Okay, first off, this is not being done with my 2.8. The only thing I am going to say about this engine is that it is a FWD 4 cylinder.

Back last June or July, the oil pan somehow developed a hole and spilled out all of its oil on the way home from the local native reservation when I went to get gas. Not even halfway home, and the engine starts knocking like a son of a bitch and I pull over, turn it off, and check the dipstick. No oil. We continued to travel to the nearest gas station so I could get SOME oil in it, and managed to limp it home, where it has set, running occasionally, for the last nine months. Today, I pulled the pan, to clean it up and see if it can be repaired (the hole is the size of a push pin), and check the lower end bearings since the engine is an OHC engine that doesn't have true hydraulic lifters. I start jiggling around con rod ends to see if any move, particularly the #3 since that seemed to be where most of the noise is coming from, and the #3 has almost no bearing left from what I can tell. There were shavings in the oil pump screen (yes, going to be replacing that too) and larger ones in the pan itself.

My question is whether I should just replace the single bearing, since it appears to be the only one affected by the accident (closest to the oil pump) or should I check the other journals and bearings and replace the rest of the bearings just to be on the safe side? All of the other bearings are normal from what I can tell, since I have yet to remove any bearing caps (got finished after dark). This is just about the first time I've seen the lower end of a car engine and am not positive as to what I should do about this...

BTW, on a tight budget and I need to get this car running so I can possibly find some work.

 

you may want to replace the crank and rod

 

Honestly it needs to be rebuilt. What you can try is to replace all the main, rod bearings, oil pump and screen. You can try it but I wouldent expect it to work like new. Make sure to drain the oil a couple minutes after it has run I would do it a few times before driving it.

 

Okay, I think I've seen enough for one day. I think that what I'm going to do is splurge for the single rod bearing and a package of Plastigage. Then I am going to assemble the finished rod/bearing assembly and check for clearance with the Plastigage. Then I am going to go through and check each lower bearing in turn with the Plastigage and see if everything is within specs. If any one bearing is not in specs, I am going to go ahead and get a crank kit.

The engine ran fine with the bad bearing (I know, bad idea!), no loss of power that I could tell because it couldn't be driven without any registration or insurance plus the fact the car has one of those car topper carrier things on top, I have gone and looked each cylinder over with a flashlight underneath the piston skirts and each looks okay. I have not checked for scoring with my fingernail yet because it was getting to be too cold to do so.

I know that replacing the single bearing alone is probably a bad idea, but if all of the other bearings on the lower end check out after I install the new one, that's the way it is going to be because we desperately need a second car and don't have the cash for a new engine or a complete rebuild of this one.