MaximusManimal
New OPE Member
I bought one of the "box-o-parts" kits from Farmertec to assemble a 372. I'm very familiar with 4 stroke engines and their various failure modes, but less so for 2-strokes. Specifically with what kinds of "abnormalities" they can handle.
On inspecting the crankshaft bearings that came in the kit (already pressed into the case halves) I noted debris inside the bearings. This issue had also been noted by several others here and on other forums/youtube, etc so it came as no big surprise.
What did come as a bit of a surprise was how large some of the debris was and the amount I was able to flush out (see image below). Furthermore, some of the pieces are large enough to cause the bearing to cease rotation with gentle finger pressure once they get between a ball and a race (serious red flag to me).
This is from a single bearing and being rather half-hearted about flushing it*. The grit appears to be machining cuttings and/or grindings from the manufacturing process (which is to say it's EXACTLY the kind of abrasive media you DON'T want inside of a bearing!).
At this point I've lost confidence in running the supplied main bearings unless I pull them and give them a good ultrasonic cleaning or just replace them, but part of me thinks I might be being a little nit-picky, so I wanted to reach out here. I would never assemble a low end in a 4-stroke with this kind of contamination, as it's just an invitation to an expensive revisit very soon. Would you experienced lads run a bearing with this kind of "shrapnel" coming out of it? Am I being a paranoid perfectionist and expecting too much from a bargain basement kit?
Would love to hear your thoughts.
*The red liquid is ATF which I happen to have loaded in my oil bottle at the time.
On inspecting the crankshaft bearings that came in the kit (already pressed into the case halves) I noted debris inside the bearings. This issue had also been noted by several others here and on other forums/youtube, etc so it came as no big surprise.
What did come as a bit of a surprise was how large some of the debris was and the amount I was able to flush out (see image below). Furthermore, some of the pieces are large enough to cause the bearing to cease rotation with gentle finger pressure once they get between a ball and a race (serious red flag to me).
This is from a single bearing and being rather half-hearted about flushing it*. The grit appears to be machining cuttings and/or grindings from the manufacturing process (which is to say it's EXACTLY the kind of abrasive media you DON'T want inside of a bearing!).
At this point I've lost confidence in running the supplied main bearings unless I pull them and give them a good ultrasonic cleaning or just replace them, but part of me thinks I might be being a little nit-picky, so I wanted to reach out here. I would never assemble a low end in a 4-stroke with this kind of contamination, as it's just an invitation to an expensive revisit very soon. Would you experienced lads run a bearing with this kind of "shrapnel" coming out of it? Am I being a paranoid perfectionist and expecting too much from a bargain basement kit?
Would love to hear your thoughts.
*The red liquid is ATF which I happen to have loaded in my oil bottle at the time.
