7-Bolt Shortblock Failure - Full Diagnosis

If you are your own mechanic, there is no more important character trait worthy of development than the ability to own your mistakes. That's where the line is drawn between good mechanics and bad mechanics. It's not the failures but how they deal with them that measures their ability.

In short, it's not easy to admit you did something wrong or were negligent. But if you don't own it and talk about it, it doesn't get fixed, and nothing positive can come from it. It was my quest to overcome my clutch issue that lead to the creation of a video. That video is the textbook perfect guide for how to correctly install a DSM transmission.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bE_9sWtnSY&list=PL4B97C16D423317DD

Crankwalk as described is caused by a casting defect. This was not a defect. This was preventable. A lot of people would find something like this and not tell anyone out of embarrassment. I'm not ashamed. It's my fault. I got good use out of this engine and it was tough enough to make it 48K miles since the last rebuild despite my abuse. I'm here to tell you if you bought a used car that's had its clutch replaced, or if you ever pay someone else to do it... make sure it has this bolt. It's stashed away between the starter and the transfer case, so it's hard to see. Make sure all of your bell housing bolts are torqued properly because fastener problems can destroy your shortblock, clutch and transmission. If your car fails because of a mis-aligned transmission, you have no reason to blame crankwalk.

It wasn't until I bought my next AWD car that I discovered there was a smaller bolt on the other side of the block. I destroyed 3 transmissions in the GSX first. With the damage already done to my crankshaft, I then lost a shortblock. It's an ounce of prevention that's worth metric tons on your bank account.

Grade 10 M8x60 bell housing bolt = MD706012. It gets 22-25'lbs of torque.

Owning my mistake permits me to learn from it through con$equence$, and never repeat it. What good would it have done anyone else for me to learn this lesson and not share it? That's why I'm providing this video to all of you. Sharing it can perhaps help someone else avoid this costly mistake. This is the final chapter for my 7-bolt, and this book is going back on the shelf.

Here are some valuable resources if you're trying to read bearing damage:
http://www.enginebuildermag.com/Article/5150/csi_engine_bearings_when_good_bearings_go_bad.aspx
http://catalog.mahleclevite.com/bearing/
http://www.studebaker-info.org/tech/Bearings/CL77-3-402.pdf

And of course, now that I've covered the complete oil system, transmission and driveshaft series of videos, you now have all the tools necessary to ensure your 4g63 lasts a very long time. Whether the casting defect exists?... or it's all caused by a bolt, or the harmonics, or whatever... Sure, crankwalk exists and it's horrible. But with the small amount of movement required for your crankshaft before it contacts the block isn't far enough to make your clutch drop to the floor when you turn. You'd be hearing woodpeckers and jackhammers on the crank long before that clutch pedal would fall to the floor. Some people are going to hate on me for saying that. That's fine. I believe all of the people who experienced the clutch pedal issues had fastener problems on their bell housing.

DSMs get a bad reputation for this but we can change that. Crankwalk is never the cause of your engine failure. Crankwalk is always a symptom of the real problem. It's your disease that makes you deny it's your fault. You've got the 'itis. DSM-itis.

Whenever you dig deeper, you'll discover what applied all of those thrust loads to your crankshaft to begin with, and it's not going to be a casting defect that moves your crank .101". Mine only went .014", but all of the same parts failed.

PLEASE tell me in the comments if you find this bolt is missing from your car.

Видео 7-Bolt Shortblock Failure - Full Diagnosis канала Jafromobile