Crockpot possible seizure?

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I tried two different sets of bearings with the same results. When i tighten the cap down it gives way to much resistance. Crank spins freely until i start to get close to the 45 ft lbs. then the whole thing seizes up. My problem now is i trashed the threads on the one rod bolt, and i cant get the other to budge at all out of the rod. I cant find replacement rod bolts either. I can pick up a used rod that has bolts in it, but i don't see how to salvage this without at the very least pulling the head.
 
If you tighten the cap down and it's too tight, the bearing is *too big*. End of story.

Put the old bearing you took out of that rod back in, in the same orientation, or pull the engine out for a proper rebuild is my recommendation. Rod bearings aren't a "they all look rough, going to change them all out with standard bearings" kind of thing, as you're finding out. Trying to move forward without measuring the journal sizes is only going to cause you more headaches.
 
It was a standard bearing that came out, snd I did end up measuring just to confirm. Its at the point that the engine is coming out either for a rebuild or a swap.

Ive had some health issues come up recently, nothing serious, but there might be some surgeries involved and it would be awhile before I could get to the point to do the work myself. Just trying to figure out the best path forward at this point.
 
It's an assumption that it's a standard bearing. STD from what company, or for what engine? The old bearing had that same "STD" stamp on it as your new one I assume, but it seized up the engine when you torqued the cap. So which one is the actual standard bearing size? Furthermore, the ones you replaced that *didn't* seize the engine up when torqued, you have no idea if they're too loose, or not binding tight but not enough oil clearance. See what I mean?

The fact of the matter is that without measuring the journals, you have no idea which bearing came out, and therefore, which bearing should go back in. You have to measure with a plastigauge or a micrometer, not a set of vernier calipers. Plastigauge is easiest.

Sorry to hear about your health issues, but IMO you need to start measuring journals *accurately* to determine what bearings to put in. That, or pull the engine out and have someone do a rebuild.
 
pkniland said:
It was a standard bearing that came out, snd I did end up measuring just to confirm. Its at the point that the engine is coming out either for a rebuild or a swap.

Ive had some health issues come up recently, nothing serious, but there might be some surgeries involved and it would be awhile before I could get to the point to do the work myself. Just trying to figure out the best path forward at this point.
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Take care of yourself first brotha. The rig and its engine will be in the same place you left it when you feel up to it. Don't ignore your health or put it off to get other things done, I found out that the hard way and bad things built up over the years. :cheers:
 
Just spitballing here, but hear me out... Patrick said that the cap on this bearing that is giving the trouble was difficult to remove. He pried it off with much effort, galled one rod bolt and the other is stuck hard in the rod. Could it be possible that he tapped one rod bolt up into the rod just a smidge and twisted it out of position just enough that the bolt head is not properly seated in its "cradle" (for lack of a better term)? If that's the case, the bolt is effectively shorter by a fraction and not equal in length to the other. Could that not cause one rod bolt to squeeze tighter than the other given an equal amount of torque on the nuts on the cap? Maybe? Possibly?

The factory 2F rod bolts don't have a typical hex head. They have a squarish (rectanglish) top that is ground on an angle. I'm wondering if the top is not seated properly, will that translate to a bad torque reading on the nut on the cap end? Pic for reference:

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The fastener length isn't as important as the amount of torque you put on it. If he did pop the rod bolt up and then got it to torque, the rod cap is still bottoming out on the rod, and then allowing you to stretch the rod bolt enough to hit torque. Key point being, the rod cap sits against the rod and then you tighten them together so they can't fling apart. If there's a gap between the rod cap and rod at torque, then lol.

In short, no, not in my mind anyway. If you hit torque and it's seized, the bearing is too big, or something would be very obviously off in some other unknown and unexpected way such as mixing up the rod caps between rods.
 
GLTHFJ60 said:
The fastener length isn't as important as the amount of torque you put on it. If he did pop the rod bolt up and then got it to torque, the rod cap is still bottoming out on the rod, and then allowing you to stretch the rod bolt enough to hit torque. Key point being, the rod cap sits against the rod and then you tighten them together so they can't fling apart. If there's a gap between the rod cap and rod at torque, then lol.

In short, no, not in my mind anyway. If you hit torque and it's seized, the bearing is too big, or something would be very obviously off in some other unknown and unexpected way such as mixing up the rod caps between rods.
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Yeah. Makes sense. I'll try to get by there this week to see what's going on.
 
FWIW - I had a REMOTELY related issue years ago with one of my Corolla engines. The cap came loose while driving and the rod flapped around inside the engine as the crank shaft beat it up. Being financially broke and needing to get the car home I pulled the oil pan, found the abused loose rod hanging there and a loose and beat up cap laying in the bottom of the oil pan. Having very few options open to me and no professional guidance, I went ahead and got a new bearing, some plasti-guage that my friend’s dad told me to buy (I didn’t understand why at the time) and ultimately reattached the cap to the rod as best I could so I could try to get it home… on top of a hill, on top of a mountain.

Unfortunately the end of the rod was thicker now because it had gotten repeatedly slammed by the crankshaft so it did not slide as easily into its designated spot. I believe the cap was also warped on the inside since it was no longer had a perfect inner circle but has taken on a very slight oval characteristic.

As you can imagine, the engine did not like it and did not want to spin freely, but it was enough for it to BARELY run. It ran VERY sluggish and as I forced it to climb a mountain the temp gauge got hotter and hotter. As I finally pulled into the driveway, the radiator blew because the temp got so hot and the engine stopped. I rolled it to a spot off to the side and didn’t touch again for years. I assumed the engine was toast. Years later when I decide to use that Corolla as a parts car to fix other Corollas I decided to crank it just on a whim to see if I could drive it onto the rollback. Shockingly, it fired up and idled and purred like a kitten. I was baffled. My best guess was that the arduous journey home that night years ago had worn down the friction points to tolerances that the engine was OK with.

Anyway, I offer this story only as a brainstorming idea as to why this rod and cap is fighting you. Did something warp at the end of the rod or the cap, perhaps due to heat? Did anything get beat up? Perhaps you have the correct bearing but you no longer have a perfect circle within the inner portion of rod or cap and it is applying too much friction on the bearing?

I’m not saying for sure anything like that is the issue. The automotive minds l that have already commented have way more experience / knowledge then I do. However, I thought I would share the story in case it leads to a potentially useful idea at some point.

Best of luck figuring this out…👍🏻
 
I pulled it all apart again tonight and put it back together. I am at a point where it will spin freely as long as this bolt is not in. If i can find another rod bolt that will work im going to button it all up and give it a go.
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open country said:
He licked the stamp and sent it
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Basically this . I picked up a used piston on eBay, pulled a stud out, put it in the freezer, was able to get it in the connecting rod and buttoned everything back up. It runs good, sounds a little deeper than before, but 🤞
 
May the LC gods shine their light upon you and keep Crockpot running for years to come!

Good on you Patrick!
 
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