Well I've discovered there is ~2mm movement in the crankshaft of my car. You can grab it with your hands and move it back an forth. I've been told its pretty well farked and that because of the movement there will be fine metal shavings floating around in the engine and that's likely to stuff it very quickly. It apparently just had a rebuild before I got it, new pistons & rings, so maybe the people that did it just had no idea and didn't do it properly? So it might not all be wear and so not just metal every where? I've done oil changes and not noticed anything at all. There is no noise coming from the crankshaft, and also no movement when it is running. The only movement is when you engage the clutch, you can see the pulley slightly move in and out but hardly noticable and wouldn't see it unless really looking closely. I was thinking if only movement when the clutch is engaged then it is going to probably take a good while to wear? One of my dads mates is a mechanic, he didn't like it and said he couldn't handle it but for the k's I do that I should be alright and if it gets any worse then maybe we can do something about it. I love the car and don't want to get rid of it and because i'm studying don't have the cash to get it fixed. Does anyone know how long I'm likely to have before it craps itself? Should I sell or keep it and hope it last for 1-2 years? I don't do heaps of k's and I can just take it easy. I almost convinced myself to sell it but I'm having second thoughts.
As far as metal going through the engine, that's what filters are for... as for the crank movement, Nissan's tolerence is a max of 0.3mm for crank end play, so 2mm is excessive by any stretch of imagination. That would indicate the thrust part of no.4 main bearing is almost non-existant. After saying that, it is highly unlikely that the bearings would wear like that, and more than likely that the crank has been machined incorrectly. It's a bit of a lottery as to whether it will last long, and if that's an indication of the quality of rebuild then I'd be investigating further before making decisions.
Don't sell it yet... Try a few simple things before you get too worried, sure 2mm end play is excessive, but it is most likely not causing any problems. Pull the oil filter and cut the can open, then cut around each end of the paper element and stretch it out, if there are any metal particles they'll be quite obvious but don't confuse carbon particles for metal. To find a few small slivers or particles of metal is normal and no cause for concern. If it's clean and you're still worried call WearCheck on 0732437203 and get an oil sample kit and send it for analysis.
Yeah good idea I might get an oil... analysis done just to see how bad the wear is. It takes all of the guess work out of it then and I will have a pretty good idea how bad things are. Should make it easier to make a decision then.
Very Strange ... Could be that engine builder has placed a standard bearing where the thrust bearing was supposed to go. I wonder if they are interchangable?
I have just overhauled my engine and replaced all the bearings without requiring a regrind but if they have put a standard bearing back in then the crank will rub on the bearing housings which should show up as cast iron in a oil analysis. I would be surprised if they have done that as I would also think you would have some degree of noise when the clutch is engaged furthermore I think from memory the side of the thrust bearing is about 2 mm thick so if it was left out you would have 4 mm movement! From your post it seems that they changed the pistons and rings but didnt change the bearings which is not a good practice so it might just be wear that you have there. Only the analysis will show that.:wacko: regards John
