone Who Knows!!!

[rjdavis21]

I am about to put the bearings in the block and I need to know step-by-step how to align the thrust bearing. Someone who has done this or who can explain it very well please post, I need help on this soon and badly!! Im in the dark on how to do this and dont wanna mess up Thanks!

 

[98TsiAWD]

Tighten the thrust bearing cap studs/nuts hand tight. Then use a prybar and carefully pry the crank all the way one way, then all the way the other way. This is to make sure those lips on the thrust bearing line up perfect. After you did that a couple times, torque the studs/nuts down.

Then move onto yoru rod bearings.

 

[rjdavis21]

ok so then its pretty simple. do i hand tighten down just the thrust bearing bolts on the "girdle" and leave the rest off or do i tighten all the ones down but leave the thrust bearing bolts hand tight? thanks for your help also.

 

[Rick@AP]

Read this (click on me)

 

[Defiant]

"Radial journal bearings develop their higher load capacity from the way the curved surfaces of the bearing and journal meet to form a wedge. Shaft rotation pulls oil into this wedge-shaped area of the clearance space to create an oil film which actually supports the shaft."

Horseshit. They form a hydrodynamic wedge from the phenomenon of having clearance in the nearly-perfectly round bearing. As the shaft rotates and tries to "climb" onto the "pile" of oil it's forming in front of itself, a fluid wedge is formed. There is no mechanical wedge.

http://www.stiweb.com/appnotes/jb.htm

http://www.usace.army.mil/inet/usace-docs/eng-manuals/em1110-2-1424/c-10.pdf

http://www.mengr.tamu.edu:70/mechanics-systems/lsanandres/me626/notes/finalpdf/Introduction.pdf

 

[luv2rallye]

http://www.stiweb.com/appnotes/jb.htm
WOW! What part of left field did THAT come from?
Pretty impressive!

You tell him danno.......er, I mean Defiant.

 

[JAYTEE]

All the man asked was how to correctly install his thrust bearing, and he got some mis-
information and a lesson in hydrodynamics 101. The ongoing question of thrust bearings
and crank walk left me totally confused, so I studied the situation for myself, applying
45 years of good old fashioned hot rodding. Sure enough, the potential for premature
failure showed up immediatly. The bearing cap thrust surfaces do not align with the block
thrust bearing surfaces, on Gen 1 blocks with the two piece thrust bearing. The simplest
way to correct for this misalignment is to determine how far off the two surfaces are. Once
this been determined, by using a good feeler gage inserted between the crank thrust
surface and the bearing, on the side where there is a gap due to misalignment, "lap" the
bearing shell thrust surface, to thin it until both halves are in perfect alignment on the
flywheel side of the thrust bearing. Next, using a Dremel tool, grind out the oil reliefs which
pass oil from the round journal surface to the thrust surfaces, until these passages are about 3 times larger than they were. They should be 3 times wider and deeper. Do this on
both sides of the bearing, even though only one side has been matched. The reason the other side of the bearing is not "lapped" is because it would yield excessive crank end play. The stock bearing simply does not have available, at the low volume common to
the 4G63, at low RPM, enough oil to cause the crank to "stand-off" from the bearing so
that the bearing does not prematurely fail. Some of the later model Gen2 engines use a
thrust washer which only goes 1/2 way around the surface and is mounted on the block
bearing surface only. These engines suffer almost no failures if the oil is changed on at
regular intervales. Simply, there is no misalignment between the helves and the washers
have huge oil reliefs in the thrust surface.

 

[rjdavis21]

do i have to grind anything? cant i just do as most say and put the bearings in do the crank slide and then be set? the way you said does not sound like what mitsu does in the factories

 

[1fast97gsx]

yea I never understood this either. The bearings have grooves which slide into the block and the girdle so you can't really mess it up left to right? Then just have the bearings line up so the tops are even with where the girdle meets the block ... whats there too align really???

 

[rjdavis21]

ok so i just do as 98TSIAWD said and I should have no problems correct? thats all i need to know