Bearing wear - normal?

[topstep]

Hi,

Newbie on here and to this level of engine work, so all advice gratefully received!

Have just bought an engine on a pallet to replace one that went dramatically wrong (snapped crank) and am understandably wary about just plonking it in and turning the key. The new (to me!) engine has covered about 100k and the remaining oil smells overdue a change.

I decided to remove the sump and check out the shell bearings - is the wear in this pic normal?! I've only ever dealt with engines to bearing level that have already failed, and don't want this one to go the same way!

TIA

[HJG]

Doesn't look too bad but image isn't great. Regardless, you've gone this far and with an unknown history you may as well just replace them!

[Boosted LS1]

The 2 high spots are interesting. Is the bearing a snug fit or can it be moved/rocked slightly in a fore aft direction? Is it an illusion? I'd replace them as suggested above. Give the caps a rub down with some fine wet and dry to clean them off before pressing the bearings in place.

[E-bmw]

As above, I wouldn't go as far as you have without changing the lot, whether they appear normal or not.

[227bhp]

Wear like that indicates a slight bend in the crank. Probably nothing to worry about, but personally I would be checking it for tolerance.
How did you manage to snap a crank?

[topstep]

227bhp said:

Wear like that indicates a slight bend in the crank. Probably nothing to worry about, but personally I would be checking it for tolerance.
How did you manage to snap a crank?

Unfortunately, and based only on limited experience of dismantling a handful of terminal engines, I agree about the idea the crank seems distorted. It seems the only explanation for such uneven rare on number 3 of four main bearings on a v6.

Here's a pic of the old crank, which took the block with it. The out of tolerance on number 3 journal was massive: 2.2mm east - west, 2.6mm (!) North - south. Ridiculously it still rotated, although clearly not for long! One specialist suggested hydraulic lock caused by a stuck injector, which rings true only because the injector looked FUBAR. As I say, the block didn't survive either just for the massive out of roundness of that journal. New cranks are not realistically available for this car, so I really want to make this work.

Obviously removing the crank is a ball-ache compared with 'just' replacing the bigs so, at least before I removed this bearing cap, I had been keen not to.