Crank Thrusting Foreward Issues

Yo seat the thrust bearing (#3 main) I torque the cap, then loosen to finger tight, then whack the crank forward and back with a soft mallet. Then retorque the cap. You measure by prying forward and aft to get the clearance. But I would pry to set it. Not that it will give you 3 times what you should have anyway - just saying that's how I've always done it. Too much thrust means not nough bearing, or not enough crank surface. One is cheap to address as long as you can find out why it went away. The other isn't. I've seen factory engines with crank sensors not misbehave until there's .030+... but some aftermarket systems will misfire with more than .010 of movement.