Mercruiser 140 3.0 Makeover

[Goldie627]

more cranks journals...

 

[Goldie627]

more crank...

 

[Maclin]

If you are still on the fence about it, my vote is to take it to a machine shop and have it worked on some. Not liking some of the scratches and the wear patterns around some of the oiling holes. But that's me.

 

[Goldie627]

If you are still on the fence about it, my vote is to take it to a machine shop and have it worked on some. Not liking some of the scratches and the wear patterns around some of the oiling holes. But that's me.

Thanks mac, after I had it mic'd I had left the shop. Then while posting those pics I noticed some scratches on the rod bearing journal closest to the timing gear. I wasnt sure if that was ok or not. Long story short, I took it back to have it polished. Will post new pics when I get it back.

 

[Goldie627]

I was lucky my brother Carlos was off today so while I'm at work was los is out delivering and picking up my crank shaft and bearings. I'm very happy, especially since I don't have to wait till Tuesday :watermelon:

 

[Goldie627]

Still not perfect after polishing but I think its good enough, only way to get it better is to have the crank turned.... what do you guys think?

 

[Goldie627]

More polished crankshaft

 

[Goldie627]

I want to buy a timing gear set, I'm clear on the crankshaft timing gear removal but the camshaft timing gear manual says to remove valve lifters but the manual doesn't tell you how to do it or where it's located.

any help is appreciated

 

[fishrdan]

Crank looks goood after the trip to the machine shop. Be sure to thoroughly clean the crank including using small (gun) brushes to clean the oil passages, otherwise, any grit left in the holes from polishing will end up in the new bearings. Spray with engine cleaner, brush everything, brush oil holes, hose with water, compressed air, soak it down with WD40, then bag it.

Using tubing on the rod bolts might work, but can be a pain if the tubing is too thick, binds the bolts on the crank. Been there, done that. Polytubing may work?...

I'd plastiguage the bearings too, just to be sure the clearances are correct. Better safe than sorry.

 

[Rick Stephens]

I want to buy a timing gear set, I'm clear on the crankshaft timing gear removal but the camshaft timing gear manual says to remove valve lifters but the manual doesn't tell you how to do it or where it's located.

any help is appreciated

Crank looks beautious. Nice job. ++1 on getting it as clean as you can and plastigauge is a no brainer, do it.

I think you can swap the camshaft gear without pulling lifters. Only reason to pull lifters is to pull the cam out. If you are doing that, you may as well get to disassembling the rest of that motor now, be a lot easier than pulling rockers, pushrods, side cover and then lifters. If you're doing that, just pop the head and root hog.

 

[fishrdan]

I want to buy a timing gear set, I'm clear on the crankshaft timing gear removal.....

I couldn't get mine off, and had the machine shop remove the crank gear, so I didn't break something in the process, gear was friggin stuck! I had them do the cam gear too, since the retainer has to have the proper clearance. I'm not shy of much, but I let them do the timing set on my 140, since I don't have a press.

Lifters are behind the lifter cover (behind the distributor). DON'T mix up the lifters as they have to go back onto the cam lobe they were removed from, or you have to break them in again - if not you could wipe a cam lobe. Might be worth a look to see how the cam is doing. When I rebuilt my 140, several cam lobes were bad, not totally wiped out, but showing 30 years of age and abuse. Several lifters were bad also, face of the lifter concaved from riding on bad cam lobes. Chicken or egg type thing.

 

[Goldie627]

Thanks guys, im going to clean, grease and bag my crank shaft 2maro morning. I'm thinking i should take the camshaft and lifters to the machine shop so i can know the their condition. For the timing gears I have access to a press but i don't think i have a support sleeve or woodruff key so i might have the shop do the timing gears.

If i do take the head off, what should i tell the machine shop i want done? I have to compare that cost to the cost of a new head.

 

[Maclin]

deleted--not relevant to post.

 

[Maclin]

By the way, what did the machine shop say about the crank condition?

 

[Rick Stephens]

I think you'll find that new 3.0 L heads are spendy. I'd take the head down and ask the machinist to quote you what he sees that needs doing. Make your choices from there.

 

[Goldie627]

 

[Goldie627]

By the way, what did the machine shop say about the crank condition?

The shop said it was ok to install and wasn't bad enough to be turned. They also said all the journals where STD size.

I dont think they would polish a bad crankshaft without presenting that fact to the customer. At least i hope not...

 

[Goldie627]

Thanks Dan for the crankshaft cleaning tips! I think it came out nice



After this pic i sprayed it down with wd40 and put it in a plastic bag for safe keeping until i'm ready to install it.

 

[Goldie627]

After a lot of consideration I dont think im gonna remove the camshaft, head or timing gears. The camshaft lobes do show some wear but i dont think its enough to cause any bad lifters. There is no knocking or ticking. I hope you guys can tell me what you think about the camshaft lobes...

Regarding the timing gears, i looked over the camshaft fiber timing gear and it looks uniform, no missing or broke or ground down teeth.

Regarding the head, it gets on plane, spark plugs are dry, doesn't overheat, doesnt leak and there is no water in the oil. I was thinking about taking the head to the shop but for now i don't have any problems from it. I have no reservation about having my head looked at and or rebuilt, i think i just wanna wait till there is a reason suspicion to do it. Plus, if and when the head presents a problem i wont have to take the whole motor out again to resolve that kind of issue. My main and biggest problem i believe is from the intake. After i get my lower end together i'll move on to the intake.

Im open to any opinions or advice on my thought process...







This cam below with the orange background is NOT my cam. Its just for reference. I thought it would be helpful for any other noobs out there like my self who are learning as they go. Im sorry chevymaher for the confusion.



in retrospect, i probably should have spun the cam and inspected the entire surface of the lobe....

will do that next time im at the engine...

the good news is if the cam lobes are good the lifters should be goods as well...

 

[Goldie627]

Hey Dan, please ignore my old bearings just wanted to show you my rodbolt hoses, i haven tried them yet i hope they aren't to thick... well see