Just put new rod bearings in my 3VZE (lots of pics)

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Klez

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My 4runner sat for about 2-3 months because the SAS swap was not done with correct parts. I had just bought the truck and changed the oil. After I got the front end all sorted out I started driving it. One day I started hearing a noise (thought it was an exhaust leak). The oil pressure looked fine so I kept driving it. I had recently moved, had a new baby at home and work was very busy. I never had a chance to think about checking the OIL. The noise seemed to get a little worse. I remembered to check the oil on Friday while at work :eek: The dip stick was bone dry. I was about 3 quarts low for who knows how long. Anyway today I went out and bought a manual ($16) rod bearings ($32) and a oil pan gasket ($9). I replaced all the bearings (a first for me) and now all is fine. The crank still looked fine and I hope the little knock doesn't come back. This was a very easy job with a solid axel (I would rate it a 2 on 1-10 scale). Anyway just thought I would share. BTW Check your oil :)
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Klez said:

BTW Check your oil

I need new rear springs to match the new fronts :)
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That is good advice.... It can save You a lot of money and work..It's good You were able to do it by yourself otherwise it would cost You much more..........

Klez said:
I need new rear springs to match the new fronts :)
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Yes You do..It looks funny with smaller springs in the back.
Your 4Runner looks great and it is so clean and shiny.. I think it is time to take it offroad an get it dirty....... ;):
 
When swapping out the bearings, aren't you supposed to check oil clearance with the plastigauge stuff??

Looks like they needed to be changed though...
 
Sorry to resurrect a very old thread, but I'm thinking about doing something similar. How'd the new bearings hold up?
 
Since you asked :). I actually did a siiular thing to my old one, I was in a mud hole and as I sat with the front end up and out the 4runner was at about a 70' angle then it started to knock and I shut it down, got pulled out and trailered home.
Once I got it home - was straight axled 92 3.0 w 38's - , removed the oil pan, and found #3 rod bearing gone, bearing material stuck in the oil pisser hole for the cylinder and the crank was pretty torn up. Cleaned every thing up, removed material with a cutting torch pin drill set, then I sat under it with some 400grit, then 800, 1200 and finally 1400 and polished the crank till it was smooth. There was still a ton of ridges in it but they were all smooth, I figured as long as I had oil pressure we would be good. I ran it 1000 miles and disassemble to check - just because I was worried -, all was good, reassembled and ran it another 10K before I sold it and never had another issue.
My .02
 
For anyone wanting to do this, you're asking for much more trouble than what it's worth. If you spin a bearing you're better off to pull the engine and rebuild it. Simply replacing a bearing will only lead to premature failure again.
 
brocktice said:
But what if it's just worn out of spec and not spun?
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If it's worn then the crank or block could be worn too and needs to be inspected. Usually if bearings are worn then the crak will have gouges in it too. The crank needs to be ground down and polished by a machine tat has the accuracy to the thousandths of an inch.
 
SV_Dude said:
For anyone wanting to do this, you're asking for much more trouble than what it's worth. If you spin a bearing you're better off to pull the engine and rebuild it. Simply replacing a bearing will only lead to premature failure again.
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Really? Sitting under a straight axled rig and pulling the oil pan is pretty easy.
As long as you have oil pressure, a new bearing and the crank is smooth how will it wear?
If it was worn from someone not changing the oil or running it low, yes I agree it should all be gone through. In my case it worked out great since the engine was in good condition and the only damage was from starving the pump/engine and the first place to loose lubrication was the #3 rod, and the was repairable without a complete tear down. Even though the crank was gouged up. :)
 
NoHair said:
Really? Sitting under a straight axled rig and pulling the oil pan is pretty easy.
As long as you have oil pressure, a new bearing and the crank is smooth how will it wear?
If it was worn from someone not changing the oil or running it low, yes I agree it should all be gone through. In my case it worked out great since the engine was in good condition and the only damage was from starving the pump/engine and the first place to loose lubrication was the #3 rod, and the was repairable without a complete tear down. Even though the crank was gouged up. :)
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You got lucky that your engine held up that long. Odds are, that engine won't live a long life. I'm not saying it won't, I'm just saying that is a horrible way of doing maintenance. Instead of a flat smooth surface riding on the bearings, now you have a grooved surface riding on those bearings.
 
What part is luck, oil pressure - check, smooth surface , check - yes grooved but smooth - for oil to flow and keep a "Cushion of protection" :), rod end and rod bolt were not stretched = new bearing fully supported, so what could go wrong besides the oil pump not producing enough volume to fill in that extra 1 square MM of space - and if that was a problem I would have other issues?

You do know the crank surface and the bearing should never touch, right?
I have done/seen a lot of race engine that hold up to what others think will never work, you would be AMAZED at what most parts can take before they catastrophically fail.
Keep in mind rules of racing are just that, if it is not in the rule book it is legal to do. Sometimes you need to think outside the box.
 
I had a slight oil leak, from the pan gasket. while I had the pan down, I decided to change the bearings. both the rods, and mains.

that was several years ago, all is well.

and yes, the mains can be done, you just loosen all the caps, and only remove them one at a time. use something non-metallic to push the bearings out, so as to not risk scratching the journal.
 
SV_Dude said:
If it's worn then the crank or block could be worn too and needs to be inspected. Usually if bearings are worn then the crak will have gouges in it too. The crank needs to be ground down and polished by a machine tat has the accuracy to the thousandths of an inch.
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FWIW I got mine apart. The bearings are fairly worn but exhibit no other problems, and the crankshaft journals are in great shape.
 
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