Thrust Bearing Information

Bearing Appearance: Extreme wear areas visible along the entire bearing surface may be worse on bottom half as debris collects when not rotating, similar to oil starvation. Wiped, smeared and burned look. Amounts of bearing material removed. Scoring, deep grooves cut into the bearing surface. In many instances similar appearance on crankshaft thrust surface. Damaging Action: The absence of a sufficient oil film between the bearing and the journal permits metal-to-metal contact. The resulting wiping action causes premature bearing fatigue. Possible Causes: Constant contact of the crankshaft thrust disc against the thrust flange of the bearing can be caused by improper clutch adjustment or insufficient end-play. Aside from the obvious causes, such as dirt contamination and misassembly, there are only three common factors which generally cause thrust bearing failures. They are: 1. Poor crankshaft surface finish 2. Misalignment or surface geometry 3. Overloading from outside the rotating engine
For additional information See AERA TB 1465R

Thrust Bearing Information

Surface finish: Crankshaft thrust faces are difficult to grind because they are done using the side of the grinding wheel. Grinding marks left on the crankshaft face produce a visual swirl or sunburst pattern with scratches sometimes crisscrossing one another in a crosshatch pattern similar to hone marks on a cylinder wall. Grinding marks not completely removed by polishing will remove the oil film from the surface of the thrust bearing much like multiple windshield wiper blades. A properly finished crankshaft thrust face should only have very fine polishing marks that go around the thrust surface in a circumferential pattern. A surface finish of a maximum 15 Ra for light duty and 10 Ra for heavy duty and highly loaded engines is recommended. Alignment: The grinding wheel side face must be dressed periodically to provide a clean, sharp cutting surface. A grinding wheel that does not cut cleanly may create burn spots on the work piece leading to a wavy, out-of-flat surface. The side of the wheel must also be dressed at exactly 90 to its outside diameter, to produce a thrust face that is square to the axis of the main bearing journal. The crankshaft grinding wheel must be fed into the thrust face very slowly and also allowed to "spark out" completely. The machinist should be very careful to remove only minimal stock for a "cleanup" of the crankshaft thrust surface. Loading: A number of factors may contribute to overloading a thrust bearing, they include: a) b) c) d) Excessive Torque converter pressure. Improper throw out bearing adjustment. Riding the clutch pedal. Excessive rearward crankshaft load pressure due to a malfunctioning front mounted accessory drive.
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