Bearing shell question

[M3_FTW]

Hi All

I have a friend who is looking at replacing the bearing shells in terms of preventative maintenance. Do you need to replace the main bearings as well or is just the shells that get replaced ?

He is paranoid about the S65 "rod bearing" issue and just wants to do some preventative work.

[pbonsalb]

Crank stays in place. No known issues there. It comes out only if there is journal damage from very bad rod bearings.

[jphughan]

Connecting rod bearings only. Your friend may want to look into the OEM bearings that have received the WPC treatment. The treatment supposedly makes them stronger but also makes them very slightly thinner, which adds a tiny bit more clearance. EAS sells them either as part of their bearing replacement service or just as parts.

Has your friend run any Blackstone Labs reports yet though? They're very inexpensive, and while they won't be definitive (readings from an engine with one critically worn bearing might look the same as those from an engine with several slightly worn bearings, for example), it's arguably a useful data point to have before spending over $2K on maintenance that might reveal that the existing bearings were just fine.

[IB M]

Doing "preventative" work when there is no problem existing can actually create problems. I.e. The healthy 40 year old person that goes into the hospital for minor surgery and ends up dead. If it is running well now then run it and monitor oil as was stated above.

[M3_FTW]

Originally Posted by jphughan

Connecting rod bearings only. Your friend may want to look into the OEM bearings that have received the WPC treatment. The treatment supposedly makes them stronger but also makes them very slightly thinner, which adds a tiny bit more clearance. EAS sells them either as part of their bearing replacement service or just as parts.

Has your friend run any Blackstone Labs reports yet though? They're very inexpensive, and while they won't be definitive (readings from an engine with one critically worn bearing might look the same as those from an engine with several slightly worn bearings, for example), it's arguably a useful data point to have before spending over $2K on maintenance that might reveal that the existing bearings were just fine.

Not yet, will tell him to get an oil sample done and see what they say.

[Helmsman]

Originally Posted by M3_FTW

Hi All

I have a friend who is looking at replacing the bearing shells in terms of preventative maintenance. Do you need to replace the main bearings as well or is just the shells that get replaced ?

He is paranoid about the S65 "rod bearing" issue and just wants to do some preventative work.

Out of curiosity, what year and mileage is the car?

[M3_FTW]

Originally Posted by Helmsman

Out of curiosity, what year and mileage is the car?

106000 miles, give or take.

We are in South Africa, a local indy has offered to do the job for about 1200 dollars. Which is a decent price.

[pbonsalb]

Originally Posted by IB M

Doing "preventative" work when there is no problem existing can actually create problems. I.e. The healthy 40 year old person that goes into the hospital for minor surgery and ends up dead. If it is running well now then run it and monitor oil as was stated above.

I suppose you could inspect all the rod bearings to see whether there is a problem, but this would involve 100% of the labor. With that much time invested, I would certainly have a set on hand to replace with if necessary, and would go ahead and replace if there was any unusual wear. 4 of my uppers would have been OK and 4 showed additional wear. I replaced them all.

[Aubie4Pres]

Originally Posted by M3_FTW

106000 miles, give or take.

We are in South Africa, a local indy has offered to do the job for about 1200 dollars. Which is a decent price.

Please ask them to take pics and post them up in the rod bearing thread.

Thanks