Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Need an opinion..

I had a knocking noise in my engine when it hit 3000rpm +
I took it into Ford and they were able to find play in the connecting rod bearings, 5-6 thousands. Apparently it is suppose to be 2-3 thousands. So the mechanic did a patch by replacing the bearings and calling it a day. Now there is no noise, 2-3 thousands clearance. But he didn't swap out the main bearings. Now can this be done if he all did was remove the oilpan, or does the engine have to be pulled? because I had asked him to swap the mains the same time.
Also there was no metal filings in the oil pan but there were minor scratches on the crank when he put the new bearings in. I am now debating or not if I should keep the car now, since he didnt swap the mains because my thought is that something is outta balance and it the mains weren't swapped I am just gonna have the same problem again.

This (rod bearings) is a very common issue on the V6 SHO engine with which I am quite familiar.

It has become standard practice among SHO owners to replace only the rod bearings as the mains do not get the same type of stress during operations as do the rod bearngs. The rod bearings take stess with every firing of the cylinder and are the first to go.

Main bearings can be replaced without pulling the engine, but it's pretty tricky to get the crankshaft to drop a bit in order to swap them out.

Based solely on my experience with the V6 Yamaha, I would not worry or fret about the lack of replacement of the mains.

Steve

Most cars have more trouble with rod bearings than main bearings.

Rod bearings seem to be more tender than main bearings on our Duratec V6 engine as well. It sounds like you have had an appropriate repair.