Got my Trust Washers in.....

[Guest]

I pulled the rear bearing cap off and Plastigauged the crank. Using the Green Plastigauge, all I could get with 65lbs of torque was <span style="text-decoration: underline">less</span> than .0015" gap. Anything over .0020 is trouble. I like living on the edge, I will leave it alone. The bearings are Vandervells anyway, rare. Anyway, I popped the thrust washers using a nylon tie to push them through and was only able to get standard size back in (these were standard size). Tried putting a .005 oversize in the back after pushing the crank around, no go. I suppose that is good thing. Obvious wear with the bronze thinning uniformly across surface of both surfaces. Incidentally, if you read the Bentley book, they tell you to put them in backwards, or at least the picture shows that. Not right.

 

[Brosky]

Good news Bill.

Glad to see that things are turning your way for a change.

 

[Guest]

Cool beans. You'll be back driving before you know it.

 

[2wrench]

I pulled the rear bearing cap off and Plastigauged the crank. Using the Green Plastigauge, all I could get with 65lbs of torque was <span style="text-decoration: underline">less</span> than .0015" gap. Anything over .0020 is trouble. I like living on the edge, I will leave it alone. The bearings are Vandervells anyway, rare. Anyway, I popped the thrust washers using a nylon tie to push them through and was only able to get standard size back in (these were standard size). Tried putting a .005 oversize in the back after pushing the crank around, no go. I suppose that is good thing. Obvious wear with the bronze thinning uniformly across surface of both surfaces. Incidentally, if you read the Bentley book, they tell you to put them in backwards, or at least the picture shows that. Not right.

I agree their photo is very poor. Does seem to suggest an incorrect
install. Come to think of it, I couldn't find a reference clearly displaying
a correct install. Come to think of it, as a result, I might have not installed
them correctly at all; nonetheless, I think I got it right. Go figure.

Anybody got a reference that will show these little devils properly placed?

I think the problem is that when they are properly placed, they diappear from
sight. Can anybody shed more light on this issue?

 

[aeronca65t]

....Anybody got a reference that will show these little devils properly placed?....

Not sure if this will help, but anyway;

The thrust washers have notched wear surfaces.
These surfaces should face the moving crankshaft surface.
This means that the wear surface on the "front" thrust washer should face the front of the crank and the wear surface of the "rear" thrust washer should face the rear (flywheel end) of the crank.

You can see the notched wear surfaces in this picture.

This picture show shows the rear thrust washer with the notched wear-surface facing the rear of the crank (flywheel end)

I change these in my 1500 race engine about every 25 hours. They usually show pretty obvious wear and there is a measurable increase in thrust measurment.
Some folks "pin" them to the engine with screws, but if you keep an eye on them, I don't see the need.
I have taken two 1500 engines apart where I found the thrust washers had fallen out (and were sitting in the oil pan).

 

[vettedog72]

Bill
Sounds like your first first redo of the motor was right on everything. The failure was in the cam or lifter or both. Since you did not have a king kong pressure plate in the clutch, it does not surprise me that your thrust bearings were ok.

As I recall you had one bad lobe and lifter. I just wonder if the lifter stopped spinning because of size or just lack of oil or have you determined the most likely cause of the failure? Maybe you all ready mentioned it and I just missed it.

 

[Guest]

I just noticed the Freudian slip in the title.

Perhaps after this go around you'll have some trust in the thrust...

 

[DrEntropy]

:lol:

I hit it goin' "What?" then "oh."

Repeat after me: "Babbit to crank, babbit to crank..."

 

[Tinster]

So OK, I put my boat engine in for service every 100 hours.

The thrust washer thing scares me to death; after two years rebuild
and copious amounts of $$ dumped into the Crypt Car to get it
un-Pedro-ized and operational.

Now I'm afraid to drive it for fear the thrust washers will eat
up the engine. I ain't a wrench and the T/W things look totally
beyond my capabilities.

Blimey!!

d

 

[RonMacPherson]

Dale,

DRIVE IT!!!!

If the thrust washer problem was evident by now, you would have experienced some of the symptoms. When the thrust washer does die, and it is not that common a failure. I've had three 6's with over 65K on each engine and no thrust washer problem. One engine was "souped up" and driven quite hard constantly.

If the thrust washer problem crops up; you will note changes in clutch pedal feel and after continuous driving, miles and miles, many, many shifts then you may start hearing noises when starting the car/and or shifting gears...


Kinda like worrying about getting a blowout in your tire, so you never take it out on the road.....

 

[poolboy]

....Or you could drop the sump (oil pan) and measure with a feeler gauge or just replace them, putting the joy back into the driving.
Something else to fret about will come along soon enough though. It always does. Reading these threads causes anxiety for us sometimes, like reading a medical text book. "I think I've had those symptoms"

 

[DrEntropy]

*bump*

WELL?!?! What's th' progress, Bill?!?!