REBUILD QUESTION

[RJB]

I posted this in the mitsubishi forum and got no replies( guess they're all frozen up going to be 0 degrees here tonight).

I'm getting ready to rebuild my SATOH S630 and looking for feedback on rebuilt crankshafts. the engine has 1800 hrs on it and ran fine with no oil burning. I it developed a knock and I discovered It had a spun rod bearing. My in block measurements show to be just beyond the .040 limit. Standard Crankshaft in NC. has made me a good price to rebuild it bach to standard specs. Any opinions?

Thanks Rick

[cowboydoc]

In my experience a rebuilt crank is about as good as the person doing the rebuilding. Personally I like to buy new. If you're going to go the problem of doing it I sure as heck don't want to have to tear it down and redo it. It's kind of like insurance. Do you want to take the chance and not pay the extra or do you want to be 100% safe and go new.

[Darren]

I've heard some horror stories about crankshaft work. As long as you KNOW FOR SURE the shop's reputation, it should be fine.

Try Carolina Crank in Charlotte, NC @ (704) 372-1037. One of the local used tractor and repair places recommends them. That's not to say Standard Crankshaft isn't good too.

The local guy does a lot of tractor repair and if there's any question at all he sends the crank to them. He's never had a problem. They can also buildup the journals of a crank that's too small. They've worked on cranks that the local shop wouldn't touch.

[Bird]

I agree with the other two guys. I'd generally be afraid of a rebuilt crankshaft; however, I do know of one shop whose work I'd trust anytime to do that kind of job. Just depends on who does it and how good they are.

[normde2001]

I have never had any personal experience with rebuilt crankshafts, but aren't the journals just welded up to oversize and then machined down to specs? What goes wrong when you get a bad job? It would seem that if a machine shop has the equipment to do the job, it should be a no-brainer.

[Darren]

There's usually bearings available to fit the journals after they're machined and polished down to a minimum diameter. Below that the journal diameter can be increased through a welding process IF the shop has the equipment and then machined and polished .

The first step is to check the crank for cracks. If the crank is cracked, it's usually scrap. That may be a judgement call at times. The local dealer went through three cranks trying to find one that could be used to rebuild a tractor engine. Each time the local auto machine shop said the crank was cranked and wouldn't work on it.

The dealer finally sent the third crank to Carolina Crank. The tractor has been running for several years now with no problems.

[RJB]

The idea of new was good but (no longer available). The local machine shop recomended STANDARD. They said there was a special hardening process they were unable to do. Standard gives a 6mo. warranty. I located a used one but it had to be turned. They informed me they do cranks up to 12ft in length for construction equipment. Just thought someone might have experienced this.

[BobinCols]

I would rather have a used crankshaft that hopefully could be turned to .010 or .020 than a welded up crank turned back to standard. Whenever we did that in a semi, it would always seem to break. Six months is no warranty for the amount of money invested in the rebuild. There warranty is probably only to give you another carnkshaft and nothing else.

[AMP762]

I have bought and used many cranks from Standard,never had any problems,these were auto cranks but I built some pretty high output engines with them

just my 2cents

[Hoeman00]

When they 'build up' journals they use a spray weld
set-up and since u are only adding .020" (thickness
of 5 sheets of copy paper) w/o proper adhesion it
will peal like chrome.
Then u get to do it again.
But we have a local shop that has done some for
odd equipment that we can't find replacement and they
are still running.
Like others said some shops are good and others ???????