Ok my car is down right now because it was leaking oil real bad. I got some real low oil pressures several times and I'm going to replace the rod bearings just to be safe. I don't want to put the motor back in and have a spun bearing a week later. So the question is what needs replaced. Is it just the 2 half moon metal slivers that wrap around the crank? Are those the bearings that spin? Can I just replace those and use the same rod bearing caps and be ok? If so anyone have a price estimate on those? Thanks!!

The bearings don't spin, they're stationary. The crank spins inside them. You can replace all 4 rod bearings with the motor in the car. I don't recall the cost of the bearings, but I think you can get them from Howell pretty cheap. Total time would be around 2-3 hours I would guess, from start to finish to replace them all.

its under 60$ from forum dodge if u get stock bearings, if the motor has been used for a long time replacing them could be bad considering wear patterns,

remember to lube those bearings or the first crank they will spin....

So what actually happens when we "spin a rod bearing"? Do they literally spin and make that noise or what? Is there anyway to tell if they are fine just by looking at them or feeling them?

the crank spins and mangles the bearing up and it wears down the crank journal improperly and leaves spaces that creates rod end slap against the crank which is that horrible noise...

u can look at them and see but if u dont know what your looking it its hard to tell...

I beg to differ, if the bearing has spun, then you will see that it is all scratched up and ugly. They should be nice and shiny, as well as smooth.
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i spun 3 rod bearings when i first bought my car because i had no idea of the oil problem and ran 2 qts low. The bearings have grooves and scratches through the middle and are missing spots on outside edge.

my talon is down now due to the fact that i spun rod #2 so i can say first hand, if you only barely spin it, or do as my mechanic said i did and break a bearing babbet(?) it will start and run fine. you may notice a slight *tack-tack-tack* after startup that fades, and as oil temps increase and the oil thins the bearing and rod have more play, making a slight *tick* at idle and for me at about 3000 rpm a pretty bad knock.

$60 huh, not bad.

PT cruiser valvetrain and the mopar windage tray certainly could help the oil cunsumption. if its sloshed about it has to get smokey if its on parts that dont normally have oil always in contact, and our PCV system breaths through two tubes injesting that oil become smoke. so maybe our oil leak isnt just a liquid leak, could it be gaseous? my car doesnt leave puddles of oil yet runs low on occasion. could be why i screwed the bearing on rod 2.

So I need to remove the bearing caps and bearings and inspect them right? I can reuse them if they are smooth and everything?

Yes, you can reuse whatever is shiny. The rod bolts, on the other hand, are not meant for reuse. The only exceptions that I know of are the ARP bottom end bolts. If they look like regular bolts, then they cannot be reused. If they look like studs that anchor at the top and have a nut at the bottom, then they can be reused as many times as you want. These are ARP bolts.
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