All,
With the recent thread on 6-cylinder thrust bearings,
I wanted to see how worn mine was, or at least do a first pass.
I do not have access to a dial-gauge, and my trusty vernier
callipers would not fit to allow me to measure the free play.
What to do? I bought a cheap-and-nasty plastic vernier calliper
made in China. I doubt that they are accurate in absolute terms, but
I figured that as I was just trying to measure relative distances,
thay may work. I cut them down so that they were about 5" long,
and could fit quite easily, allowing me the measure the distance between
the block and the flywheel pulley. Performing many trials, and being
careful not to stress the plastic tips (which would bias the readings),
I determined a freeplay of 0.008" +/- 0.002". I figured that they
are good only for an accurcay of +/- 0.002". This tells me that
my thrust bearings have not fallen into the oil pan, and that the
bearing is pretty worn, but not *dangerously* so. Time to replace!
The cost of the plastic caliper? $1.50. Available at many
hardware/industrial liquidator stores.
Shane Ingate in San Diego
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