Rod Bearing Clearance

Posted by Jim Kavanagh On 2018/11/18 1:38:46

I am trying to track down (or eliminate) the source of a loud ticking or knocking on my '52 250.

I pulled the pan and I note that the sideways play for the rod bearings is about .007, although one is about .010. There does not seem to be any noticable up/down play, but I am not sure I would be able to tell with everything together. Is there any guideline for acceptable side-to-side play?

I would like to also check the bearing clearances. The manual suggests using "plasitgage" to check clearances which should be between .001 and .003. I assume that I should replace the connecting rod nuts when I do this as I don't think they are met to be re-used.

While I have the pan off, are there any other tests I should consider that might be helpful?