Connecting rods

[Flatplane8]

Hi,

I read in the manual that the conrods are numbered when assembled at the factory. I've looked at mine and can't see any markings, does anyone know if they are marked in some obscure place? I've got an engraver so can number them myself before disassembly if needed but thought I'd check in case I've missed something.

[notaping]

Mine were marked with dots on the side . . .

[Flatplane8]

Thanks, I didn't see any dots but I'll look more closely.

[The Nige]

No sure if they where added later but mine came with dots and numbers.

[Flatplane8]

Just an update, my rods had no markings on them. I’ve bought a £25 Dremel engraver and that was easy to use to number them.

Edited by Flatplane8 on Friday 25th October 19:36

[350Matt]

as long as you don't mix the caps around then the rods can go anywhere

it nice to balance them all though so each up and down bit weighs the same

[keynsham]

Are rods and caps not a matched pair?

[Flatplane8]

350Matt said:

as long as you don't mix the caps around then the rods can go anywhere

it nice to balance them all though so each up and down bit weighs the same

Thanks, I’ll probably aim to keep the roads and pistons together (assuming the pistons look like they can be reused….). Took a rod cap off this afternoon, I didn’t realise there were little locating pins on the caps, they can only be refilled the way they came off which is good. The bearing looked worn but ok, I’ll replace the bearings anyway.

[keynsham]

Flatplane8 said:

350Matt said:

as long as you don't mix the caps around then the rods can go anywhere

it nice to balance them all though so each up and down bit weighs the same

Thanks, I’ll probably aim to keep the roads and pistons together (assuming the pistons look like they can be reused….). Took a rod cap off this afternoon, I didn’t realise there were little locating pins on the caps, they can only be refilled the way they came off which is good. The bearing looked worn but ok, I’ll replace the bearings anyway.

Still not sure why you have to keep the caps in the same place but not the rods? I thought the cap and rod was the matched pair to fit at the given location?

[guards red]

I read that to mean that as long as you keep the cap with the rod you can move them together to a different cylinder.

[Flatplane8]

guards red said:

I read that to mean that as long as you keep the cap with the rod you can move them together to a different cylinder.

That’s what I understood too.

[350Matt]

Correct - moving them different cylinders is what I meant

mixing rod to cap wold be a disaster

[Flatplane8]

I took a couple of the rods/pistons out last night, here are some photos in case they are of interest. You can see the little roll pins that locate the cap in one orientation only. Both pistons had the second ring stuck in the groove due to carbon build up, they freed off easily but would've been affecting performance. The bearings look to be stock sizes, a bit worn but still check out at about 2 thou clearance (they should be 1.5-2.5 thou). Finally, the ultrasonic cleaner got most of the gunk off. At first look they seem in good shape for an engine with 178k miles on it.

[350Matt]

178K is a bit of a record for one of these isn't it ?
I though the head gaskets tended to go pop around the 90K mark ?