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Destroyed rod bearings
The S14 Achilles' Heel

Some seriously abused rod bearings

No, these are not MY old rod bearings. These came out of Jim Butterworth's E30 M3. It was purchased in a non-running condition - history unknown. When we took it apart this is what we found. It is not clear what caused it but it looks like the previous owner was not particularly vigilant about routine maintenance!

The spun rod bearings out of my own S14 Here is what my #3 rod bearing looked like. It was completely spun i.e. both bearing halves were on the same side of the rod. The opposite end had metal-on-metal with the rod running directly on the crank journal. One of the bearing halves was also broken into two pieces. I am not sure what caused my rod bearing to deteriorate. It was probably one of two things; either oil starvation or detonation. Maybe a combination of both. I was running hard at Laguna Seca on 92 octane pump gas. This might not have been a wise move. I also did a bit of running on a wet skid pad. This might have led to damage due to oil starvation. Or maybe the bearing had already been damaged by the previous owner and it was only a matter of time until it gave up the ghost.

In any case, once a rod bearing has spun, it is probably time for a rebuild. You might get by for a while by just slapping in a new bearing but it is not recommended. From the picture above it is obvious that S14 rod bearings can and do break into multiple pieces 8^)


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