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Chuck... Mike Smith here, with "PACE" Palmetto Chevelles, have
you taken a good hard look at your balancer, not to say this is your problem,
just a thought. While I've got you, I apologize that PACE wasn't at
Chevell-abration last year (02), and want be able to make it this year, also,
but, I'm involved with a friend in the "Great American Race" in June (mechanic
and support crew) and being it starts in (June) Detriot and ends in
Daytona, Fla. I'm busy-busy, plus lots of traveling. I'm trying to set up a
Chevelle Open Car Show here in Charleston SC sometime around late Mar to mid May
03 at our new "HOOTERS" Rest. and hopefully you can make it. I'll keep
you up to date of the times and dates if you wish. ACES # 04945 Mike
Smith (Smitty)
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Monday, December 30, 2002 4:12
PM
Subject: Re: [Chevelle-List] Thrust
bearing failure
on 12/30/02 7:58 AM, Bill Vander Werf at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
Itıs an automatic (TH400). Iıve
tried 3 different torque converters and had the trans rebuilt a second time.
I checked to make sure the driveshaft wasnıt too long and causing a bind.
After the last bearing went out I took the trans to JW Performance
Transmissions to have them check it out. They ran it on their test equipment
and it checked out good. They tested the torque converter, an ATI unit, and
it checked out good too. As a matter of fact they said the ATI converter was
an excellent piece of equipment.
Although the
crank and block check out good Iıve lost all faith in them at this point.
The crank and block have been looked at by two different machine shops. I
had the crank Magnafluxed a second time for good measure. The flex plate is
a B&M unit. The harmonic balancer is a Fluidamper and they were both
balanced with the rotating assembly.
I donıt have a plan B at this time except to start over with a
different block and crank. Iım sure there is an answer. Itıs probably a
simple one. I just want to go racing and my patience has been used up. I
havenıt driven this car more than maybe 30 miles since the first bearing
episode back in May. When everything checks out good but continues to be a
problem what else can you do?
Bill Vander
Werf
-----Original
Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] On Behalf Of
Don
Sent: Monday, December 30, 2002 8:07 AM
To:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: [Chevelle-List] Thrust
bearing failure
If it's only eating up the rear
thrust bearing face & you are sure the crank, rods, etc are in good
condition, then I'd say it HAS to be a flywheel/clutch-Flexplate/Converter
or trans problem. Is it an automatic or standard?
Maybe a VERY slim chance of a Harmonic
Balancer problem. I doubt it but I've heard they can do strange things when
they get out of balance.
Sorry I can't help more but that's all that I can think
of.
Do you have
access to an engine stand that you can run the engine without the trans
installed?
Don
Bill,
Sorry to
hear you're still having problems with the thrust bearing on your engine.
It's a real stumper, I know. One thing that comes to mind is
calling the tech line for the manufacturer of your bearings. They have
probably come up against this problem in the past and may be able to shed some
light on the problem. Sometimes even the most astute engine builders
and/or machinists can overlook something or have never encountered a problem
such as yours. When we talked about your engine a while back I ran over
all the scenarios in my mind, and it seemed like you'd already tried to
correct all the suspected problem areas.
I checked the online tech
site for Clevite bearings (Dana Corp), and there's a lot of info on how to
troubleshoot your problem. Rather than cut and paste that info, here's
where to go:
http://engineparts.com/Motorhead/techstuff/bulletins/TB2043.pdf
Good
luck, Bill. If that doesn't work, a phone call to their tech line and a
conversation with a real person may be the only answer. Sorry I don't
have their tech line # in front of me right now. If you don't find it
yourself, holler at me on the ACES Hotline and I'll try to come up with it for
you.
Chuck
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