Too much endplay question.

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moturbopar

moturbopar

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Ok guys, i was helping a friend changing a cam in his 318. When pulling the lower timing gear off, I noticed that the crank has alot of endplay!
I would say that it has a good .090 of endplay! The engine has always run fine and has good oil pressure. What kind of problems do you guys see with this? We planned on swapping in a new high stall converter, would this endplay cause any problems, with the converter to pump engagement? He is building a stroker 340, but it wont be done till sometime next year. What kind of other problems could this cause?
Thanks
 
Look down at the main thrust bearing and see if it is ate up on the front or the back. A big converter that gets hot swells up and pushes on the crank from the back.....

IMO, .090 isn't that bad, really. With the cam out, pull the crank in and out and look at the rod side clearances, and make sure the rods aren't moving on the crank bearing, only the piston pins. (binding) If you're good there, run it!
 
I dont think he wants to pull the pan. He really isnt worried about the engine. We pulled the crank forward and rotated the engine over and turned fine, same with it pushed all the way back. I think we are going just put it back together and just run the crap out of it.
do you think it would be ok to bolt a new converter up to this?
 
moturbopar said:
I dont think he wants to pull the pan. He really isnt worried about the engine. We pulled the crank forward and rotated the engine over and turned fine, same with it pushed all the way back. I think we are going just put it back together and just run the crap out of it.
do you think it would be ok to bolt a new converter up to this?
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Sure...

You can see the middle main bearing from the top with the cam out... The thrust part of the bearing that is.
 
If you have .090 end play your block might be junk. I had a 340 that would heat up in traffic. Took it apart at the end of the season and found major end play. Crank was hitting the block and junked the block. Probably junk convertor balloning. Jayson
 
jysnflem said:
If you have .090 end play your block might be junk. I had a 340 that would heat up in traffic. Took it apart at the end of the season and found major end play. Crank was hitting the block and junked the block. Probably junk convertor balloning. Jayson
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Well his car doesnt get hot, but im sure its probably something thats not worth fixing. The car always ran well,doesnt make any weird noises, good oil pressure, and great cranking compression. When he get close to finishing his stroker, we are going to throw my nitrous kit on it and see how much No2 it can take.
 
Go for it and have a good time.
 
If you didn't know it was there, and it ran fine for him, put it back together. Yes, .090 is very worn. But the block is probably just fine. Either way, it ran before. If it breaks, you have an idea why and cross that bridge when you get there.
 
Your crank end play is determined by the clearance between the thrust bearing and the clearance in the part of the crank that goes in the thrust bearing. Either the bearing portion is too small or the crank portion is too big. Too much endplay may hammer and or destroy your converter eventually.

When it eventually fails, your car will be stuck on the side of the road. Your will have to call a tow truck, or walk home...
 
Damn guys. When somethin's broken or badly out of spec, the correct thing to do is repair it. I don't get it. The spec is .010-.012" so it's FAR out of spec. But do whatever, I guess.
 
StrokerScamp said:
Damn guys. When somethin's broken or badly out of spec, the correct thing to do is repair it. I don't get it. The spec is .010-.012" so it's FAR out of spec. But do whatever, I guess.
Click to expand...

Yup. I am having this very same problem fixed at the moment.

If you do nothing, it will only get worse and may end up costing a bunch more.
 
Well he doesnt really care if the motor blows up, so thats not a big deal. He doesnt want to bolt up the new converter if there is a chance it could break. So he is just going to stick with the stock converter for now. Less money he spends on this engine the sooner he can get the 340 done.
 
Well at least Arizona is far away from me so if it does blow up on the street, locks up and causes a wreck and kills someone it won't be me. I feel much better. Don't you?

Why deliberately put a piece of poopoo together and risk it?
 
IQ52 said:
Well at least Arizona is far away from me so if it does blow up on the street, locks up and causes a wreck and kills someone it won't be me. I feel much better. Don't you?

Why deliberately put a piece of poopoo together and risk it?
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Thats funny! its been running fine for who knows how long, this way. I can tell you for sure it was befor he got his car almost 20,000 miles ago. He hasnt found any metal in the oil or anything weird durring the oil changes. And for anyone wondering why we switched cams in an old 318. Somebody had put a comp 292h in almost stock 318:wack:! We put in a small summit cam to help drivability. I think its less likely to blow up turning lower rpms with the new cam. He has decided to pull the pan and check the bearing though, if its just bearings he plans on changing it, but if its the crank, then its just going to stay. Anyways how would the car lock up with an automatic transmission?
 
Why would it lock up? Could it be for the same reason you can push start a car with an automatic transmission?
 
It can lock up, just as IQ says. There is a higher chance of that happening in an engine with a ton of endplay, than an engine with endplay in spec that just blows up for another reason. The last car I know that did lock up and stopped the rear tires actually blew at 6500. The block came apart and the crank was in 4 pcs. One section of block blew the front tire off the rim and the car spun at the 1000' mark, wiping the right side of the car along the barrier for 300 ft. It CAN and does happen. It's very violent and dangerous as hell. But not very often, and certainly less often in a stock lower end, low rpm cruiser.
 
Ive only had one engine ever lock up, (small block ford threw a rod), it had c-4 auto the car slowed down fairly fast but didnt lock the wheels up. I did have a 10 bolt (chevy) lock the rear wheels up, that was pretty scary. Its not like the car is his daily driver, it gets maybe 20 miles a month now, to the car shows and back + a little main street cruising.The car might see 500 miles before the new engine gets put in. It ran fine befor he found out about the end play problem, I dont know why that would change!?
 
The car has 276 gears, stock heads & worn out 901 springs and converter. With the new cam he doesnt have to rev the crap out of it to get it up to speed. Its not like he is taking this car out and thrashing it down the 1/4 mile every weekend, thats what the other engine is for. This is just to get him by until he can swap engines. Back when I was a teenager I had a 74 chevy truck, I bought it with the engine was worn out. I reringed, put new bearings in it, but came to find out that the endplay was way out of spec it was .05something out of spec. I didnt have anmore $$ to put into it for a crank kit, So I just ran it. that motor lasted me another 80,000 miles befor i swapped it out with a v-8. Being a teenager I was not easy on it either.

If it was my car i would pull the pan for bearings, or find a good Jy 318 and swap it in, since just knowing its that far out of spec would bug me.

Anyways you guys dont need to worry about it anymore, since its running now. I will let you all know how it does
 
my cast crank 390 has developed a ton of endplay, like, a scary amount, like, way more than .090, like maybe .200....... I will fix it this winter. It was caused by the converter getting hot and pushing on the crank over and over........ It is running good.......

I just wonder what kinda damage it is doing to my block.....
 
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