Honda D Series Forum banner

DIY main bearings/ rod bearings

126K views 158 replies 89 participants last post by  jga 
#1 ·
Fist thing is first, you need to decided on what bearings your going to use on on engine. I chose Honda OEM bearings Why you might ask, well they have proven 240k miles in the current motor why not another 200k. You can use you ACL, King, or whatever autozone bearings you want. But this D.I.Y. is for Honda bearings.

Step One: Find a nice clean location to do the work
I chose my living room, you might chose a different location, but thats not how us gangstars roll.

Step Two
Collect necessary parts and tools
Parts:
- Main Bearings
- Rod Bearings
- Molly Assembly Lube
- Plastigage

Tools Required:

- A good set of sockets from 8mm up to 20mm works
- 3/8" or 1/4" (recommended) drive ratchets
- Socket extensions to get into those hard to reach places
- 3/8" or 1/4" torque wrench capable of 5 ftlbs+
- 3/8" or 1/4" Inch lb torque wrench if your's dose not go down to 5 ftlbs
- Flat and phillips head scredrivers
- Not needed (unless your anal)
- 1. Micrometer set capable of 1"- 3"
- 2. Telescoping Micrometer set capable or 1" - 3"

Other:
- A nice cold 6 pack of Samuel Adams

Step Three


- Locate markings on your crankshaft and on your engine block and on your rods
- Main Bearings: Letters are on the block, numbers are on the crank, put the two together to get color code.
- Rod Bearings: Letters are on the crank, numbers are on the rods, same process as above.

Step Four
(pleas skip if you do not have a matching crank and block)
- Find markings on your crankshaft (markings are stamped into the counter weights)
- Find markings on you block (can be found stamped on the flywheel side of the block)
WARNING!!! - Do not scrape or brush if stampings are not legible because of dirt or buildup!! wash with spirits or brake clean.
- One you have found you markings and jotted them down, the letters on the block will read from left (pulley end) to right (flywheels end) (AAAAA) or any combination of letters A-D
- Use the picture below to decide what color bearings will be needed for you mains and for your rods.



Step Five
This next step is not needed unless you want exact measurements or your using after market bearings or your using a different crank than what came in the block

- Mic all the main journals on 3 angles using the micrometer set and jot down your measurements.
- Mic all the main boars with the telescoping mic's and jot down your measurements, make sure your doing them in the same order you did on the crank shaft.
- Repeat the same steps for your rod bearings.
- Take the measurements you jotted down for the inside diameter and subtract the outside diameter from that number.
- Below is a list of the oem honda colors if you want to use honda bearings
 
See less See more
1
#2 ·
Main Bearing thickness by color
Blue 2.013-2.010 mm 0.0793”- 0.0791”
Black 2.010-2.007 mm 0.0791”- 0.0790”
Brown 2.007-2.004 mm 0.0790”- 0.0789”
Green 2.004-2.001 mm 0.0789”- 0.0788”
Yellow 2.001-1.998 mm 0.0788”- 0.0787”
Pink 1.998-1.995 mm 0.0787”- 0.0785”
Red 1.995-1.992 mm 0.0785”- 0.0783”

Rod bearing thickness by color
Blue 1.510-1.507 mm 0.0594”- 0.0593”
Black 1.507-1.504 mm 0.0593”- 0.0592”
Brown 1.504-1.501 mm 0.0592”- 0.0591”
Green 1.501-1.498 mm 0.0591”- 0.0590”
Yellow 1.498-1.495 mm 0.0590”- 0.0589”
Pink 1.495-1.492 mm 0.0589”- 0.0587”
Red 1.492-1.489 mm 0.0587”- 0.0586”

Step Six

Now that you have your measurements your ready to install your bearings!

- Bare block



- Bearings in place for plastigage



- Crankshaft in place



- Place your plastigage on the journal



- Install you main cap and torque to spec



- Remove and take your measurement and make sure you have the tolerance your looking for.

- Remove used plastigage from main and clean gently. do this to all mains and eventually rods.

- remove crank from block and apply a generous amount of assembly lube on the bearings, install crank again and apply lube to the tops of the journals. Re install you main cap and torque to spec.







now drink some beer your done!
 
#6 ·
- Remove and take your measurement and make sure you have the tolerance your looking for.

- Remove used plastigage from main and clean gently. do this to all mains and eventually rods.

- remove crank from block and apply a generous amount of assembly lube on the bearings, install crank again and apply lube to the tops of the journals. Re install you main cap and torque to spec.
Good Stuff! Thanks for the Pics.

Do you got Pics of the Results to Measure the Plastigage Specs? That would be a Good one to add in there....
 
#24 ·
real quick question.
i just plastigauged my bearings.
z6 motor.
im using acl race. and it will be a vitara eagle turbo setup.
so i hear a little loose isnt bad.
but..
my crank measured out all good. and when i plastigauged it.
i got .0015 on my 1 and 5.
and .0018-.0019 on my 234 journals.

but i see this service limit thing.
Service Limit 0.05mm (0.002in)

any input on if im too far out of spec or... waht

Standard (New): No. 1,5 Journals: 0.018-0.036mm (0.0007-0.0014in)
No. 2,3,4 Journals: 0.024-0.042mm (0.0009-0.0017in)
 
  • Like
Reactions: EP3Moschini
#25 ·
is the blue bearing thickiest? red the thinnest? if so, My standard size clevties measured loose at .040, clevites are supposed to be in the green section. i would have to order a black bearing to compensate a .038 clearance since it is .002 thicker? just want to make sure.
 
  • Like
Reactions: EP3Moschini
#32 ·
convenient info isn't necessarily good info
even the OP opted for mic'd journals over plastigauge
plastiguage wont tell you if you have out-of-round journals or other discrepancies between journal roundness of the mains,rods and crank
and its not that accurate
its good for relativity...kinda like compression testers...
they dont necessarily give you accurate info...but allow you to potentially source an issue through the differences of results across multiple measurements.
 
#36 ·
Great info. I think I will subscribe. I'm gonna need a lot of this info when I reassemble a motor. Nice work my friend. +2
 
  • Like
Reactions: EP3Moschini
#45 · (Edited)
Ditto on that last question. So with the honda bearings you bought, did you measure first then buy the appropriate bearings? or do you buy the bearings and they give you a selection of colors like stated, that way you have oversized/undersized depending on your measurements?

edit: to add to that, I just did a search and I'm seeing posts that honda discontinued the colored bearings? possibly false info, but if thats the case what is the other option for sizes? I see that ACLs and other companies sell bearing sets, but what good does that do if they are all the same size?
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top