Astonishing Facts About the F20C
In which we spend the morning reading our shop manual

Ok, I knew this engine had tight tolerances but I never appreciated quite what that meant.

Uh, no, it's unlikely the crankshaft could be reused or repaired. The tolerances are so tight that every block comes stamped with codes to indicate how much each journal diameter varies from nominal _after final machining_. Similar codes are stamped on the crank for each journal and on the large ends of the connecting rods.

For any bearing you take the codes on either side and apply them to a table to pick which thickness of bearing you buy to use on that particular connection. Which will likely be different from the one next to it.

This, kids, is why we can bounce our engines off a 9K rev-limiter without littering the road with scrap metal. What a wonderful piece of engineering.

By the way, was I also the only one to miss that the block is actually made in two parts and bolted together around the crank shaft? I thought there were an awful lot of bolt heads underneath the oil pan.

So, pending Bryan telling me I'm taking all this manual reading far too seriously, I think I'm going to part this engine out. With the suspect head and having to buy a new crank shaft, I think I'd rather have the components for spares or the money if someone needs a piece. Step right up. Get'cher engine parts rite'cheer.

 

http://www.ehow.com/how_2142943_use-plasti...clearances.html

i thought this was a cool product that sorta relates. saw it on tv this a.m.

 

Ron,

You, my friend, are faaaaar too forgiving to consider the warranty company's errors simply a matter of 'mistakes'. I give you my own guarantee that these tactics are deliberate...in an effort to shut down claims as soon as possible. They know (down to their own studies, I assure you) just how large a percentage of folks don't fight back when initially denied a claim. And if that denial of claim was their fault BUT the claimant did no further due-diligence to defend their own claim...all the better for the warranty company.

I could blather on about bottom-feeding-scum-sucking warranty companies (and what the heck...toss in the insurance companies for good measure )...but I think you get my point.

- Dave

PS. Sorry about the ellipses...

 

That's why it took me about 3 times to get the clearances right, and I just had my crank journals 'polished'. I'd take the crank to a reliable machine shop that specializes in engine work, copy the page from the shop manual that details the tolerances, and ask the shop if they can mill the crank and still remain in the tolerances. Before you do that, though, lookup your block and crank code to determine the 'color' of the existing bearing in #4. If it's near the small end or in the middle of the range, a repair may be doable, depending on how much material has to be removed from the crank to make it right.

 

Hey...Ron!

Here's one on eBay that you might want to monitor...to determine the value of your F20C 'anchor'.

Looks like they had a very similar problem...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2002-HONDA-...d=p4506.c0.m245

 

Thanks, Steve!

Less mileage but the same issue. Of course, Mine also has the suspect head. Still, very interesting.

I wonder how he's doing the "flat rate shipping?"

 

Its a guess, but if this seller is part of the UMW group he may be using one of the members here who can ship items for cheap.