Spun bearing is the most common and worst problem that can happen to your engine. It is a worse problem because usually, it caught itself around the crankshaft journal. However, it can occur in a stock engine, race engine, gasoline engine, or even in a diesel engine. As it is a very common problem, like many other people you may have faced this too.
But don’t worry. In this article, we are going to show you how can you fix a spun bearing without spending your dollars on a car mechanic.
What Is Spun Bearing | How It Looks Like
Spun bearing occurs because of some unfortunate events. A spun bearing is probably a fault of the products. In addition to that, It can show up as a result of excessive heat, high operating loads, loss of oil pressure, and lack of lubrication also. If you are thinking about what a spun bearing looks like? Then let’s have a look at the clear picture of a spun bearing.
In this picture, you can see that the spun bearing looks like a C shape. Which has a tab on the outer edge of one end and it fits into detents that are meant to prevent them from turning.
Spun Bearing in An Engine- Different Causes
You already know that there are some probable reasons for spun bearing. And these are high heat, high operating loads, loss of oil pressure, and lack of lubrication. Though there are numerous reasons for spun bearing, oil pressure and lubrication are the main problems. And here are some issues that cause oil pressure and lubrication problem:
- Decrease of oil level in the oil pan as a consequence of any kind of leakage
- Lack of maintenance and wrong filling
- Clogged oil gallery or oil filter
- Installing bearing improperly
- The oil viscosity is used due to bearing clearances is extremely tight
- Mistakes created at the time of machining housing bores or crank journals (Crankshaft)
- Loose bearing due to lugging, detonation, or high boost or nitrous applications.
Fixing A Spun Bearing Or Replacing It!
Spun bearing is a common problem of an engine that decreases the efficiency of its normal workability with a likelihood to damage the engine. Therefore, everyone who is facing this issue must have thought about whether a spun bearing is fixable or not. And if it is fixable then how can I fix it?
Well, so to give you a sense of relief, let me tell you that a spun bearing is not fixable but replaceable.
In the first step, you must identify all the damages that happened due to spun bearing issues in your engine. But how do you know if it’s a damaged spun bearing? Basically, a spun bearing will have typical damages on it and will be worn off from spinning. Also, there is a major thickness difference between a normal bearing and a spun one.
Right after identifying a spun bearing immediately replace that with a new one. A spun bearing is cheap and easy to replace. If you don’t fix a spun bearing, it can damage many major parts of the engine.
3 Common Problems Caused By Spun Bearing And Their Solutions
A spun bearing can cause many other problems in your car that you have to be aware of. Overlooking those trivial problems may turn into a disaster. Here are three major problems caused by spun bearing and their solutions.
- Low Oil Pressure: It is the most common symptom of spun bearing. However, sometimes you may not face oil pressure even if your engine is in spun bearing or bad rod bearing situation.
Solution: After pulling the dipstick if you see a full mark then it means gasoline is getting into the crankcase. And if the oil seems too thin when you rub that between your fingers and if the oil smells like gas. Then you should change the oil along with filtering it. After that, if you see oil pressure is back to normal then get your carburetor repaired. And that’s how you can fix the low oil pressure problem.
- A-Rod Knock: Even the spun bearing can cause a rod knock situation. This symptom is a death sign for your engine. If you are facing this problem my suggestion to you is that you should do an engine rebuild by pulling the rods and replacing the bearings.
Solution: We will be telling you three steps that can help to get rid of a rod knock issue. First, you must Carry out an Oil Change service. Second, remove the crankcase and inspect the cod rod bearing. Third, Pour fuel injection cleaner into your gas tank.
- Flakes In The Oil: The easiest way to know if you are facing spun bearing is to drain the oil. And after that, if you found any metal flakes in your oil that will be the sign of a spun bearing.
Solution: If you see any flacks of the worn-off bearing in the oil tank. Don’t worry it can be solved in one simple way and that is by changing the oil.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How Much Does It Cost To Fix A Spun Bearing?
Some common repair which is held due to span bearing. And those common bearing repairs and their cost (which is not stable it can be variable) are shown to you below.
- Head Gasket Replacement Cost – This can cost you around 1000 dollars.
- Cylinder Head Replacement Cost-Relatively it is the most expensive repair in spun bearing fixing. Which can also cost 1000 dollars.
- Cooler Line Replacement Cost – This repair is the cheapest of all. It can cost you a between 100-200 dollars only.
- Crankshaft Replacement Cost – This may cost almost 950 dollars.
- Camshaft Replacement Cost – This replacement cost is also nearly 1100 dollars.
How To Prevent Spun Bearing
There’s a proverb that prevention is better than cure. So by following some basic rules you can prevent spun bearing. For that, Bearing shells should be clean and dry, and an oil wedge that provides hydrodynamic lubrication, oil pump pickup tubes should be secured, etc.
Does A Spun Bearing Ruin The Whole Engine
Definitely, a spun bearing can cause some damage to your engine. However, it is not true that spun bearing will damage the whole engine. But it will likely damage some part of it.
Conclusion
After all this discussion I think your queries related to this common problem of an engine spun bearing are clear now. And with help of our guidance, you can follow our steps to prevent spun bearing. After this, I think you can handle any spun-bearing issues by yourself.