Can a rod bearing be replaced without taking engine out?
6 Answers
Not very easily. If one has spun the others are close to doing the same. Besides there's more work to do.
Yes. Drop the pan after draining motor oil and the crankshaft will be exposed, and I respectfully disagree with the above, it does NOT necessarily indicate another bearing is going to freeze/spin/or whatever, One can go bad and the other(s) could be fine. There may well be an obstruction in the oil passage in that one particular bearing causing this. There may very well be no more work to do.
Agreed, bearings can be fine right next to a spun one. BUT, just found out my Sorento bearings ONLY come in a set...so... might as well... right? You should be able to actually FEEL the loose bearing... unless it's a main. Hopefully you used a stethoscope before you shut it down and started taking it apart to find out where the problem is. Check 'em all, won't be nothing but more time... Old 400 Chevy's had soft cranks, and I had to replace a single bearing on one. If you have a worn crank, make sure you clean it up with emory cloth first... and then you might need an undersized bearing. Good luck, 'm here to find out about my '05 Sorento, because it did a WEIRD oil thing, and showed ZERO OIL the other night with LOTS of clanking, and after adding 3 quarts, the morning dipstick showed 3 quarts high! No idea how THAT happened, except that the valve cover oil-returns on the passenger side got plugged suddenly... and stayed that way for the next 3 hours...
Same oil thing happened with mine as well. The day I bought it, oil was on full. Next day showed nothing on the dip stick. Checked again later that day and was fine again. Motor is gone in that Sorento now but I searched and searched and bought one exactly the same with 150,000 less kl. Loved my Sorento as old as it was and love my new one,as old as IT is! Thanks so much
BTW- an obstruction doesn't need to happen when the return ports plug up with thick oil or you used an engine cleaner and crud fell onto the valve cover return ports and stopped your oil from flowing back to the pan. Whatever is in mine, it was enough to plug up the left valve cover ports for over an hour. This looks like the cause for what most Kia owners in forums call, "older engine Catastrophic Engine Failure". If I hadn't been a mechanic, and on the spot, I wouldn't have known what really happened, just like everyone else. LAWSUIT time!
On a Sorento, you have to take the wheel and axle off on one side. Be careful, watch youtube directions, be patient, Have to muscle out last shaft from transfer case out of the way of the pan...(s) the dipstick will drive you nuts... so take off the single holding bolt first! You will have a bottom pan that looks like every other, and then another above that, that looks like an engine block. I had to jack up the tranny a bit to make room inside to get to all the bolts that hold on a rod/crank-"cover" that keeps you from working on the lower engine. Take that off and you can work on the rods (4) from there. You'll have to hand turn the crank outside (either way) to get to all the rods, but you'll only be able to get to 4 of the 6. But, if you take the transfer case off, you can get the 2nd oil pan off... and get to all rods and crankshaft bolts. I didn't.
