pHilli0 wrote:My car is in the shop this week for her bearing shell replacement!! The bottom end is in bits and the new shells should be there tomorrow. With luck I will have her back end of Thursday. Mileage at 94,500 now so really happy to have them done.exdos wrote:I think the answer depends upon how long you intend to keep the car. I think there's a strong element of luck (of the bad type) in bearing shell failure and none of us know how to avoid being selected. The engine certainly isn't getting newer/younger.pHilli0 wrote:
So from your opinion.. do you think spending out to specifically get the shells replaced on my 93k mile car is good preventative maintenance? I guess it will be around £1,500 to 2k. The general consensus of course is do the work as it will help to reduce the risk of a big failure. But the more I read about this topic the more different opinions I hear. Do it vs its a possible waste of money as it may not save a total failure.
Don't get me wrong, I intend to track the car a far amount next year so I am all for doing it.. I just want to be realistic about this..
I'm sure that if you look at your bearing shells they will show some evidence of wear, which obviously isn't ideal, so you'd then want to replace them. If you had the job done by an experienced mechanic then you should have some level of comeback if the engine failed after X miles or within X months but hopefully, with new bearings and con rod bolts, you'd be less likely to be struck by bearing shell failure. So if I were in your shoes, I'd get them replaced. If you do replace, just make sure that you follow the running in protocol for the first 1200miles and then do an oil change before giving it the beans again.
Daft question here - i see posts saying people have had the "big end bearings replaced". Tell me the bearing shells are the only bit I need to have replaced right? I understand the bearing rods are a different matter and all being well should not need replacing?? I am not missing something else ? Sorry if that is moronic.
please please get them to take pics of the shells!!! this would be great for the uk community ! Ive decided to this my own shells during the cars long hibernation periods!