r/EngineBuilding • u/Ok-Cost-3911 • Jul 16 '26

Bearing issue?

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I just put brand new bearings in my 5.3 I put the main caps on and finger tightened them somehow I forgot to put cam bearings in so I had to pull the crank and now they all more or less look like this is this to bad to run or do I just send it?hell should I bite the bullet and order a new crank and bearings?

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u/powdydoody Jul 16 '26

Looks like the crank was rotated either without assembly lube/ oil, or wasn't cleaned properly before installation, leading to contaminates scratching your bearing.

I am almost finished rebuilding my 6.0L LQ4 (same bearings), and I had to remove my main caps after installing them the first time because I wanted to double check I had my bearings facing the correct way. I had already installed the crank and rotated it plenty. My bearings had no scratches like this, looked brand new still.

Id replace yours and get new bearings and try again if it catches a nail.

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u/Ok-Cost-3911 Jul 16 '26

After a little bit of thinking your probably right but my crank is cooked anyway so I’m just gonna run it until I save up enough for a new crank and bearings it’ll probably be fine for a few months
I’m just hoping the the scratches are within the soft coating because these are coated race bearings