Can I remove a 289 crankshaft without removing the transmission

[Galactica5]

You'd have to slide the transmission back an inch or so, and would have to remove one piston out the top end, then the crank would come out. The time required to do that, plus the difficulty in maintaining cleanliness, plus working from a worm position on a creeper, versus standing or sitting at an engine stand make it a real bad idea. Much as it pains you, the logical procedure is to pull the motor.

As for number 1/2 rods knocking after a rebuild, that happened to me about 20 years ago. I should say I did it to myself, because I did not spin the oil pump to circulate oil before initial start up. I figured the assembly pre-lube would hold till oil reached all moving parts, and it did, all except #1/2 rod bearings, which are farthest downstream, and among the last components to receive oil when firing up a dry motor.

I polished the journal, installed new bearings, plastigaged it, and found it was about .004" loose. I buttoned it up and ran it about 100,000 miles before swapping in another 289. Haven't looked at the crank, but it always ran with a bit lower oil pressure than what I am used to with 259/289 motors. I say drop the oil pan with the motor in the car and have a look at yours' rod journal. You might get lucky, as I did, with polishing and new bearings. Or you might have to pull the motor. I'd make that call once I eyeballed the rod journals.

That is what I suspect .
I ran the oil pump with a drill until the oil was coming out of the rear camshaft drain hole by the distributor.
That is a great plan and the way I'll do it in the spring.... its cold around here now and the shop isn't heated.
What happened to you 20 years ago is what I suspect happened to me too.
I should have ran the drill much longer because since this problem arose I learned that the first rod journal is the LAST bearing to get lubed form the oil pump.
When I did the prelube I thought that when it was coming out of the cam bearings and pumping out of the rocker shafts was enough.

Thanks,
Dan

[Mrs K Corbin]

"I ran the oil pump with a drill until the oil was coming out of the rear camshaft drain hole by the distributor."

Wait, What?

Are you speaking of the galley hole that should be plugged?

Got a picture of the location of this hole?

Time to get the experts involved here.

[Bud]

What hole are you referring to as there shouldn't be oil coming out of any holes in the block if everything is assembled correctly. There is an internal galley plug in the front side of the distributor hole, but that should have a 1/4 pipe plug installed during engine assembly or there will be little to no oil pressure as there is a giant leak in the lube system when that plug is not installed. Bud

[altair]

Good oil pressure is only part of the equation good volume is the other part, plugged oil galleys will still offer good pressure but restricted volume. I nearly destroyed an engine because of this, I had good oil pressure and thought everything was ok until the engine seized up. I hadn't cleaned the oil galleys prior.

[wittsend]

Worse than trying to get the crank out (gravity to the point of it falling on you is your friend) would be bench pressing it back in and getting the caps on without issues.

These thing usually don't end up working out too well. My 700R4 came out of an Obama car that had glass beads run in the engine to deliberately seize it. One of the convertor bolts couldn't be reached. In the end I yanked the transmission abruptly backwards onto an old car seat. Then I could access the upper convertor bolt and remove it. I got lucky not to damage anything - and it was the JY's tranny until I got it to the counter. But in this case, being it is your engine, I think everyone agrees - pull the engine.

[GrumpyOne]

Just a thought...

In my old T-cab, I had a knock sound coming from the front of the engine and I drove the truck for several years regardless. Then one day the vehicle was idling and yep, a hollow sound knock. Just for kicks I lifted the hood and and noticed that the the lines to the fuel pump were cut off as I had replaced it with an electric pump. I put a finger on one of the ends and half the knock went away and covering up the remaining end eliminated it altogether.

Also on a similar truck where the engine ran very quietly, it would have a tick that would be intermittent. That was play between the fuel pump arm and the cam lobe that drove it. Not at all uncommon.

Sometimes things that sound bad turn out to be simple things that are not...

[Galactica5]

Just a thought...

In my old T-cab, I had a knock sound coming from the front of the engine and I drove the truck for several years regardless. Then one day the vehicle was idling and yep, a hollow sound knock. Just for kicks I lifted the hood and and noticed that the the lines to the fuel pump were cut off as I had replaced it with an electric pump. I put a finger on one of the ends and half the knock went away and covering up the remaining end eliminated it altogether.

Also on a similar truck where the engine ran very quietly, it would have a tick that would be intermittent. That was play between the fuel pump arm and the cam lobe that drove it. Not at all uncommon.

Sometimes things that sound bad turn out to be simple things that are not...

I have no mechanical fuel pump on this engine, just a eliminator plate.
I'm using a electric pump.

[Galactica5]

"I ran the oil pump with a drill until the oil was coming out of the rear camshaft drain hole by the distributor."


Wait, What?

Are you speaking of the galley hole that should be plugged?

Got a picture of the location of this hole?

Time to get the experts involved here.

OOPS!, I meant to say that I removed that plug until the oil started to come out there.
Then I replaced the plug like it was before.
My bad

[Galactica5]

"I ran the oil pump with a drill until the oil was coming out of the rear camshaft drain hole by the distributor."


Wait, What?

Are you speaking of the galley hole that should be plugged?

Got a picture of the location of this hole?

Time to get the experts involved here.

Its down behind the distributor.
I forgot to mention that I had this plug out temporarily.
The plug got replaced when I got oil there.

[Bud]

Removing the plug at the rear of the block in my opinion is not the best way to prime the lube system on a freshly rebuilt engine. I install an oil pressure gauge, spin the oil pump while watching for oil coming out of both rocker arm shafts and turning the crankshaft a couple of times while spinning the oil pump to be sure that everything has a good supply of oil before starting the engine. I also like to see at least 40 lbs of oil pressure while spinning the oil pump to be sure that there are no leaks and no plugs are left out of the block. Bud

[JoeHall]

Bud, I agree 100 percent.

[Galactica5]

Removing the plug at the rear of the block in my opinion is not the best way to prime the lube system on a freshly rebuilt engine. I install an oil pressure gauge, spin the oil pump while watching for oil coming out of both rocker arm shafts and turning the crankshaft a couple of times while spinning the oil pump to be sure that everything has a good supply of oil before starting the engine. I also like to see at least 40 lbs of oil pressure while spinning the oil pump to be sure that there are no leaks and no plugs are left out of the block. Bud

I think that is where I went wrong.... NOT turning the crankshaft more than the 1/2 turn or so that I did when priming the oil pump.
AND I turned the crank with the pump not tuning.
I expect to be replacing rod bearings.

[Galactica5]

UPDATE: What really happened is I missed some honing grit and it whiped out my crank and bearings!
There was no discoloring of the rod jounrnals so it had oil.
I'm in need of a new/used useable crankshaft since my crank was at minimum already.

[StudeNorm]

Ouch! That just reinforces the old adage "cleanliness is next to...!". Something I am sure everyone reading this will say they already do but this puts that exclamation point behind the statement.

Finding a new crank shouldn't be too big a problem, though. Might want look for an oil pump and cam bearings while you're at it.

All the best with your build.

[64Avanti]

Ouch! That just reinforces the old adage "cleanliness is next to...!". Something I am sure everyone reading this will say they already do but this puts that exclamation point behind the statement.

Finding a new crank shouldn't be too big a problem, though. Might want look for an oil pump and cam bearings while you're at it.

All the best with your build.

How bad is the crank. There are some .040 bearing available.