Connecting Rod Bearings

[caddy39]

Well folks. I just bought my 2000 Protege 1.8L with 208000Km's and after researching a bit and going to my mechanic I am in need of new connecting rod bearings. I have searched this forum a bit and have seen list of replacement parts comming from new engine blocks to new cranks etc.. I am pretty sure this noise is in the early stages so I am just going to buy the new bearings for it and install them.
I have done it before with other cars. I take off the oil pan and remove the connecting rods from the crank and put the new bearings in. This shoudl all go down mid next week sometime. I will keep ya posted.. Its 77 bucks for the bearings and some silicone to make a new gasket for the oil pan.
Seems like a nice cheap try before replacing an engine.


P.S.. its not a heat shield rattle

 

[caddy39]

Soooo.. no one has any info? Or comments?.. I have the oil pan off and I have pics.. Tomorrow I will be puttin the new bearings in and hopefully everything together. If people are interested in this and if it works properly I will make a how to....

 

[Skoozul]

I know someone who changed the bearings without machining the crank and he ended up spinning them again after 6 days and bent a rod at the same time. So what ever you do be careful.

 

[caddy39]

Update: I swapped them out and everything is fine.. been running for about 5000Km's now.. The only bugger was the oil pan. What a stupid way of attaching it to to the engine. I had to split the tranny from the engine to get at 2 little bolts... definitely aggravating!!! All in all.. cheap fix... even if it only lasts me for a a while..

 

[blackdragon11]

Update: I swapped them out and everything is fine.. been running for about 5000Km's now.. The only bugger was the oil pan. What a stupid way of attaching it to to the engine. I had to split the tranny from the engine to get at 2 little bolts... definitely aggravating!!! All in all.. cheap fix... even if it only lasts me for a a while..

I hate that part too! Oh btw, im that guy that Skoozul's talking about, haha.(first)

 

[Jas00x]

Update: I swapped them out and everything is fine.. been running for about 5000Km's now.. The only bugger was the oil pan. What a stupid way of attaching it to to the engine. I had to split the tranny from the engine to get at 2 little bolts... definitely aggravating!!! All in all.. cheap fix... even if it only lasts me for a a while..

I did my bearings (just bearings) on mine at about 105K miles (a 1.8L 2000 ES also). SO far I have 155K Miles and its still running good. I had always used mobil one oil, so I think that had helped keep everything in decent shape. The reason I had to replace my bearings was that I ran it for over 1000 miles with low oil (its a long story envolving a bad repair shop). SO now I keep a closer eye on the oil level. As the engines get older, they tend to burn off a bit of oil regularly.
So I think you should be OK. If the car is "new to you" but still has a bunch of miles on it- I would like to suggest a few items to watch for:
1. replace motor mounts- these tend to wear out and can lead to transmission damage.
2. Clean the EGR Valve and Throttle body- search the How-to Forum
3. Replace the Catalytic converter- In my past experience with other cars and having a few friends with similar issues in other cars, when the engine starts to burn oil (or if the engine goes completely), it will clogg up the catalytic converter and will hurt the performance of the car and people often blame the CEL's on O2 sensors and assume the cat is still good. With the milage you have I would recommend looking into a new cat to avoid problems down the road.

 

[caddy39]

Sounds good.. as for an update, I have put about 25000km's on the car and its still running well. no noises or anything.. bearings were 144 bucksCAN so I cant complain.. like I said earlier though.. really bad design when it comes to taking the windage plate off