1hdt BEBs (2 Viewers)

[Lancimus]

ForealBoreal, tlc81, Cruisin, & romey, thanks for the information about these bearings. Now I don't feel that we are taking a chance by going with a 1HD-T provided they are replaced and the crank reground if necessary. tlc81, yes we will be going to the H55 and split transfer case. We've been following Crushers thread on converting a '78 FJ40 over to a 1-HZ. In it he shows a photo demonstrating good alignment with the rear axle.

I should mention that a couple of weekends ago my wife and I had the privilege of visiting Lynchmob in person and seeing up close his conversion of Pactoy's '78 FJ40 'Kate' to a 12HT. Eye opening to be sure. Lynchmob is an excellent fabricator and technical resource. And he is undaunted by any
'challenges' he runs into while converting. Our thanks.

I noticed many of the regulars on the Diesel forum are in British Columbia. We're long time Oregonians. It is on our life list of things to do to make the drive out to Prince Rupert in our Cruiser. So far we've been as far north as Quesnel and west out to the headwaters of the Blackwater which we floated for rainbows. Great trip.

 

[romey]

romey, your bebs still look fine (relatively). but it is good that you took care of the issue before it got worse.
do we stay away from oem bebs in this case?

yep, i had a good feeling they were going to be relatively fine, but i wasn't takin a chance especially with takin a wife and 6 month old 4500 kms west, and the fact that i've heard way too many stories of bottom ends going, in fact my buddy who did mine had another hdj81 in his shop with one that went, think it was way under 200K kms, and the poor guy had to decide whether he wanted to dish out 6 grand to fix the motor or scrap it and go home... ( but it was inconsistent as to when they would go, some got away with higher mileage, some went sooner...and then there's the oil debate, japanese spec vs n.american, yata yata, i know the aussies get their's done too from what i've read)

i'm told the oem one's have been fixed, but tyho or acl are cheaper and get the job done. there's an OEM beb kit you can get that comes with rod end bearings and silicon grease too.

4Wheel Auto Wholesale

 

[83bj60]

Is this bearing problem unique to this model of engine or is it typical across the entire line? My 84 3B has 600K on it. Is this a maintenance issue that I need to dig into?

Although the 3B is nearly bullet proof, I have seen a 3B with spun bearings. It apparently happened because of continuous high load (pulling a sawmill) and hapazard maintenance by the operator (would basically add oil when the light went on). Even with a spun bearing, it was repairable and it ran fine after that (according to the guy who fixed it, the new bearing had to be shimmed). I listened to the engine after the repair and it seemed better sounding than my 3B AFAIK, it still runs today somewhere in the eastern townships.

For the amount of work it takes to check, with your mileage, why not replace them, it's a no brainer!

 

[83bj60]

ForealBoreal, tlc81, Cruisin, & romey, thanks for the information about these bearings. Now I don't feel that we are taking a chance by going with a 1HD-T provided they are replaced and the crank reground if necessary.

DON'T grind the crank! It is hardened, grinding it will kill it in a short while. I have never heard of any 1HD-T requiring such a drastic job. The bearings look bad because they are made with a soft metal. Usually even if the bearings are in poor shape, the crank journals are fine. Heck, even the 3B with the spun bearing I saw did not need to have the crank ground, the bearing residue came off pretty easily. With this engine, if the crank is so out of spec that it need to be ground, then it needs to be replaced. You'd have to be very unlucky to need that!

 

[PHIL O]

DON'T grind the crank! It is hardened, grinding it will kill it in a short while. I have never heard of any 1HD-T requiring such a drastic job. The bearings look bad because they are made with a soft metal. Usually even if the bearings are in poor shape, the crank journals are fine. Heck, even the 3B with the spun bearing I saw did not need to have the crank ground, the bearing residue came off pretty easily. With this engine, if the crank is so out of spec that it need to be ground, then it needs to be replaced. You'd have to be very unlucky to need that!

@ 83bj60: so are you saying that the hardened part of the journal is the surface? grinding it down will just lead to early deterioration? this is what i was worried about 83bj60, i just hope my crank shaft is still in good shape.
@ romey: i am planning to do this as soon as i finish with my vw beetle 1302 engine restoration so i wont have two cars paralyzed at the same time. i just pray that it isnt too late. engine is running a little rough and i am suspecting this.

 

[83bj60]

@ 83bj60: so are you saying that the hardened part of the journal is the surface? grinding it down will just lead to early deterioration? this is what i was worried about 83bj60, i just hope my crank shaft is still in good shape.
@ romey: i am planning to do this as soon as i finish with my vw beetle 1302 engine restoration so i wont have two cars paralyzed at the same time. i just pray that it isnt too late. engine is running a little rough and i am suspecting this.

I read an article a long time ago before I purchased my HDJ81 that the problem with BEBs is either caused by the bearings (for many reasons - oil - engine design - bearing materials) or by bad crankshafts. Usually a bad crankshaft will cause problems in a short time, from what I read, so is usually not the problem we face with 15 year old vehicles.

Also, the crankshaft surfaces are hardened after machining.

I wish I could find the references for it, no time to start a search now.

Well, heck, here you go, post 9 of 10.

 

[PHIL O]

I read an article a long time ago before I purchased my HDJ81 that the problem with BEBs is either caused by the bearings (for many reasons - oil - engine design - bearing materials) or by bad crankshafts. Usually a bad crankshaft will cause problems in a short time, from what I read, so is usually not the problem we face with 15 year old vehicles.

Also, the crankshaft surfaces are hardened after machining.

I wish I could find the references for it, no time to start a search now.

Well, heck, here you go, post 9 of 10.

i read through the whole archived thread 83bj60. thanks a lot for getting into that much trouble to help me out, i appreciate it. i hope the crankshaft on mine is still good. i'll be changing to ACL as soon as i could get a set. thanks a lot

 

[ForealBoreal]

you won't need to do any machineing your engines got how many kms
i did mine at like 121,000kms

 

[83bj60]

I second that. If the crank was really bad I'm quite sure you'd have found out pretty quick.

 

[sandcruiser]

just did my BEB's today

torquing the con rod bolts down was the hardest part, otherwise a pretty simple endevour

a few tips: drain your oil at least 24 hours before you start working. You'll still get oil drips in your face, wear glasses, but not as bad if you give it time to drain out.

I used my stock bottle jack between the frame and the oil pan. I cranked it in and left it overnight. (then went out, and didn't work on the truck on Sunday due to too much pool and beer the night before). On Monday morning, the pan fell off when I whacked it with the palm of my hand. Patience beats hard work.

Despite nearly 3 days of letting the oil drain, still got oil in my face. Yuck. Don't wear your dress shirt.

take some rags or paper towels under the rig with you. This is a messy job.

gloves are nice.

Don't drop your ratcheting wrench onto your lower lip from arm's length. That hurts.

A wire wheel on an angle grinder does a good job of getting old FIPG off of the pan's flange.

Don't wire-wheel the wires for the low-oil-sensor, they are too fragile for that sort of abuse.

Don't wire-wheel in shorts, unless you like high-speed wire bits embedded in your shin.

Simple Green and/or 409 work well to clean up the pan when you get it off. Simple green worked better on the thick good, 409 better on the thinner layers.

This is a full afternoon, not "quick n easy" but other than the torque needed to twist those damn con rod bolts, it isn't physically demanding. The con rod bolts.... I feel pretty good that they won't come out. I would bet that less than 90* past 27lbs is probably enough to hold them in.