I am in the process of changing my rod bearings in the SE-R I bought for $1200, due to a mild knock (I was hoping to get at least until summer out of the motor). Anyhow, I have some questions. I noticed the old bearings that I took out were non-nissan, but I didn't think much of that until later in the job - here's the weird part. I bought a full set of all three bearing grades, so I could use plastigage to get the clearances right (by trial and error with increasingly tighter bearings) . I was just finishing up #2, when I noticed that I could move the rod side to side on the crank pin a bit (not front to back, i know that is normal, but side to side). Anyhow, this really confused me since I was getting readings that were in spec with the plastigage. Is it possible that the plastigage could give a correct clearance reading even if the bearings are not correctly sized? My worry is that the crank may have been reground at some point, hence the non-nissan bearings. The markings on all the bearings I pulled from the car are as follows:

0.25
ACL

2960
11N096

That's a rough ASCII rendering of the placement of the markings as well. Can anyone decipher that? Do I have a regrind bearing here? Anything anyone could tell me about these would be very helpful. Especially where to find more regrind bearings, if that's what I have. I need to get it back on the road, even if the motor is already doomed. I can't really afford to get a new motor until I absolutely have to (rods perforating the block, etc.)

Thanks for the help..

Josh
'91 SE-R x 2

I haven't seen any markings on the bearings I have. To determine if it was reground or not, use calipers and measure the diameter of the journal. If it's in spec with the Haynes/FSM, it's not reground. If it's smaller than the spec, my bet is that it's reground.

Duh, I should have thought of that! :rolleyes: I will get a set of calipers tomorrow and check it out.

BTW, you must be bored - you were the first person to respond to me on both the forum, *and* the list :) .

Josh

If you're going to buy something to measure the journals, get a micrometer in the range that you need. They typically measure out to 0.0001" (vs 0.0005 for a digital caliper) and is what the pros use.

I know I would need a mic to measure the size of the journal exactly, but a caliper will get me close enough to tell the difference between a factory and a reground crank. That's really all I need to know. I wouldn't know how to fit a mic in there anyway (engine is still in the car).

Josh