the funny thing is you still gotta throw a vernier on there to see if it needs turning down . unless the plasti- gauge is way straight after torqing . it's a tough call at any rate . some of the better mechanics wanna jump on this one ? take a chance on a visual and plasti- gauge and just do the bearings ? or .... pull the crank and spec. all .?

 

Me-no shavings, no knocking, no smells, good pressure... I would have changed oil/filter and tried it. Probably wouldn't have pulled the pan. You'd know pretty quick if real damage were done.

Once the pan is off, though, I'd trust the plastigage and visual of the bearing surfaces myself.

Of course-I wouldn't have driven---even slowly a little ways---without checking stuff...

 

Visual is king here. If the bearings suffered from loss of oil, it would be immediately apparent by looking at them. Instead of a uniform grey color with possibly some shiny highlights here and there you'd see scoring, wipe marks, overlay damage, etc. The crankpin would tend to fair much batter, and possibly not be damaged appreciably even if the bearings took a slight hit. Bearing material is very soft, you can leave impressions in it with your fingernails. This is done to protect the crank journals. The setup depends on a film of oil to keep the two surfaces microscopically apart. If tiny dirt manages to work it's way into the bearing area, the soft material will allow the dirt to embed and stay out of the way rather than force the debris to roll and ride against the journal.

A plastigage check can be pretty accurate as long as there is no rotation of the assemblies during the torquing and loosening. While never a final say, it's a good go/no go test.

 

that was awsome guys i've learned some good stuff here . that should've done it .