Rod Bearings in situ

[MAXRUNDOWN]

I'm going to drop the sump off my 172 cup soon to change the gasket, and as with anything we get 'while you're in there...' so now I'm looking at ARP rod bolts and possibly new big end bearings too.

This isn't a 'how do I?' it's more of a 'should I?', I'm capable of putting a motor together but this is my first Clio..

Do people ever bother to do big ends in situ as preventative maintenance on these? Do they have an appetite for them?

Anyone with any real world experience to add?

 

[Mr Underhill]

I ARP bolts in my dedicated 182 track car, as it was always at maximum. Never my road going 182’s. The guy who installed them also builds high performance engines but said I didn’t really need them as it was pretty much a standard engine 186bhp/168 ft torque.

I suppose if you’re pushing the engine in terms of power or you’re constantly revving it to the max I.e. 20-25 minutes on a circuit, then I guess it won’t hurt to put them in. My mate races in TDT with a 182 and has them, but he’s thrashing the nuts off his for 45 minutes at a time.

 

[Mr Underhill]

Added, if I was getting some engine work done, I’d stick a new oil pump in, if anything. Just my 2 cents.

 

[plees]

Done mine on a previous 172 cup. Subframe needs to be dropped slightly for access. Revved it a lot, couple of trackdays and hard road miles. Was also recommended by scoff at efi when raising the Rev limit with a remap.

Just done them to my engine in the kangoo also. As I was cleaning the sump and the bolts were relatively cheap

 

[Yarp]

I span a bearing in my 1st 182 engine which killed it. Few people have done similar. No idea what the root cause was though.

2 options for sump off, either lift the engine or drop the subframe. If the subframe has never been off before they captive nuts will disintegrate and you’ll have a right ball ache. When I need it off I undo the top engine mount and dogbone and jack the engine up. the sump then comes off past the oil pump with a bit of wiggling if you get it high enough.

The bolts I think take a E5 socket and you’ll need a skinny one on a 1/4 drive to get the bolts on the box side out. Ideally use an impact gun as they a few of mine were a total t**t and rounded off. Drilling them out isn’t easy or fun