How to tell if you spun a bearing?

93 teal terror

Founding Member

Jul 13, 2001

971

62

69

Durham N.C.

Feb 21, 2009

#1

• Feb 21, 2009

• #1

I noticed on my way home from work the other day, the car was acting a little off. Some bucking/loss of power. The next day I went to the store and as I was leaving my neighborhood, at about 4k in first, it felt like something popped or gave way. Lost all power, lots of bucking, cel came on. The motor idles fine (a little rougher than normal) but as soon as you give it gas, it sputters and has 0 power. I had to limp home, luckily it was down hill. I dont hear any knocks in the motor. I am waiting on my scanner to arrive, so I dont know what the code is yet. but it comes on 3-4 seconds after the car starts up. Hoping its not a bearing. An oil line broke last summer and the car ran with little/no oil for ~1-2 mins. Car has 173k on it.

 

nisreo

New Member

Jul 22, 2006

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Feb 21, 2009

#2

• Feb 21, 2009

• #2

You should hear a light knocking with a spun bearing, try getting down near the oil pan to listen for it.... Ive spun lots of bearings in my day and ive heard the knocking right away on all of them.

 

93 teal terror

Founding Member

Jul 13, 2001

971

62

69

Durham N.C.

Feb 21, 2009

#3

• Feb 21, 2009

• #3

I just went and checked and I dont hear any knocking. I didn't think to check the timing before...Total with spout in is about 20 deg, out I can't even tell. Seems like it may have jumped? If I remember it was 10 deg out/30 deg total. If thats the case, what would cause that? Bad balancer/timing chain. Pretty sure neither of those have been replaced in 173k

 

nisreo

New Member

Jul 22, 2006

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Feb 21, 2009

#4

• Feb 21, 2009

• #4

Take out the spout and check your base timing.

 

93 teal terror

Founding Member

Jul 13, 2001

971

62

69

Durham N.C.

Feb 21, 2009

#5

• Feb 21, 2009

• #5

nisreo said:

Take out the spout and check your base timing.

Click to expand...

I did its off the chart just by guessing its about -10 deg. Total with spout in it 20 deg or so

 

nisreo

New Member

Jul 22, 2006

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Feb 21, 2009

#6

• Feb 21, 2009

• #6

haha nice, make sure your distributor hold down is tight.

 

2000xp8

SN Certified Technician

Aug 8, 2003

8,037

1,625

194

NJ

Feb 21, 2009

#7

• Feb 21, 2009

• #7

Not sure a spun bearing would even cause a code or check engine light.
You probably have some sort of ignition or sensor related problem.
A good sign of a spun bearing would be bad oil pressure.

 

old_blue

15 Year Member

Nov 3, 2003

1,783

282

124

Feb 21, 2009

#8

• Feb 21, 2009

• #8

nisreo said:

You should hear a light knocking with a spun bearing, try getting down near the oil pan to listen for it.... Ive spun lots of bearings in my day and ive heard the knocking right away on all of them.

Click to expand...

yeah same here. the knocking will be from the crank pulling and pushing on the rod as the bearing is no longer in there. since the bearing is gone it will have that gap in there and you should be able to hear it without going under the car.

 

93 teal terror

Founding Member

Jul 13, 2001

971

62

69

Durham N.C.

Feb 26, 2009

#9

• Feb 26, 2009

• #9

Ok, I got my scanner and the KOEO test produced codes 66 and 67. And the a/c,heat was off. I can't adjust the timing to where it should be. The distributer wont turn that far and any adjustment to the dizzy left or right makes it run worse. The car wont even do the KOER test because it wants to die as soon as the test starts so it seems like it aborts the test. Any idea what would cause this?

 

R

Ron88lx

New Member

Jan 30, 2009

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Grove, Oklahoma

Feb 27, 2009

#10

• Feb 27, 2009

• #10

Do a compression test, my guess is its a blown head gasket.

 

93 LX

Founding Member

Jun 2, 2000

3,081

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0

Norwalk, CA.

Feb 28, 2009

#11

• Feb 28, 2009

• #11

timing jumped.....