Refresh My Memory – C/S Needle Bearings 10hp OMC

[beerman57]

Crank to conn. rod needle bearings, I haven’t done one in close to 15 years. Needle bearing grease in the fridge or freezer? Then a light coat on the conn. rod journal and try to get 15 bearings in? Pull the conn. rod up to the crank journal, bearing grease on the crank journal and the other 14 needles?
Have a rag wrapped around the middle of the conn. rod to catch dropped needles? Any tips and tricks greatly appreciated, my fat fingers don’t handle tiny needle bearings very well.

[Mumbles]

Yeah, you got it. Needle bearing grease is pretty thick but if you are using Vaseline on a hot day, chilling it makes it easier to work with. I like to lay the needles out in little groups of five and one of four to make sure I have all 29 of them ready. Spreading them on a white paper towel or clean cloth makes it easier to see them. You can put 13 or 14 in the rod as you can always load it from the top after its pulled up to the journal. A small pair of tweezers makes this job simpler. Just make sure all 29 needles go in and you don’t have any left over or down in the piston.

[beerman57]

Thanks Mumbles, so I’ll only try 14 at first and have tweezers. It’s already almost summer here in Fla., I remember chilling the grease but couldn’t remember fridge or freezer. I’ll have a magnet ready and use a rag to catch dropped bearings before they can get down in the piston.

[Mumbles]

Don’t forget to drag a sharp dental pick or something over the machined surfaces at the rod joint. They have to be perfectly aligned to ensure the bearing surface inside is aligned.

[dan-in-tn]

If you get a chance pick up some Merc needle bearing grease. I have always fiddled with the chilled OMC Vaseline, but Mercury has a grease that is sticky and doesn’t require the chill treatment. It holds the bearings better and washes away on start up. Good stuff and a tube will last you a long time.

Dan in TN

[chris-p]

The lubriplate assembly grease works well for me as well.

[fleetwin]

And, watch out for those crazy crank counter weights, make sure you have the rod oriented properly on the piston and in the block before loading the needles, you don’t want to have to spill the needles out again in order to reorient everything.

[chris-p]

quote fleetwin:

And, watch out for those crazy crank counter weights, make sure you have the rod oriented properly on the piston and in the block before loading the needles, you don’t want to have to spill the needles out again in order to reorient everything.

Good point. The rods are not uniform. One side is flat, one side notched, to fit around the counter weights. The flat side face in, towards the center main. So , you assemble the TOP and BOTTOM piston/rod assemblies opposite from one another, ensuring the sweeping side of the piston face runs towards the exhaust side.

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