I made a mistake building an engine some ten years ago. It only came to light recently when I ran the engine and got no oil pressure. It took several weeks to discover the problem, so here it is -- so you don't make the same mistake!!
Not all sets of big end shells are the same. In some sets, all eight shells have an oil hole drilled in them. Other sets have 4 with oil holes and 4 without. I had only ever used shells with eight oil holes, so I made an expensive mistake by fitting a set incorrectly.
Each con rod has an oil hole drilled in it. ENSURE that a matching bearing shell is fitted. So a hole goes to a hole. If you fit two shells with no holes (as I did) you will get no oil pressure and eventual seizure.
WRONG!!!! Two shells with no oil hole = seizure.
RIGHT (Maybe!!) If your shells have eight holes, then the above is correct. If your shells have only four holes, then this is WRONG. It means you have used two shells with oil holes in one con-rod, which in turn means another con-rod must have NO oil holes.
I hope this makes sense. It can be very upsetting to discover a mistake like this -- never mind the expense of putting it right.
Page updated:- 02 October, 2006