Is this normal for 86000 miles

[Naildriver111]

I just pulled the pistons and the main caps, all of the rod bearings had the same wear line on the rod side only, and the # 2 3 4 mains were similar, # 1 had no wear, and as you can see, the rear main had a dime size spot but not very deep. should I be worried that the crank is warped?

 

[Broncobowsher]

I don't think it is a warped crank. all the wear is on the loaded side of the bearings. I want to say marginal oiling, high loads, low speeds. Or lugged the engine a lot and didn't change the oil very often.

 

[Naildriver111]

I don't think it is a warped crank. all the wear is on the loaded side of the bearings. I want to say marginal oiling, high loads, low speeds. Or lugged the engine a lot and didn't change the oil very often.

I forgot to mention that it sat for several years due to the original owner's (my brother-in-law) bad health, I did change the oil before starting it for the first time after hauling it home, and he was obsessive with oil changes and tune-ups, as I am now that it's mine;D

 

[NoJoe]

I agree with broncobowsher and I would get the crank ground .010-.010 with new bearings of course.

 

[bronco69drp]

not unusual.%) your rods are streached.(egg shaped)
a machine shop will grind the flats where the caps bolt to & then hone the inside to proper specs & true round.

 

[wildbill]

I would suggest you take it to a good machine shop and have it checked you mite get buy haveing it just polished and new bearings. And dont use jap crap get good bearings ( clevite 77's ) have the rods sized and you should be good to go. My crank is out of a junk yard 99,999 mile motor and was just polished and reinstaled now have 98,000 on it still fine Good luck with your's. Bill

 

[broncnaz]

Probably a little excessive wear for only 89,000 miles could be worse. I agree with Broncobowsher marginal oiling and high loads can cause that even when oil is changed regularly sometime even the type of oil and filter used can contribute to the problem. I had 177,000 miles on my engine and the bearings were barely worn had the crank polished and still have STD bearing in it now the crank has 300,000 + miles on it.
I would even consider that since your in the south that the high humidity tends to contribute to condensation build up in the oil that can cause bearing problems. Or the factory just put in a crank that was at the limit of its machining tolerances for STD bearings and ended up being a little loose.

 

[Pa PITT]

Let me wade in ....I had a parts house for 30 years before present job ...
Do you know what oil he did use and what brand filter did he mostly use ....did
he run with out and air filter ...do you think he changed the air filter as regular as the oil...what about driving habits ..short trips or did he get it warmed up...
I would have thought the bearing would have close to 200,000 miles on them .
Remembering what people would put on our counter to be rebuilt....

 

[Naildriver111]

Let me wade in ....I had a parts house for 30 years before present job ...
Do you know what oil he did use and what brand filter did he mostly use ....did
he run with out and air filter ...do you think he changed the air filter as regular as the oil...what about driving habits ..short trips or did he get it warmed up...
I would have thought the bearing would have close to 200,000 miles on them .
Remembering what people would put on our counter to be rebuilt....

He was always a fanatic when it came to servicing it, my Sister would say he loved it more than her, and I fully understand how he felt;D. It did have a Motorcraft oil filter and a Fram air filter on it when I got it, and I did find a few unopened bottles of Texaco 10W40 oil in the back of it during cleaning. I also have his 3 repair manuals, and they are like a diary, it's full of pieces of paper with to do list, and notations written in the manuals of new tires, oil changes, and ect. and thats how I know how many miles and services it had. His drive to work was around 4 miles each way. I don't know if you can read the notation, but he put tires on it in April 14 1991 with odometer reading 70,000 miles, then below that is a note of putting a tube in the right rear on April 10 1996 with 79,000 miles. My point is, I hauled it home in February 2005 with 79,600 miles on it, and if I had of pulled the distributer and primed the oil pump before starting it for the first time in 9 years, would I have prevented the wear on the bearings?

 

[broncnaz]

Doubt that you would have caused that much wear in the few seconds that it had no oil but it is possible.
I know you said he was the orginal owner but are you positive about that? There's always the possiblity that he had records that are not included/lost or do they date back to when he bought it? If not that could point to it having more than 79,000 miles on it. as he could have bought it from someone who put the first 100,000.
Overall I dont think it matters as you have a bronco and you have identified a problem once fixed you should be on the road again.

 

[Naildriver111]

Doubt that you would have caused that much wear in the few seconds that it had no oil but it is possible.
I know you said he was the orginal owner but are you positive about that? There's always the possiblity that he had records that are not included/lost or do they date back to when he bought it? If not that could point to it having more than 79,000 miles on it. as he could have bought it from someone who put the first 100,000.

I took the block, crank, and heads to the machine shop this morning, he said the crank only needed polishing, but he may have to rebuild the rods.
And here is a scan of the original sales recipt with my brother-in-laws name on it.

 

[broncnaz]

Thats cool just making sure I just thought it might have more miles than you thought from the looks of that bearing. Might have been some dirt in the engine when it was assembled at the factory that would cause a lot of bearing wear.

 

[Naildriver111]

I was beating myself up over it, about what I "coulda woulda shoulda" done before starting it after setting so long. I did pour Marvel mystery oil down the spark plug holes, and let is set overnite, and aparently that helped, because there were no broken rings or scratched cylinder walls. And the only bad news I got from the shop, is that they are 3 weeks behind due to the racing season.
Thanks for all the comments, I will add an update when I get everything back from the shop.

 

[Broncobowsher]

That 4 mile drive could easily be the killer. That really isn't enough to get the engine warmed up to operating temp. Even if the water does get warm, the oil doesn't warm up that fast.

From the looks of the wear it wasn't a sudden wear issue (smeared metal) but a prolonged wear issue. I don't think you hurt anything after starting it after sitting for a long time.

 

[Pa PITT]

Ya day to day that 4 mile trip might be the dog that bites ...But as someone else said you got it and that's all that matters now ....when you get it back the motor will be one of the items you ""DON'T"" think about anylonger .....
I worry about mine for 1 1/2 year while rebuilding it I'd crank it and let it run in the shop 5 minutes once I got it back together I'd only drive it a mile or 2...Now that I guess it's finished I drive it around the farm for 45 minutes at 10 mph mostly ...

 

[Naildriver111]

Engine update

The machine shop finally called on Tuesday, they had to bore it 40 over, and turned the crank -10/-10. They had also just finished rebuilding the heads, and the machinist said that the valves and guides were in terrible condition, and it was probably due to it being driven without an air filter. So mark one up for Papitt . I was hoping that it wouldn't have to be bored more than 20 over, but he said the # 8 cylinder wouldn't clean up at 20 or 30, and I didn't get any details for the cause. I ordered the complete kit from www.northernautoparts.com for $219 + shipping, But I upgraded to Clevite bearings, hi-volume oil pump, and fellpro gaskets. The parts arrived yesterday, and I took the pistons, cam bearings, and freeze plugs to the shop this morning. I have high hopes of getting everything back by next Friday, and start the assembly process.