[TR] Thrust washer "what if?"

[Art & Karen Graves]

>Subject: [TR] Thrust washer "what if?" 
>To: triumphs at autox.team.net, spitfires at autox.team.net 
>Message-ID: <4C77A38A.946.271D0446 at localhost> 
>Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII 
> 
>What if a thrust washer falls out (or wears away) would be the 
>result?  Would it create strange engine noises?  I'm musing over 
>possibilities... 
> 
>-- 
>Jim Muller 


Jim,

Unfortunately this has just happened to me.  I bought a newly rebuilt engine
'on faith' that had never been started.  I checked and corrected a few
things, but did not look at the thrust washers.  The engine ran great in
every respect.  In fact I drove it to Summer Party with no worries.

Well, almost no worries.  My clutch started acting strange in that, after
hours on the interstate it would push to the floor, but pumping it would
bring it back.  It only did this after periods of non-use.  I figured the
clutch master needed a rebuild.  A few weeks ago I dropped the oil pan to
see what kind of sludge was there (assembly lube) and to fix a stripped hole
in the front sealing block.  Imagine my surprise when I saw the thrust
washers in the pan.

I did not ever hear any unusual or grinding noises, but I have heard others
report on noise.

My crankshaft and block are surely damaged, but may be repairable.  We'll
see.  In the meantime, I decided to rebuild my original engine in order to
get back on the road sooner.  Jekyll Island is coming up!

I have heard of thrust washer problems, but never seen them first hand.  My
guess is that engines coming from the factory would almost never have this
problem.  But an engine that has been rebuilt or 'tinkered' with is a prime
candidate.   My old engine has 200k miles and the end float is .010 - out of
spec, but not too bad!  Lucky me, the guy that rebuilt it knew what he was
doing.

I will report back here after I tear down the engine and see the damage.

Art Graves
Tulsa, OK
1976 Triumph TR6