[TR] Low Oil Pressure and Engine Noises

[John & Pat Donnelly]

As you might recall my adventure began with low oil pressure. The oil pump
was thrashed and a new one is going in. The wisdom of the list pushed me to
replace the rod and main bearings while I was in the vicinity. Cheap
insurance they called it.

So I pulled a few rod bearings and the center main, then ordered parts and
began replacing the bearings. The rod bearings and center bearing went well.
Then I tackled the rear main bearing.

So, now I really cry Uncle. There's no way you can drop rear main bearing
cap with the engine in the car AND the tranny attached. The reason is the
rear crank seal. The flange that attaches to the cap is wider than the
bearing cap, so you can't slide it forward far enough for the bolts that
retain it to clear the flywheel. I thought about trying to file the sides
but there's no space. Remember that I'm doing this underneath the car.

If the tranny were pulled back from the block about 3/4" you could drop the
rear main cap straight down without restrictions, but that also means
pulling the interior apart. Bummer.

So I reinstalled the rear main cap with the old bearing still intact. There
wasn't much I could do for the felt seal so I think I should buy some stock
in Pennsoil to recoup my losses.

The crank journals are scored (probably around .002-.004 grooves - the rear
was the worst) and is a major culprit of the low oil pressure. I now know I
need to R&R the engine when I get back from TFest. Hopefully I can get about
2000 miles from this "band-aided" engine. 

The saga is far from over. Stay Tuned.
Johnnie



> -----Original Message-----
> From: triumphs-bounces at autox.team.net [mailto:triumphs-
> bounces at autox.team.net] On Behalf Of Randall
> Sent: Wednesday, September 16, 2009 11:07 PM
> To: triumphs at autox.team.net
> Subject: Re: [TR] Low Oil Pressure and Engine Noises
> 
> > How did
> > others replace the rear main bearing?
> 
> I've done this 3 or 4 times now, on three different TR3/A motors, and
> the
> rear main has always come out with some determined wiggling.  Maybe I'm
> just
> lucky.
> 
> If you only need 1/8" more, perhaps you could remove the front thrust
> washer
> and pry the crankshaft to the rear?
> 
> Randall