Just some carnage pics.

[Mekanix]

The other day i asked about hotrod cranks. This decides it for me...


Also this is what happens when a counterballance bearing fails...

 

[etemplet]

What happened? All a crank is is bearings and seals on a rotating shaft. If it is assembled correctly it should work. Looks like some water got in there.

 

[Mekanix]

Well this is the first bent rod I've seen that has not destroyed the cases. If this is how hotrod cranks fail I would prefer them.
I mean I'm used to rods snapping.
I have no idea what happened, the first two pictures are from a machine that just died on the water.... I'm guessing hydro lock but cant find the evidence. Everything in the lower bearing is now sitting under the crank but barely damaged the case.
Also the head is perfect !
But all the bearings are gone...

Also looks like the engine is an sbt. The cases are welded. Not perfect but it's good.
Cylinders bored 1mm over.

 

[mikidymac]

Again, what’s the rest of the story?

 

[Mekanix]

Again, what’s the rest of the story?

Sorry was editing.

Last pic is from an 03 RX. That's another machine. A stunt company owned it. And when it went they kept the show going I guess. The whole inside of the hull is grey from the aluminum.... still trying to figure out how to clean it.

 

[mikidymac]

LOL, SBT says a lot.

 

[etemplet]

Take it to the self-serve car wash and spray the engine cleaner in the hull. That will be a great start. Might even do the job.

 

[Mekanix]

Will do
Here's a few more carnage pics from different things.

 

[etemplet]

Talk about a bearing failure how about this one? The ski was still running afterwards. Funny thing... you could not see the engine was broken AT ALL by looking at it. Even feeling underneath it was difficult to detect. I made a joke and told they guy.... I'm bringing a mirror with me when I buy a ski. As I was inspecting this engine the outer crank bearing was also failing big time.

 

[Mekanix]

Wow...
This is why I replace counterbalance bearings everytime an engine comes apart now.

 

[Mekanix]

So I got an education from an engine builder. Apparently hot rods cranks are actually really good but when you order them you have the choice of standard rods which are OEM rods or lightened racing rods. I guess a hot rod crank has really good crank bearings and they use OEM rods but you have to request OEM rods instead of the lightened racing rods.
And this gentleman also approves of WSM cranks and OEM but dislikes SBT. We went through a little bit of the reasons between each one of them and my next crank probably will be hot rods just to try it out

 

[Mekanix]

On a side note I did finish tanking the crankcase apart with a bent rod and it was fairly clean in there. Except for one end of the counterbalance was wet and Rusty it's a usable case. Looks like water got in somehow but I haven't found the source yet.

 

[Mekanix]

Latest 951 counterballance failure....

 

[etemplet]

That's gonna leave a mark.