Advice needed. A journal cap came off!

-

1973Barracuda

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 11, 2009
Messages
2,020
Reaction score
2,425
OK, here's the deal..... Car broke down last month, something pierced the oil pan, lost my oil. Shut the engine down immediately. Finally pulled the oil pan. My journal cap(between 1 and 3) came off. I guess the previous owner didn't torque it properly. So, here is my thoughts, and PLEASE all you engine gurus tell me if I am thinking right. Pull the crank, get it reground, get new bearings, reuse the rod bearings. Put the new bearings in for the crank, just torque the rod bearings. Am I thinking correctly?All advice is greatly appreciated. Thank you

Jason
 
Is the crank journal scared where the cap came off ?
If not , just put it back together.
 
Journal looks OK. Ran my fingernail across it, I could feel a small bit of grooving. So, I think a grinding may be worth it. What do you think?
 
The cap is a bit injured, as it flew off. It is a bit jacked, so I will need a new cap and bearing. The cap is marred and took a slight beating as it flew off and pierced the oil pan. Please excuse the response-rum and coke night.
 
Pull the motor. If the cap is damaged you don't just put another cap back on. New bearing or not. You will need to at least remove the head to pull the piston and replace the connecting rod. You can do all that in the car but it is a turd to do. Pull the motor..........There's only one way to do this....the correct way.
toolman
 
Pull the motor. If the cap is damaged you don't just put another cap back on. New bearing or not. You will need to at least remove the head to pull the piston and replace the connecting rod. You can do all that in the car but it is a turd to do. Pull the motor..........There's only one way to do this....the correct way.
toolman

Theres confusion between a rod bearing cap and a main bearing cap.
How many are sharing the rum and coke ? LOL
Thousands of Fords 3 Ltr V6 cracked the rear main cap in half. rarely required a rebuild though. Either way, Have fun :)
 
Pull the motor. If the cap is damaged you don't just put another cap back on. New bearing or not. You will need to at least remove the head to pull the piston and replace the connecting rod. You can do all that in the car but it is a turd to do. Pull the motor..........There's only one way to do this....the correct way.
toolman

I think it is a main bearing, not a rod bearing,
it sounds like you have bigger problems
the caps are machined to fit that block in that position, you cant just mix and match them, or replace them and expect it to work, also how are the threads? did you find the old bolts? are they broken or stripped?
 
Theres confusion between a rod bearing cap and a main bearing cap.
How many are sharing the rum and coke ? LOL
Thousands of Fords 3 Ltr V6 cracked the rear main cap in half. rarely required a rebuild though. Either way, Have fun :)

We don't know do we? Either way, if it's damaged you don't reinstall another cap without resizing the rod or align honing the block. Ford is another story.
 
May be OK, Maybe you can check the crank with a dial indicator even if it looks good to test run out etc, if crank is not bent then maybe block is OK too, and can pass on a line bore etc. Polish crank and new bearing is minimum to fix it if you are lucky.

Have done this as a short term fix.
 
If I did not explain my issue good enough I will try again. My rod bearings are fine, it is a main(2nd one back from the front of the engine). Again, all help is appreciated. When I pulled the oil pan, the 2 bolts, cap, and bottom half of the bearing were in the bottom of the pan. The cap has a mar on it I think merits getting a new one. Does this help explain my situation? Actually I have to admit I didn't pull the pan, a friend did since a 20 year old in an SUV thought I shouldn't exist a few weeks ago. Have to give credit where it is due. Thank you all for any advice given.
 
ha said it is the cap BETWEEN 1 and 3, so it would seem to be a main cap
I guess you could try re using the old cap with new bolts and new bearin and hope for the best, that would be cheap and easy and may work fine, I would clean up the crank with some emerycloth though
here read this it has some good info that may help
http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/showthread.php?t=117016
 
Main cap, You had better check the torque on the rest of them and check them for wear. You can't replace the cap with a new one without alignboring the block. You can reuse the old one with a new bearing, I hope your crank is smooth otherwise your fix will be short lived.
 
Think I agree with caferacerx. If you reinstall the cap with a new bearing, your motor will tell you pretty quickly if it's liking the new arrangement. If it works -- cool. If not -- then you'll have to face the inevitable and turn the crank, replace the cap and have it line bored. Might as well do all the bearings at that time and freshen up the cylinders.
 
So if I had some marring on my cap, would it be OK to grind it smooth again so the bearing will fit properly in it? I'm talking like 1/4 inch or so of an area to smooth out? Does everyone aggree that if I can feel grooves with my fingernail on the crank I need to have it ground?
 
The cap has a machined surfaces that matter and rough surfaces that dont matter.Most important are the bearing place and the mating face.
And definately torque check all the hardware in there, rod caps included.
 
Crap, my pics are too big. Try again in a few. Am I smoking crack or is the biggest pic you can attach is like 39 or so?
 
You could use the same cap over as long as it isn't cracked or messed up where the bearing goes and where it mates to the block.
Have a local shop magnaflux it and make sure it's ok to use.

If you have another cap then just check it and make sure it's the same measurements as your old one was.
Check the threds on the bolts also.
If the bolt threds are ok then the block is most likely ok.
Check the bearings on an other mains and pick a couple rods to check the bearings on.
If all is well then re-torque the mains and all the rods.
If your willing to build a new engine,why not try first fixing what you have.
I would ask a couple of shops near you why they think this would happen and if they have seen it before.
Was this a new or old engine???
 
if I understand right its a main cap bearing that came off

you CANT change a main cap without having the block linebored
if you do maybe the cap will fit if you are lucky but the cranck wont turn

what you should do is: if the main arent so bad can work on it
to have it smoot again but not much

you gonna need new bearing for that main

you gonna need new bolt for that main

you will need to check all rod bolt and main bolt
to be correctly torque

if the cranck have litlle tiny scratch you can
still use it but they need to be in the same way the cranck rotate
so it wouldnt wear the bearing

but first put a dial indicator on the cranck shaft just to be
sure the cranck didnt bind in any way

my 2 cents

from a guy who doesnt have money to spend
for usefull parts
 
You could use the same cap over as long as it isn't cracked or messed up where the bearing goes and where it mates to the block.
Have a local shop magnaflux it and make sure it's ok to use.

If you have another cap then just check it and make sure it's the same measurements as your old one was.

I do not have any extra caps. Or do you mean one of the other caps?

Check the threds on the bolts also.

The threads look fine on the two cap bolts

If the bolt threds are ok then the block is most likely ok.
Check the bearings on an other mains and pick a couple rods to check the bearings on.

Can you please explain that a little differently-not quite getting that

If all is well then re-torque the mains and all the rods.
If your willing to build a new engine,why not try first fixing what you have.
I would ask a couple of shops near you why they think this would happen and if they have seen it before.

I am very interested in fixing this engine-it was quite strong and about what I was looking for in a street engine

Was this a new or old engine???

This was an engine I bought in middle Tennesse from someone who had it rebuilt for a notchback he had. The engine hadn't been run in a while when I bought it. He didn't have too many miles on it-he said it was not too much past broken in. He had some mutual friends of mine and I trusted him. About 9 to 1 purpleshaft cam 360 stock heads.
 
pics, hope these help.
 

Attachments

  • cap4.jpg
    16.5 KB · Views: 137
  • cap5.jpg
    18.7 KB · Views: 146
  • cap6.jpg
    22 KB · Views: 158
  • cap7.jpg
    23.1 KB · Views: 140
OK, so I am not smoking crack to think I can clean up the cap, get a new bearing, check the torque of everything I can see, seal it up and stand a good chance of it holding together for a good while. Should I put in a new upper bearing as well? I think maybe not. Opinions?
 
-
Back
Top