ok well, i spun a couple bearings. what should i do? motor swap? get new bearings? not drive the car so hard? im clueless help!

Don't drive the car at all if you've spun a bearing.

With a rebuild you'll know exactly what you are getting and what the internals look like. Plus you already know the history of the engine.

i knew not to drve it, im just saying that for future reference haha.. i think im gonna probably end up geting another engine.

Just see how much it would cost to fix it. I would honestly recomend getting a new motor preferably a JDM. I went the Primera route after spinning a bearing and got a bad ass motor with alot less miles.

After being in the same dilemna I rebuilt my motor... it costed more than I would have imagined... I took it to a place with a good rep for building a lot of V8 drag cars, hot rods, and nascar lite motors..... I am glad I went this route as I wanted a few things done and a fresh motor to turbo, but I have to say, you'll end up spending more than you wanted to... if you just want moderate power and won't be doing anything crazy, go with a JDM motor...

Adam you got mail. Don't worry we will get it back together.
I am thinking more and more that a JDM is the way to go.

sorry to be the idiot of the bunch, but exactly what is "spinning a bearing?"

sorry to be the idiot of the bunch, but exactly what is "spinning a bearing?"

Yea, what he said?

It's when your engine is running/revving and a connecting rod bearing spins and it causes the whole drive assembly (motor internals) to screwup. This is in lamens terms of course. Not sure past that though. Anyone feel free to correct me or fill in where I left off.

So does it make the car undrivable or does it just run like crap? Just in case it happens to me how will I know that I "spun a bearing?"

sorry to be the idiot of the bunch, but exactly what is "spinning a bearing?"
Ok here is my shot at it. A bearing as we know it is a Surface that seperates a moving part from a non-moving part. Ok
A bearing in an engine is a piece of metal, being round, that seperates the connecting rods, or the crank from the non-moving pieces. In the case of the crankshaft the bearing seperates the crank from the crank caps, which hold the crankshaft from falling out.
In the case of the rod bearings, the bearing holds the connecting rod to the crankshaft. All the parts listed just act as a surface that is slick and keeps wear down to a minimum.
A spun bearing means that a bearing has slipped and is turning with the moving part instead of staying stationary.
Kinda like a wheel turning on a tire. It just doesn't work.
Did I explain it good enough?:)

Good explanation, but in the case of SR20DE rod knock, the bearings usually aren't actually "spun", technically, they are just worn or flaking to the point that they will cause a little knock - people tend to use the term "spun" around here to denote any sort of a rod bearing problem. My engine in the white car lived for many thousands of miles with a rod knock, but the bearing was never truly spun... once that happens you are talking rods sticking out the side of the block in pretty short order.

Josh
'91 White SE-R
'91 Black SE-R

FYI - when I spun my rod bearing (cyl. 3) I was driving on the highway, everything had always been normal, no wierd noises, but had run real low on oil about a week before, and I had added oil... I was on the highway, all of a sudden I heard a wierd noise, I gassed it a bit in 3rd and it got louder and power seemed to fall off... I took the off ramp and by the time I came to a stop the car barely ran, I pulled it onto a side street and the motor siezed.. I then could not start the car...

Adam you got to keep us posted...whats up with the motor.. is it in yet??

i spun my bearings the first week i had my car! the timing chain broke and when we got it back the news came :( but i driven it for 5 months since, and about 3k miles. The mechanic gave it 3-6 months. just have to keep really thick oil in it. MEclassic, how long did yours last?? 2k rpm shifts all day long baby!!!

I spun mine on the white car the first week too! I did an amsoil motor flush, filled with mobil one, and went to an autocross the next day - on the way home I heard the noise. I didn't figure out what the noise was until about 3000 miles later, I thought it was chain slap or motor mounts. I bought the car with 123k and changed bearings at 129k. So it lasted a good 6000 miles in that condition, including a trip from Maine to St. Louis and back. And who knows, they may have been bad long before I bought it, and I just made it evident with my motor flush and thin synthetic oil. When I finally did the change, I only changed #2 and 3 rod bearings, the crank was compeletely undamaged, and the noise went away totally and for good as soon as I started it up again (5k miles or so later though, I ruined my head, but that's an unrelated matter).

My new 165k beater has a mild rod knock too - I only hear it on acceleration and it's not very loud. I have some 10-30 maxlife in the motor now to keep it running, as soon as I get my tax refund I will be on the phone with courtesy for some new bearings for that one. I've only put 500 or so miles on it since the purchase. Hopefully that job goes as well as the white one did.

Josh
'91 White SE-R; broken
'91 Black SE-R; cheap beater