my 92, mains and rods

[REDNECK1]

i just broke the pin on my camshaft and destroyed the drive gear for the first time..266000, not too bad guess, but while i was there i thought of doing my mains and rod bearings, i just opend a box of clevite bearins and they look questionable to say the least......i have tryed ford but they told me my car was too old for them to stock,or bring in any parts,buggers,...you think it's worth going to mazda to get mains....or have you guys had good luck with these bearings?.......also side note the cam pin is no longer avalible at ford,....so they say, i built one

[packrat427]

Do you have any pics of this breakage ??

Clevite bearings are great , but some say if the bottom end is tight , leave it alone .

[REDNECK1]

nothing to note really.......the pin in the end of the cam broke clean off, bent and cracked the gear.........almost like the cam bearing seised.....the problem is traced back to -40 outside and high humidity, a couple of friends of mine live wheir the oops happend and they said that this was not the first import with this set-up they had seen do it in the cold.....a couple of others that i know about had it happen to them as well.......they were amazed that it had not happend sooner to me......but i always have it in the garage in that weather.......this time it was outside.....bugger! I noticed that the clevite bearings are champfered around the oil hole but the mazda ones are not........different makes me nevous.....

[packrat427]

Chamfered around the oil hole means better oiling .

I have never had a problem with mine , but I have have always heard that if it is still tight on the bottom, don't mess with it .
The factory does a good job making the tolerance tight from there .

If it did not make any noise , I would fix the cam and button it up , unless you just want to put some new bearings in it .

I would put a new oil pump in it while it was apart though .

[REDNECK1]

the clearances are within limit, but........I have seen more motors fail in my time from running it to the max limit that it is unbelivable! I figure a 100$ for a bottom end is cheap insurance. The only reason for doing this is the car has 266k on it .......those little bearings have done alot, why risk it? The oil pressure has always been good, alot of people would leave them in their but ........then again i've put several motors in these cars and this is the first time mine has ever been apart for anything! I want to go 500k. has their been problems with the pumps?......should i be thinking this a little more?........then again,wheir do you stop replacing parts on the old girl?

[packrat427]

I just know from past experience , when it is down , it is good insurance to put a pump in , no matter what engine it is .

I really have never seen one fail though in a Festy , but I am sure it has somewhere .

[REDNECK1]

I think tomorow i'll pull er down and check the tolorances and look at the gear........I know what you are sayin' though, I have a mecanical guage on her, just cause i don't like the idiot lamp that comes on at what 0psi! lol! The champherin' on the new bearings look like they were done with a drill bit!.....they are going back someone elese can risk it!..........side note you ever had to vac the coolent system to get the heater to work right? The heater was good when it was new....but i have been fighting it for years!

[packrat427]

Never had to vac it , I just used Prestone super flush in it last fall , bought a flush kit that goes in line , splice the heater hoses and hook up the kit , then connect up the garden hose to flush it clean .
I was very pleased with mine , Rad looked like new , heater works great also .

[REDNECK1]

I was gonna give her a flush of fleetguard "restore" corrosion and scale cleaner, after the new hoses go on, and try another thermostat....I'm sure everyone knows the drill..................lol!

[packrat427]

I am not sure where you are from , adding that to your profile will help .

Is it cold , or very cold where you are , there has been a lot of discussion about Festiva heaters in the winter :lol: :lol:

Most put cardboard in front of the Rad. to help it hold some heat while drivin, in severe cold .

Flushing it could do nothing but help . I could tell my heat had a little more quality to it :lol: :lol:

[REDNECK1]

Albert Canada..........when the cam pin broke, Sask. Canada......you know " the land of the ice and snow" as the story goes........and the heater suck! the world over .....defenatly not their strong point.

[miami man]

i had a person in the building at work have had the same thing happen to his 93

[REDNECK1]

since it happend 3 weeks ago I have found that ford only sold these pins in pacs of 4, to the dealerships........and there are none to be found in their system right now....we are not alone in this event!

[Bowls]

haha, my car is FROM saskatchewan in canada, and i live in nova scotia in canada. This car is like terry fox, driven accross canada on compression problems.

[REDNECK1]

If you think, other than a total write off, you can kill one of these cars you are mistaken.........lol the write off I know first hand, my wife hit a backhoe in 92 with the first one........lol!, although lookin back I can only laugh, the first one had only 200km on it......wish i had the pics....