I bought an 95 Eagle talon Esi for the engine. It had a light/moderate knock/tap that I hoped was lifters or something simple. Dogged it out on test drive, and it didnt blow up. Smooth idle, high speed and RPM, and catchin 3rd's. Might have potential.

My goal was to bandage this engine as cheap as possible and learn what I was doing in the process.

Some pictures here http://www.mainstreetla.com/tight/engine_swap.php

HEAD:
Removed the engine tore it down, got valves reseated, new guides, cleaned, milled. Cams appeared to have normal wear, journals looked good. Changed lifters with the 3mm PT cruiser lifters if that sounds correct.

BLOCK:
Did not disassemble the block. Pistons looked ok, no visable cracks, cylinder walls looked like normal wear.

New clutch, inspected Flywheel for cracks warpage, OK.


RE-START:
So after lots of other problems I put the engine back in. And the knock/tap remains unchanged. Ran it for about 2000 miles. Power feels good, idles great, end got into some Jose Quervo one night, and went dog it out, 6k RPM's spinnin 3rd gear and stuff.
Inspection of oil shows no new metal shavings. GRRrrrr....


ROD-BEARINGS:
A mechanic I trust listened to it and quickly said from the speed of the knock, rod-bearings, and he cant believe it didnt blow yet.

Dropped the oil pan, and changed the rod bearings.
#1,2,4 - were spun. Showed signs of lack of oil and dirt/debris damage. #4 was really worn and shiney.
#3 - was not spun looked good(Amazing!)
Checked for side clearances and 2 were close to the .015 service limit.

Connecting Rod Side clearance(inches):
#1 - .009
#2 - .014 *
#3 - .009
#4 - .011 *

Was not able to effectively check crankshaft endplay. Didnt know the correct place to check with feeler gauges. Visual inspection of the thrust bearing did not tell me much, looked ok, but the crank was still in the block, so im sure that is not a good way to inspect a thrust bearing. The crank did not seem to have much play. I assume that it is under the service limit.

So...
CRANKED it up, and..... Knock remains.....

We seem to think now that is is a Wrist-Pin?

Any tips for checking wrist-pin problems?

If anyone has suggestions or things I should consider before i take the next step. Greatly Appreciated.


She's my daily driver, all stock 1995 Mitsu Eclipse GS Manual.
Some pictures here http://www.mainstreetla.com/tight/engine_swap.php

It's probably the rod journals on the crank. When it spins a bearing, it wears the crank and/or the ID of the rod. Unfortunately, the rods cannot be resized, but you can have the crank turned and get matching rod bearings.

Once you have gaps and possibly out of round rod journals on the crank, it will knock forever. No rod bearing will work properly because it won't be even, thus allowing the bearings to be spun again.

I know from personal experience on my car. It spun a bearing, so I replaced it thinking I'd 'bandage' the issue until I could afford a rebuild. It spun it again and start knocking before I made it out of the driveway. As far as it not blowing up, I tried to make mine explode when I first found out about it (crime of passion, if you will).

I was at the track, ran my 15.2(6? I don't remember anymore) NA, then ran my 14.71 on the bottle, then drove home to SW Houston from San Antonio, catching a few races on the way, but the POS would never grenade.

My two cents equals you pulling the crank, have it turned, have the rods checked and replace the ones that are fooked.

I have a good set of stock rods and pistons you can have for cost of shipping to you plus enough for a case of Budweiser for my trouble of packing them up.

-Kevin

That sounds like a winning combo for both of us.

I plan on pulling the engine next week, and inspecting the block/crank a bit more. Would like to get some specs to make sure I dont need to bore the block and go oversized. Hope not, im just not ready.


I'll get back to you ASAP.


I need the tool to pull the crank-sproket... suggestions?


Thanks.

Yeah go to Autozone and rent it you have to ask for the Chrysler Crank shaft pulley puller. It should look just like this:


As far as the rods and pistons go just let me know and PM me if and when you want them.

-Kevin

You shouldn't have to bore the block out, I didn't have to on mine. Just my #1 rod journal was out of round, so they had to cut it down to make it round again.

IIRC, it was around $100 bucks to get it done, plus rod bearings.

You can inspect it all you want, but it's best to take it to a machine shop and have them inspect it.

I have an extra crank, that had also spun a bearing. Bringing it to a machine shop today. I hope they can give me some good news.

Im a college student, studying Industrial Technology. Among other things, we study/use machines and measuring tools, study properties of metals. If i can get my hands on the right mic's i will try to check the bore/round of the cylinders myself. Trying not to send the block to a shop,(even though it IS the right thing to do). If Block goes to shop, its a whole new ball game. It wont be little league. I dont have the cash flow to build a good short block right now. I would hate to spend cash to build a half-ass, stocker short block. Ya know?

A local machine shop #2 told me, "approx $150 to turn the crank, you should buy a new one."

a friend says, "about $75 to turn a crank..."

Im going somewhere else to find out, if it aint $150, Machine shop #2 is SOL on future buisness.

Thanks for all the help, suggestions.
Will update what i find.

Travis
95 Mitsu GS - daily driver

Originally posted by travis642
Im a college student, studying Industrial Technology. Among other things, we study/use machines and measuring tools, study properties of metals.

I was also an Industrial Technology student. It's amazing what you can get your hands on! A few professors of mine even pointed me in the right directions for local machine shops that our labs on campus could not handle!

To the OP:
-For what the machine shop is asking, it is probably a hell of a lot cheaper than a new crankshaft. Even if you pick up a used one, there is no telling what could be wrong with that one. $40-$50 for a set of Clevite 77s from NAPA + machining your own crank should cost less than a new crankshaft.

My extra crank is junk. Im not sure of the condition of my current crank. But it seems like im not getting good prices on re-working the crank.

2 machine shops told me about $150 to grind the crank. I've seen a new crank on e-bay for $200. (though i dont like e-bay)
The same machine shop said he could sell me a crank-kit. The kit would contain Crankshaft + Rod and Main bearings. $179 + tax and freight. Which didn't sound bad considering.

Anyone suggest a place to get a good crank or kit?
I think im ganna stay away from used cranks, as machining dosent seem to be an option here. Damn Louisiana!!!

go for the crank kit from the machine shop that's a good deal.

-Kevin

Pulled the engine and opened it up.

Some pistons had excessive ware. Didn't feel any movement in the wrist-pins. Could tell #1 wrist pin was wearing/pancaking one side of the piston/journal...Like the hole in the piston was getting bigger, smashing out. This piston had the most ware. Mostly on the intake side, but heavy on both sides. Other pistons show most ware on intake side and minimal on exaust side. #2,#3 pistons were in fairly good condition.

Cylinders might have above normal ware. Took some measurements that didn't look bad, but aren't precise enough to know for sure. measured cylinder bore, piston length(11/16 above skirt), and crank journals. Will check the rod journals tommorrow.

Crank journals looked so so.. Some spots of wear. Moderate to minor. 1000 times better than my spare crank. (That threw a rod, cracked a piston)

I know for sure i need to change the pistons. Will remove the bedplate/crank tommorrow.