Brand new main bearing nicked. Usable?

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JoePole1

JoePole1

A dude in a B body
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Hey guys. Installing my 5.9 Magnum crank to check clearances and found my King rear main lower bearing is nicked up. Did a quick search and it doesn't look like I can purchase just 1 bearing. The scratch is on the inner/crank side of the bearing. I hit it gently with some 250 to knock the high spots down. Do you think it's usable if I clean it up with emory cloth? Thanks.
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I'd say don't sand anything. You'll make it worse. The material is intentionally soft so debris will embed rather that score journals. Worse case, scrape a high spot with a sharp blade and leave it alone. A tiny pit in the material won't make a lick of difference.
 
Fine Scotchbrite and some clean solvent may help. Hopefully you will just remove the first layer if they are tri-metal. Like the other guys said, look for a single journal set. They sell them.
 
Good sets are $50. Don't be cheap when it comes to bearings.
 
Thanks. Actually...the original 70k mile bearing looks pretty nice. I can still see the longitudinal machine marks like the new one. Some minor wear one the lower.
I believe that it's a non load bearing.
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Anyone out there have an extra, new rear main bearing they would part with? 01 Magnum 5.9. BTW. This is not a race motor. Will not run over 6000rpm. Thanks.
 
"In my day" you could order single bearings direct from the manufacturers. In this Chineseoisationized world, I don't know. I would contact the supplier and it they don't get anywhere, track (attempt to) down the manufacturer.
 
Ain't no such thing as a non load bearing, or you could just leave it out.
 
The lower bearing is THE main load bearing shell at each main.

Scrape lightly as suggested. Then use it, IMHO. I personally would not further use Scotchbrite, nor worry too much over what you have done to this point. Inspect the bearing with a magnifying glass if you think anything embedded in it.
 
JoePole1 said:
Anyone out there have an extra, new rear main bearing they would part with? 01 Magnum 5.9. BTW. This is not a race motor. Will not run over 6000rpm. Thanks.
Click to expand...
You need to start a wanted thread.
 
JoePole1 said:
Hey guys. Installing my 5.9 Magnum crank to check clearances and found my King rear main lower bearing is nicked up. Did a quick search and it doesn't look like I can purchase just 1 bearing. The scratch is on the inner/crank side of the bearing. I hit it gently with some 250 to knock the high spots down. Do you think it's usable if I clean it up with emory cloth? Thanks.View attachment 1715298853
Click to expand...

I'll respond with how I would look at this problem.

How bad do I want to do it again? Then what will the cost be??
 
Seriously... how would this cause a failure requiring a rebuild? Any raised nub will wear away quickly with no crank effect. Engines run long times with a bit of a bearing missing..... like the big groove down the center LOL
 
Thanks ham. I tend to agree but I am trying to get a replacement bearing. I got ahold of the vendor I purchased it from and because it's more than 60 days they cannot replace. I went back to King. They had me send pictures. Now waiting to hear back. I think they will step up to the plate. Fingers crossed.
 
Good deal. FWIW, I have fixed piddly issues like that and gone and raced 500-1000 rally stage miles with nary an issue or 2nd thought and every thing was fine, nothing hurt at all. And considering that cam bearings get hand scraped to fit all the time.... You're not running a Top Fueler engine here LOL
 
King got back to me by phone and said they don't have any single bearings around and did not offer to replace the set. Nice.
The tech said that he spoke with his engineer and determined that the bearing is usable with a clean-up. That said, I would not do business with "King Engine Bearing Specialists".
Spend your money elsewhere.
 
Well, at least you tried. They probably have no way to determine where/how it was nicked so I can kinda understand....
 
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