Found loose shims & unused cotter pin in oil pan - What do I need to check? (w/pics)

[nkaminar]

I use the stainless pins from McMaster Carr. Probably overkill. They are stronger but a little harder to install. They do not rust so they are good for things like the brake rods that are out in the elements. Not sure if you can still get a kit of stainless cotter pins from McMaster Carr. That is what I bought but it was years ago.

if the pins are too long just cut then off, but do not drop the pieces in the pan or the next guy will be taking the engine apart again.

[Ray in La Mesa]

As Patrick L. says, use fresh Plastic gauge. It has a shelf life, too long & it gets hard & just dents the babbitt instead of oozing out to measure. An oil film helps.

[Chris in WNC]

I use Reynolds heavy-duty foil.
double layer is about .002 which is just right to give .001 bearing clearance.

belt sand the bottom of the castle nuts as needed to get them to line up at correct torque.

[Laredo]

I've been going back and forth over the last day over whether or not to check the clearance on the mains, and I think I've decided to leave them alone. Besides the mains being a little more involved than the rods to check, they've just not given me any reason to open that can of worms at this point and considering the low mileage rebuild. If I had found a main shim in the pan, sure, I'd check them. But my gut tells me to hold off because I might get into something that I will regret. Been there too many times on my CJ7.

I thought I might have an "out" or reason not to check the rods, too, but that didn't play out. I remembered that the loose shims were steel and thought if the ones under the rod caps were visibly brass shims like what's sold now, I could chalk it up to the old ones just being dropped in the pan during the rebuild. But the edges of the installed shims look to be silver, not brass colored. So, I guess those will need to be checked for peace of mind.

[wwirz]

I would check the clearances by mounting a dial indicator to the engine block and locating the dial under the connecting rod orain bearing cap. Zero the dial. Then pitch the cap to take up the clearance. Measure the change on the dial. Removing caps introduces the opportunity for misassembly or dirt. Plastigage works of course, but you are doing quite a bit of disassembly to find out you may not even have a problem
ng g

[Laredo]

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)

Originally Posted by wwirz

but you are doing quite a bit of disassembly to find out you may not even have a problem
ng g

THAT'S what worries me...

What do you mean by pitch the cap?

[Gene F]

Is that a crack in the casting at the filler tube boss? Photo; center main

[Laredo]

Originally Posted by Gene F

Is that a crack in the casting at the filler tube boss? Photo; center main

You mean the dark line angling down and to the left? If so, that's the shadow of the dipstick.

[Gene F]

Originally Posted by Ray in La Mesa

As Patrick L. says, use fresh Plastic gauge. It has a shelf life, too long & it gets hard & just dents the babbitt instead of oozing out to measure. An oil film helps.

I have heard of that. I also have heard that you want the crank not to turn when tightened up with the crank handle, then take the foil out and retorque them, then everything will be spot-on. Obviously this is a one at a time thing. Ray, that how you do it?

[Gene F]

Originally Posted by Laredo

You mean the dark line angling down and to the left? If so, that's the shadow of the dipstick.

No. From the crank throw, look up like the 1:00 (one o-clock) position on the photo.

[Laredo]

I think I understand where you are talking about. I was confused at first because your post said the pic of the center main, but it's actually the front main pic that has the filler tube showing.

There's no crack there - it's all an optical illusion due to the lighting angles and shadows. I just got under there are checked and snapped these pics of the filler boss.

[Clem Clement]

You are doing the right thing to ask questions!

[Gene F]

Ok, good

[Laredo]

Originally Posted by Gene F

Ok, good

Thanks for being vigilant, though! That would have ruined my day if it had been cracked!

[Laredo]

I'm happy to report that all the rod clearances are within spec. range, even if slightly on the tighter side. I used Plastigauge to check it. Rods 1, 3, and 4 were somewhere between .001 and .0015. Rod 2 was right at .001. Apparently, it was just a careless engine builder that decided to leave some items behind... I spoke to the gentleman I bought it from and verified again with him that he had driven it less than 500 miles since he had the engine rebuilt. So, I'm happy with everything I've seen in there. The rod cap babbitts looked good. Now to tackle getting the oil pan sealed up after my lead incident (details in my other post).

[nkaminar]

If you want to use the standard steel cotter pins then the ones at the local hardware store or automotive store will work just fine. Get an assortment and use the largest diameter pins that will fit in the hole. Cut the pin shorter before you bend them over. Use a small hammer to make sure they are tight and cannot move around.

[gdmn852]

Glad things worked out well, anytime I have dropped and oil pan never seem to find anything good there .