Rod bearings opinions?

[Sefton-EP91]

Is there a service life on them and when should they be replaced? The reason i ask is because I think my car is developing a very minor knock so want to catch it before it damages the crank, what is it more Likely to be? Rod bearings or crankshafts bearings?

Sorry for the confusing questions but if you don't understand then I will try and simplify it.

Thanks

[AdamB]

ACL recommend their bearing shells are changed every 30,000 km as to keep the crank in good condition. Saying that though some engines still go strong on the originals above 100k miles.

Whats your mileage? Generally they go due to an oil supply problem. Do you have an oil pressure gauge? Oil pick up ever been cleaned?

[Sefton-EP91]

I'm not sure mate to be honest. I don't have a oil pressure gauge and I know the bearings have never been replaced. The car has done 152.000km on it's original engine. Serviced regularly every 5k miles. What are the symptoms for worn rod bearings? Knocking... is there any others? I spose the only way to tell is to have a look.

[AdamB]

The symptoms would be knocking or excessive oil consumption if the oil clearences are out of tolerence.

As you said the only real way to check is to have a look and check the crank and bearings for wear, see which layers have gone through. I would be checking for signs of overheating as well as this will indicate an oil supply issue which 9/10 times causes the bearings to knock.

[Sefton-EP91]

Thanks very much for your help Adam much appreciated mate

[AdamB]

Anytime mate

[H_D]

im never using acl bearings again they are cheap pieces of crap and nowhere near as strong as the genuine toyota ones.

My next engine will have stock toyota bearings coated in some special frictionless stuff.

[AdamB]

Explain mate, what happened?

[The Toffinator]

As above?

[Sefton-EP91]

Explain mate, what happened?

As above?

This...

[shorty]

Tbh i dont rate acl bearings either! Was countless threads back in the day about acl bearings not being as hard wearing as toyota ones. Then randomly everyone just started using acl anyway?? I run toyota bearings in my forged engine. And my bro deebo has a 1e in his ukdm ep80 thats done 192k miles on the original bearings!!

[AdamB]

Have heard of some problems with ACL before but not for a long time. Tbh it depends how much power your running, some drag engines can only do a couple of runs before the bearings need replacing.

Besides the E series engines don't exactly have the widest of journals to spread the load either.

While on the subject, anyone ever used King engine bearings?

Edited September 19, 2013 by AdamB

[Sefton-EP91]

I was always under the impression that ACL where really good bearings. I bet the price difference between Toyota and ACL is a big difference though....?

I've never heard of king engine bearings though Adam..

[AdamB]

ACL have had their ups and downs like most companies, but they are readily available. Not too sure on the price of OEM Toyota but I don't think ACL breaks the bank, I would rather replace bearings at £80 than be replacing a crank.

King are big in the States, not seen much of them over here but I can get hold of sets for the E series but wondered if anyone had used them before.

Edited September 19, 2013 by AdamB

[Sefton-EP91]

I have just checked out the website for king engine bearings. Looks as if they do a wide range from performance bearings to OEM. Wonder what there prices are like...? Might be something worth looking into. I'm going to change the bearings on my Glanza when I get paid keep me updated please Adam, if that is something you was going to be purchasing, Might be worth a try. Dependent on price that is! Lol

[AdamB]

Yeah they mainly do stuff for american motors, but do the odd stuff for euro and jap motors.

Well I can get the King bearings for £61 +p&p, thats for a 5E and a whole set including mains, rods and thrusts.

[Sefton-EP91]

That's cheap considering ACL's are £50 just for rod bearings. How much for 4E mate? If you find out let me know please could be interested thanks.

[H_D]

toyota bearings ar alot more expensive than ACLs.

toyota bearings are not made out of aluminium and they dont need to be replaced every 20-30k.

IMO toyota bearings are made out of better materials and if you combine them with frictionless coating they will last alot longer and handle more abuse.

[Sefton-EP91]

What's the frictionless coating that you mean because it may come to some use when I come to replace mine next month is it lucas oil?

[The Toffinator]

What's the frictionless coating that you mean because it may come to some use when I come to replace mine next month is it lucas oil?

No mate its not an oil... Its a coating applied like a carbon sort of stuff if i remember rightly directly to the bearing! Doubt its cheap but IDK

[H_D]

it cost about £200 to have your bearings coated in this stuff and i will be using it on all future builds.

[shorty]

I wouldnt bother tbh, the bearings in my forged engine have covered 10k miles of pure abuse, and redline gear shifts. The oem toyota bearing will take plenty of abuse without going and coating it. I wouldnt waste the 200 quid. If the correct parts are used and the engine is built right you will have no trouble atall.

[AdamB]

the engine is built right you will have no trouble atall.

This is it. It all depends on how much boost you run as well, because if you run high boost with tight oil clearences you'll chew threw the shells in no time as there will be less hydroplaning during the power stroke.