Posted by David Sherman on Tuesday, May 17, 2005 at 10:43PM :
In Reply to: Re: maybe not posted by OTM Mike Stone (Idaho, USA) on Tuesday, May 17, 2005 at 8:42PM :
They used to have crankshaft grinders that would grind a crank while it was in the vehicle. I bought an old one a couple years ago that was made by Sunnen in order to fix my John Deere tractor that had spun a rod bearing. Pulling the engine was not a very good option because this was an early backhoe/loader setup so I would have first had to remove the loader frame, and then separate the tractor between the engine and transmission (tractors don't generally have a frame like cars and trucks do). The Sunnen unit worked very well -- it was rock solid and as smooth as silk. If you were nearby, I'd bring my unit over and help you with it, but you just might find some old mechanic in your neck of the woods who still has one. I started looking for mine because a friend told me his dad used to have one when he was a mechanic.
The second part of the problem, though, is that there was a reason the bearing spun, and it probably had to do with not getting oil. If the oil pan was full when you pulled it, then either an oil passage to that rod journal was clogged, or some other oil passage in the engine was clogged, or the pump was weak, and a lot of parts weren't getting oil, but the con-rod just happened to be the first to run dry. No matter how you fix the spun bearing, make sure you figure out why it wasn't getting oil, or it'll happen again.
Follow Ups: