Crankshaft end play damage

[bruceanz@hotmail.com]

I had a knocking noise when i put my 1966 Mustang 289 V8 into drive (auto) at idle, we checked the crankshaft and it had excessive end play like 10mm.

So i pulled the sump off and removed the centre bearing cap to find that the transmission end of the thrust surface on the crank bearing was badly worn and it has worn into the crankshaft lobe. Has anyone had the same problem?

Plus can the crankshaft be welded and machined?

regards Bruce

[jiffy]

I would say that it's toast - don't even try to fix it - replace it.

Find out WHY it happened. Check that the crank thrust bearings are in the correct location (a FE has them in the centre mains bearing position, possibly the Windsor block has them there too) - and that the engine wasn't rebuilt by some Chevy rebuilder who put them in the 4th mains bearing position instead of the centre one...

It's likely that if there was that much play, you will need to check the auto trans input shaft/torque converter and the waterpump too.

[pmb0186]

has a similar thing with an A-series engine I re-build but only 2mm of end float it damaged other components namely cam as it dragged it back an forth.
I replaced the crank, cam, timing set and cam plate all toast all damaged.
time for a re-build I think