DontWreckIt

Hey, I have been hearing more bottom end noise than usual from my MY02 with 104,000 miles; I have decided to inspect the rod bearings since I have some down time and another car to drive. Hear is what I got so far:

-I have removed the oil pan and splash shield
-I inspected the cylinder walls with a LED and they look good as far as I can tell.
-I have a new set of Rod Cap bolts
-Plastigage

The service manual says to remove the oil pump and remove the rod cap bolts in a specific order, okay. I think I can work around the oil pump. Here are my questions:

-When I start to remove the rod cap bolts, can I turn the crank so I can get better access to the subsequent rod cap bolts?
-if I decide to replace the bearings, is there any specific way to put the new bearing halls on the connecting rod and cap?

Any other advice would be helpful. Thank you!

ne1469er

-When I start to remove the rod cap bolts, can I turn the crank so I can get better access to the subsequent rod cap bolts?
Yes, in fact you have to do this.

-if I decide to replace the bearings, is there any specific way to put the new bearing halls on the connecting rod and cap?
There are tabs on the bearing halves and corresponding "holes" in the connecting rod halves. Just match them up, it should be self explanatory after you see the disassembled parts.

Any other advice would be helpful.
Did you run low on oil?

DontWreckIt

Thank you ne1469er for that info

I did run low on oil 1.5 years ago. It was about 2-2.5 quarts low. The recent increased in noise I hear is definitely coming from the bottom end. Sometimes it is not as noticeable but lately it has been louder. It could also be the fact that my oil in the car was really black and thin. I find this weird cause the oil only has 4,000 miles on it; I use castrol edge 10w-30. On another note, I did find some very small metallic particles on the bottom of the pan, which I believe to be normal (not good though) for the age of the engine.

yamahaSHO

Describe the small metallic particles... You might just have spun a bearing.

DontWreckIt

The metallic particles are smaller than a grain of sand for the most part. They don't seem like slivers or shavings, more grain like. When I took off the pan I could make them out if I looked closely. They stick to your finger tip if you push down on them. I'll post a picture of what I found.

DontWreckIt

You can see several of the described particles in the picture. There was also this tan rock like object 1mm x 2mm that you can see; it was the only one...? Does anyone have any insight on the picture?

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DontWreckIt

Update, I took off the rod cap bolts and as I was loosening then I smelled this horrible smell. Like chemicals or like diff fluid. What could this be? Also, the rod caps are on there pretty good, do they require a lot of force to come off.

zeroptzero

used oil stinks , and it is worse when you are under the car with your nose 2 inches from the crankshaft

That one large piece in the oil pan is worrisome, it could be a chunk from the main bearings. Tan colour I would equate to copper, and you don't want to see that as it means that you have worn through the upper layer of the bearing.

Pull the vtec solenoid and inspect the screen, metal pieces that could have dropped into the oil pan may have been sucked up to the vtec solenoid screen.

Here's a pic of my main bearings as they sat in the oil pan after the mains self-destructed on me

ne1469er

I would guess 2.5 is low enough to allow oil to splash away from the pickup and cause a loss in pressure. Do a search for "low oil noise" or something similar on the forum, there are many threads on bearing damage due to low oil. Now that you can examine the bearings, try comparing them to the pictures here... http://catalog.mahleclevite.com/bearing/

If you're lucky, all you'll need is new bearings on rod #2, perhaps a shoelace micropolish job will suffice. Again recommend that you search the forum, the threads from Billman are especially helpful.

DontWreckIt

How does this #4 rod bearing and rod journal look?

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