Excessive Crank End Play

[ERACER]

I have a 318 in my '74 Dart that was freshened in spring '07 with new bearings, rings, cam and lifters, valve springs, and so on. I only ran the car a couple of times that year and not at all last year, so it might have about 100 miles on it. Early last week, I got it running again and noticed that every time I hit the throttle, the balancer and pulley move forward about 1/16". At first I thought the balancer bolt had loosened, but after checking it, the balancer is fully seated and the bolt is fully tourqued. With the engine off, I was able to get a pry bar between the balancer and timing cover and sure enough, I can pull the balancer forward exactly 1/16". I did look from underneath and the flexplate comes forward with it, so I know the whole crank is moving (which is a positive), but according to my incredibly sharp math skills, I have about .055 too much end play. What happens to an engine with too much slop and is this repairable with a wider thrust bearing?

 

[moper]

You need to drop the pan and see. The crank may be wiped too. So they will need to weld it and re-surface the thrust surface. I do not believe there is much for thicker thrusts on Mopar because the bearing is one piece. I coudl be wrong there... so it's worth a look.

 

[lead69]

I went through this last summer on a 360,it wasnt as bad though-the end play was out by .020.There are no wider/thicker thrust bearings available to correct it anymore,my machinist and I checked since it was a low buck deal.Luckily the local crank grinder only charged $75.00 to weld up the thrust in addition to the grind,I thought that was pretty reasonable.

 

[HOTMOPR]

Not sure On small bloacks but B/rbs are .03 - .07 I think

 

[ERACER]

Well, I pulled the pan this weekend and sure enough, the rear side of the thrust bearing and the thrust surface on the crank are wiped.:vom: Now to figure out why. The only thing I can guess at this point is maybe the converter was not fully engaged to the pump on the tranny. Any other ideas. Would like to find the cause before I move forward and repair/replace parts.

 

[340sFastback]

When the trans and engine are bolted together the torque converter should spin freely before you put the flex plate to converter bolts in. If not there is a problem.