NCWayne

Well-known Member
I'm basically doing an inframe on a Long brand tractor, something I've done plenty of times on other brand machines. Thing is this one is trying to be a PITA. What has happened is that I am in the process of putting in the new main bearings, all of which are standard. I was able to roll all of the old top shells out pretty easily, and the first three went back in just fine also. The problem is on the forth/last one at the rear. The top shell came right out with no problem. Now the new top shell doesn't want to go in more than about 1/4 of the way. Pretty much when it hits the peak, it won't go past.

I've checked roundness of the shell, checked it for burrs, insured there was nothing on the crank journal and that it was smooth, tried it with the crank in several different positions, tried polishing the end of the shell so the back edge wasn't quite so square and sharp, tried loosening all of the main caps and prying the crank down with a bar on top of the flywheel, tried loosening and tightening the other three caps in various sequences, tried using the oil hole and a pin punch to help roll it in, tried a bit of grease, tried nothing but WD40, tried it dry, etc. I've used most of these ideas in the past with 100% success until this point. So far, this time, NOTHING has worked, and I am out of ideas.

I've really be concerned if the other shell hasn't come out as easy as it did, and if the other three hadn't gone in like they should, Still this one is just like the others, and it doesn't want to go. So, any ideas for any thing I haven't tried yet?
 
Sticking it in the freezer? Standard procedure for many bearings and such, and might work here as well. Couple hours in the freezer might shrink it enough to go in.
 
put a mic on the bearing and see if it is standard, check in a few spots around the bearing half. could be a de-formed bearing. i would also try and roll the old bearing back in, if it goes easy, something gotta be wrong with the new bearing.
 
Have you mic-ed the Journal on that one, Someone might have done a quick fix and welded and turned on one journal. It's been known to happen on cheap fixes.The good suggestion is to freeze it. We've used cam lube to put ours in our 72 F150,they all went in slick and are holding good after 7 years,still good oil pressure and no knocking.
Hope this helps.
Regards,
LOU
 
Hello NCWayne,

Some times it takes two, one to turn or put pressure on the crank while th other slips them in! Cummins are a LOT like that! You need to put pressure on the back of the shell as the crank turns, and push it in at the same time to make it round, and with a helper tuning the crank Slowly you should be able to get them in. If by yourself Take all the caps loose and leave them so the cranck hangs a bit lower. Do the outer mains first, put them in but do not torque them, just snug them up. Then you can take he rest all off and do the rest. Usually this worked pretty good for me. You may still need to put pressure on the back side of the shell so it gets rounder, so it can squeeze in, Hope this helps..........

Guido.
 
Does the crank roll completely around with the bearing shell not in place or is the crank rotation restricted by something else? Can you slide a piece of gage stock up and around between the crank and the main journal? Is something falling out of the oil passage in the block that is blocking the rotation of the shell?
 
Cut a strip of plastic from the side of a Coolant jug. Keep it the same width as the insert. If that will follow the curve, use some clear plastic packing tape and tape the insert to the strip with a tiny overlap. Feed it through by pushing and a gentle tug on the plastic. when through, pull off the plastic and tape. Jim
 
just a thought here I had an engine once where the bearings were numbered in order where they went in the engine( one being the front and so on - couldn't tell you why or how much difference there was --lots of good advice here -- take your time and you will prevail
 

My Ford shop manual shows making a pusher out of stout short cotter pin. leaving enough at the top to fit into the hole in the crank, then 3/8 or so of each leg to push the bearing. It worked for me.
 
Is this one the thrust bearing? Does the crank need to go forward or backwards to fit the thrust surfaces in? Does the old bearing go back in at all? I used to use a cotter pin that fit in the oil hole and had the ends bent out to each side; I would work the bearing in as far as it would go and then rotate the crank til the cotter pin ends caught the end of the bearing and push it on in. I remember a few that seemed to need some force , but they went in.The ends of the cotter pin need to be matched up with bearing pretty good. Sometimes the bearing will go in good with just finger pressure,but some are pitas. I mostly used the bent cotter pin to roll them out, but it will push them in.Good luck; let us know what works.Mark
 
Not on the main with the thrust bearing. Both it and the thrust bearings went in just fine, as did the two other bearings.

I've tried using a pin punch in the oil hole to push it in. The way it was going, it was wanting to kick away from the journal so I used the punch so I could angle it, in an attempt to keep the bearing against the face of the crank. Even with the punch angled, all that did was still let the bearing try to be kicked out away from the journal, rather than follow it around.
 
I've seen that once that I can recall. in this case all of the bearings are identical so that shouldn't be a problem.
 
Sounds good in theory. The problem with this is that when the bearing is in place, the anti-rotation tab will keep the 'feed end' from coming on through to completely remove the tape. That being the case the tape will, in essence, cause the bearing to be shimmed out, thus tighter in one spot. That would tend to make the bearing at least .002, or more, tighter than it should be. Ultimately it would cause excess wear on that bearing, and could even cause it to become tight enough to sieze.

Thanks for the idea, and again it sounds good in theory but unfortunately, I don't think it would work in practice.
 
I've already had a piece of emery cloth around it to polish the journal, as well as a flat piece of stock, and there is nothing blocking it.
 
The owner bought it nearly new, and nothing has been done to the engine, beyond routine maintenance, until now.
 
I've frozen, or heated a lot of bearings over the years, but never an engine bearing. Given everything else I've tried that hasn't worked, I guess I'll give that a try too.
 
What does the old insert look like for wear? Being an upper main insert there should be almost no wear on it unless there is something applying upward pressure on the crankshaft.
 
does the OLD one go back in?

assuming no... I think I'd tap it with a small hammer using a brass/plastic punch/drift to see if it can just sort of pop past the problem area...

does the old bearing shell have a scratch on the back (even a light one)? I'm guessing the oil hole in the casting might have a small burr ?
 

We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today.

Back
Top