Bearings

[fredk]

OK smart guys, I pulled the bearings out of my 89 3sfe today and they were wiped with flakes in the pan, its got 300k on it, it was a little noisy but nothing like a hammer, anyways I pulled the main caps off all but the thrust and they looked better than alot of bearings that came out of newer motors, but the rods these were another story, I pulled the last one first and it was kinda bad but as I went twards the front they got worse in a hurry and #1 was wiped out to the backing and flakes were torn away, now the oil pump is in the front and why were the rod bearings closest to it so bad?

[TBayToyotaBoy]

Your question makes me feel not so much of a smart guy... your findings are completely counter-intuitive. Now I'm paranoid and I want to crack mine open.

[Doctor J]

I do not have explanation for this, but I often see on the wrecking yard the 3sfe engines with failed rods on #1 cylinder (hole in the block)

[TBayToyotaBoy]

You must be talking about a really, really large wrecking yard. I've seen several dozen 2nd gens come through my yard in the last two years and all of them have been running. I had never even heard of this problem on a 3sfe.

[fredk]

ok yota techs any ideas or even a tsb?

[fredk]

When tightening connecting rods on 2VZ-FE, 3VZ-E, or 5S-FE engines special attention needs to be paid to final tightening (final 90~ rotation) of the nut.

The bolt has a tendency to rotate slightly inside the rod when performing the final tightening. If not compensated for, this results in a lower final torque than specified. To achieve the correct torque use the following procedure. This procedure will insure that a full 900 degrees of nut rotation relative to the bolt is achieved during the final tightening:

1) Perform the initial torque as specified in the appropriate repair manual.
2) Place two marks ("B" and "C" in figure 1 below) on the end of connecting rod bolt 90~ apart. Place a third mark ("A" in figure 1 below) on the nut inline with mark "B" on the rod bolt.
3) Tighten the nut until mark "A" (on the nut) lines up with mark "C" (on the bolt).