Greasy,

Sorry, this thread is developing so quickly that I'm a post or two behind.

If the crank is moving back and forth that much, there is a lot of ground-up metal in the system. If you run the motor there is a real chance that you are going to do more damage to the rest of the bearings and after that it only gets worse.

 

I decided I am going to pull the engine in my driveway. Should I just put all new bearings in and clean out the block? Money is very limited. Also do you guys think there might be damage to the block beings the crank was moving back and forth? And if there is damage to the block, is there anything I can do about it?

 

Where can I get a cuter for the filter? Or just take a knife to it?

 

Jeg's lists the cutter under part # 555-80532. Other vendors have them as well. You could use a knife to open a filter or, if you're really adept, use anything else that will cut a clean line in the canister without throwing in a lot of trash the way a cut-off wheel does. Once the oil begins to seep out the filter is difficult to hold onto while you're cutting. Possibly there are those who are more blessed with coordination than I who could offer suggestions. Once I decided that I'd be working on motors more than occasionally, the cost of the cutter stopped being prohibitive.

c

 

However you open it just be careful. That sucker will slice you like a ****.....just ask me how I know.

 

I really do not want to tear the whole engine apart. Do you all think it will be nessasary from the info given? All I really want is to fix this bearing problem and be sure there are no more metal shavings in the engine. How would all of you go about this situation.

 

If the thrust is trashed and the filter shows metal, there is no effective fix that doesn't involve disassembly. You can fool yourself but those shavings will be hiding in every galley, corner, passage, and crevice. The crank will need to be taken out and the thrust examined by a competent machine shop. It may be salvageable.

Greasy, it's clear that you don't want to jump into the middle of this project. There is a remote possibility that there is nothing wrong but if you can slide the crank forward and back by pulling on the dampener, it doesn't sound like you've got many realistic options. If you shortcut this fix, you'll be shooting yourself in the foot. If you don't want to or don't have the time to fix it, you'd be better off selling it as is (after disclosing the situation to any potential buyer).

Good luck,

c

 

unfortunately, this is exactly what you need to do, if it's not done right it's just going to get more costly down the road, sorry

 

I just really do not have the money. If I do tear everything down. Do I need to have the block washed and what not by a machine shop? How would I go about doing this exactly the right way?

 

You have e-mail.

 

There is no way to predict what you have to do until you pull the engine out and tear it down. It might be as simple as a teardown, cleanup, install new bearings/gaskets and you're good to go. But you need to find out *why* the thrust bearing went away in the first place... Because that shouldn't happen. The crank needs to be inspected.