We try TikTok bearing mod - will it improve reliability/longevity?

[@DrakkariD]

I remember a technical paper released by Mahle at some point around 2001 that documented tests on this. They found a single 180 degree cut in only the top shell gave marginal benifits, but more cuts in other areas caused a loss in HP and oil film strength.

[@Miner-49]

Exactly, there’s a reason why surface parts are flat and smooth. Lake Speed Jr has a great channel about oil here on KZbin. It explains way more than this.

[@zg2964]

to me it seems it would cause to much shearing and create drag. you want it smooth as you can get it

[@MrFantasylover1]

Would be nice to read that

[@zg2964]

@@MrFantasylover1 i wish i could read too

[@therealjammit]

Oil is a non-Newtonian fluid. It's supposed to "shear". That's what makes it slippery and also prevents bearing surfaces from touching when moving.

[@AsiAzzy]

In engineering uni, the proffesor told us a folk tale about how plain oil bearings were discovered. In early times grooved bearings were thought to be good to bring more oil to journal and only grooved bearing existed. Until poor QC had let out a set of bearings without the grooves that outlasted the grooved ones. Investigating further it was discovered that the shaft would be suspended on a film of oil making some hydro-dynamic wedge of oil with some high pressure areas. Grooved ones would not let this pressure increase and would not form the hydrodynamic wedge of oil to lift the shaft.

[@frogmanant]

thanks for this additional info. Every groove reduces the surface area of the bearing & reduces the achieved oil pressure.

[@oshitt1]

It does. The opposite it scrapes off the oil. It's all in the pressure of the oil, Too much pressure will slow you down.

[@artifacthunter1472]

Oil doesn’t lift the shaft it creates a barrier.

[@artifacthunter1472]

@@frogmanant it’s about creating a barrier between the bearing and the shaft.

[@nst6563]

With the right lube, it can help lift the shaft and help it slide into position easier. And remember...as long as she's on the pill...no barrier is the best barrier.

[@fia7711]

This is why tires have grooves in the threads. To prevent the formation of a layer of water that will cause hydroplaning. If this is applied to the journal bearing, the oil layer will disappear.

[@jovanduclair5412]

Very good comparison

[@DavidMarcy-pp6jv]

That's what I thought.

[@MickH60]

No it won't, very different scenarios...

[@KenHMladin]

Agreed

[@firejumperbravo]

@@supernova5end the extra area just gives the oil a place to go, which gives it a way to move away from the contact surface. Then, there are additional edges for friction to occur. This is similar to the way tire tread is designed to displace water and allow the rubber to better contact the road surface. Since we don't want to displace oil and create better friction between the bearing and contact surface, it's better to keep the bearing as smooth as possible. That will allow a better layer of oil to separate and cool the two metal parts. This is exactly why a mechanic brushes oil onto these parts as they are assembled. To ensure there is an adequate layer of oil. In this video, they perform this step at 2:25 .

[@neilmchardy9061]

When you add grooves to the bearing surface you simply give the oil somewhere to be compressed into, increasing the mechanical pressure on the bearing. Increased wear

[@jamesg8246]

Yeah. It's clear some people don't understand that the metal surfaces aren't meant to actually run on each other... there's supposed to be a thin layer of fluid suspension via oil pressure. These holes wreck the physics behind why this works..

[@garyr7027]

Only way around that would to have porus bearings with real tiny oil pockets. Most bushings have tiny pockets that grease sits in to give a further lifespan. Like a sponge they absorb grease to be released when in use. Of course the difference being a engine has a oil pump, but then once it's out of oil, a pump then serves no purpose without oil to circulate... Lol. The biggest problem here is the holes drilled and the groves where way oversized, plus they used the same engine with all those metal particles they never flushed out.

[@jamesg8246]

@garyr7027 and to complicate things, the hole size needs to vary based on viscosity of the oil at the entire operating range, because the hole size needed for 5W-30 @ 50 degrees F is different than the hole size needed for 0W-20 @ 100 degrees f

[@VndNvwYvvSvv]

Yeah, this is absolutely ridiculous. They would need super high precision machining and polishing to make grooves without raised edges that will destroy the entire bearing system regardless of the grooves. I can tell you exactly how this is going to fail without even watching the full video first....

[@tomasnokechtesledger1786]

Nope, you were wrong. The engrooved bearings endured flawlessly.

[@hitekredneck109]

This was a great demonstration of how surface area works! Slotted bearings "might" be of benefit in certain applications where a very high oil volume can be used but slotted bearings are prolly best left to where they've always been used......in applications where they are greased.

[@TsunauticusIV]

I agree. I think the better test for this would have been a miniature version of machine way scraping. The tiny gouges provide pockets for oil to sit. It works beautifully on machine ways. Wonder if it would work, on a smaller scale, on bearings in engines. 🤔

[@feluke8396]

@@TsunauticusIV They won't work because bearings in engine work on hydrodynamic oil wedge. Groves are good for applications, where you can't get oil wedge to work (low speed, change of direction) and in low load places.

[@geneva760]

HA - “…prolly…” - what a MONGRRRRL word - HA

[@SSChambers1]

To Anyone familiar with the ol' 4G63 in the 2nd generation Eclipse (7-bolt): They were notorious for crankwalk (premature thrust bearing failure). I had 2 engines walk on me. I got with a machinist when I rebuilt my '97 GST and we decided to chamfer the thrust bearing in an attempt to assist/direct oil flow to the thrust face. After getting my main bearings back, I rebuilt the engine and made sure to properly seat the thrust bearing. Crank end play was within spec (0.005). I put nearly 75k on that engine until I finally sold the car. A few months prior to selling it, the crank end play was still within spec. I made a writeup on DSMTuners many years ago regarding my "fix". Got a lot of hate but also a lot of praise. I think 75k on a rebuilt engine (and was still going strong) speaks for itself. Cutting channels or chamfering bearings isn't anything new but the engine still requires oil to run. Kind of defeats the entire purpose of this test.

[@chiefdenis]

Removing the oil was a quicker way to simulate worst case scenario

[@ElectricSwordfish]

I found your article just by searching "chamfer thrust bearing DSMtuners" in the Google search bar...way back in 2009! Super interesting read and find, and for some reason Ive always enjoyed reading forum posts from a long time ago.

[@Marc83Aus]

How much was the chamfer?

[@nastybastardatlive]

My 4.6 Lincoln has 460,000 miles. Stock bearings. Never rebuilt. Second guessing billions of dollars of factory R&D and a century or more of experience and history is a fools game. Some garage mechanic kid watching tic toc videos then giving out advice on engineering is ludicrous. Do you even hear yourself?

[@dan79transam65]

I'm guessing you have the split bearing. I'm rebuilding my 6 bolt right now

[@aaronlayes4485]

Thanks for doing these shows. It has been nice to see a show that replicates the old car shows of the US from back in the day. Many of those shows no longer exist and it was a huge part of my childhood. I grew up around cars, my dad use to be in the car builder groups. when I was 7 I met Carol Shelby, and got to know and like the guy. Later I would meet other big names including Jay Leno by just hanging around the car shows with my dad. this show not only reminds me of the few good times in my life but also makes me smile, and sometimes laugh like I find so hard to do anymore. thank you again for providing something that helps me forget the insanity of the world for a little while. seeing what's going on in my country breaks my heart. Your content lets me think of better things. Thank you again for all that you do, and may you have great success in anything you do.

[@lelandlewis7207]

There were two things overlooked in this test, bearing clearance and the distortion of #4 rod after the first test. The rod would be out of round after knocking for all the time which would affect clearances and change the parameters of the second test. Since clearances weren't checked before each run, the mains may have had different clearances, affecting how they performed, not to mention any debris left in the engine from the first test would go through the mains first. Still, it was interesting. I can see the modification allowing more oil to be held in the rod bearings and possibly giving a bit more shock-absorbing capacity, but, once oil flow has stopped, the flat surfaces will lose their oil just as quickly as without the grooves. In racing, we modify the whole oil system to give as consistent a flow as possible. There was a time when we used "full groove" bearings to supply oil to the rods at all times, but it was found that the loss of bearing area wasn't worth the oil supply, so it was dropped back to "3/4 groove" and in most cases, we just use the "1/2 groove" with modifications to the crank and block to improve oiling and the oil pump for higher pressure and in some cases, higher volume and pressure. In most cases, these TikTok and KZbin modifications are based on opinion of what seems to work, not on actual testing and experience and in some cases are outright wrong. I have seen many that are old hotrodder thinking from 80 years ago that young guys are just hearing about and has been proven not to work as well as thought, but people go by "seat of the pants" feel and think it works. Many of those modifications either don't do anything or can destroy your engine if you don't have the exact engine they are tried on. For example, I saw a timing trick that is almost as old as racing itself, and if you have a low-compression engine you can "get away" with it, but if you try it on an engine with 9.5:1 or higher, you have a good chance of causing detonation. Unlike the old saying, what's good for the goose, isn't always good for the gander.

[@ashiehakoto1490]

so this is supposed to allow better lubrication by carving channels in the bearings. but I see a few problems with the idea.

[@snipersquad100]

By not having oil in the engine defeats the point of this whole exercise.

[@forbiddenera]

​@@snipersquad100exactly what I was thinking 🤔 wtf I can't believe they didn't realize that

[@jeremypike9153]

I don't think bearings work the way that whoever suggested this idea thinks they do. In a running engine oil suspends the crankshaft journals in oil. Only on start up are they theoretically not being held into suspension. Any bearing is going to fail if no oil pressure is present. I would imagine if you cut into them they would probably fail even quicker.

[@Dongskie2]

It will loose oil pressure

[@matthewmorgan582]

@@jeremypike9153 Exactly. More surface area means less pressure suspending the crankshaft. If you really want higher bearing film strength just use a higher weight oil.

[@AC-io8qs]

That's a lot of work just to prove what anyone who has ever worked on engines would know without asking; thanks for your hard work and hopefully it helps someone from doing something stupid!

[@RiceCakeWtf]

This, but I assume like most mechanics looking in the comments here, we're just looking for the 16 year old to laugh at who promises he's been building engines like this for 40 years and they just did this 'wrong' because it 'totally works'.

[@AndyKPOV]

I can change the bearings in my truck in about a hour. In most cars I can in about an hour. No one said anything about a rebuild... I can pull a oil pan and baffle pretty quick. I would not recommend it but it's possible.

[@jsheradin]

Testing these without oil probably missed the point of this mod. By adding the scores you create an oil galley which might supply oil to an area of the bearing that would otherwise be starved at high RPM, etc. Plenty of engine designs already incorporate these groves from factory but I don't know of any that use a cross-hatch pattern like that.

[@SparxI0]

It would be hard for them to test longevity of the mod with oil in the engine because presumably the engine will last another 100,000km at least, which would be a lot of testing Maybe Project Farm should tackle this one. Run each engine for a full 10,000km oil change cycle and send in both oils for analysis

[@twatdidusay304]

@@SparxI0I like the way you think. I was thinking the pretty much the same thing. Project farm needs to test this like you're talking about.👍

[@JT_771]

Not that this has any real chance of anything approaching useful.

[@matthewmorgan582]

I don't think it actually improves anything regardless. The crankshaft doesn't physically ride on the bearing, oil pressure keeps it suspended. In order to have better oil film strength you'd need a higher volume oil pump or a higher weight oil. That's why high-rpm race engines use oils like 0w50.

[@ravenrock541]

#1 Those divots will collect grit in the oil. #2 The divots would create turbulence in the oil film (pressurized oil layer) Turbulence would create high and low pressure areas.

[@cobrasvt347]

The very reason you always chanfer the oiling ports and micro polish out any imperfections between the bottom of the chanfeer and the bearing surface. Without doing so would induce scratches in the thin layer of babbitt on brand new bearings causing severe premature wear. I would recommend a muriatic acid bath for each of the crank journals to remove any foreign material embedded into the casting from machining, poloshing or prior bearing failure if damage to the surface isn't significant. This works for small single cylinder engines that have had rod failures and have microscopic embedded aluminum particles in the connecting rod journal. The acid will boil out the foreign aluminum material and leave the cast steel crank journal unharmed.

[@grantreid8583]

There was a modification we used to do on our local 6cyls here in Australia for performance applications. We used to machine a groove right around the crank journals lining up with the oil hole it seemed to work but the engines were fully rebuilt with rods resized and crankpins ground so that the bearing clearances were close to minimum size which gives you much better oil pressure as the oil loss is minimised with the tighter clearances.

[@jakepalmer1986]

*Video Idea* Can you save a seizing engine, run an engine with no oil to the point where it begins to struggle, then poor oil into the running engine to see if it begins to run easier again.

[@amdintelxsniperx]

someone did this they used a cut off knob to stop oil flow then turned it back on . the engine still stalled since the oil takes a bit of time to get to all the moving components

[@zcomputerwiz]

I would expect by then it would be too late. It starts to struggle because of bearing material galling, adding oil at that point probably won't help much since it is already metal on metal contact.

[@Mastermindyoung14]

It'll run easier with oil than it did without oil, but bearings can't become un-toast.

[@jake_break9185]

​@@Mastermindyoung14well said lol

[@khrisshultz2532]

It'll probably hydolock

[@Star_of_the_new_moon]

One of the best if not the best most practical real world mechanics channel on KZbin

[@PenkillerDIY]

Guys, 1HD-FTE has its main bearings honed as installed in the block tunnel. - for oil retention purposes, it's also able to operate at 0.25bar at idle. - according to the book, good SAE-30 returns 1.3-1.5bar idle pressure.

[@ThomasLee-ss4bv]

Haha. Just saw the crank being pulled. And low and behold, galling and if you look you can see where the bearing surface was pushed out. I love it when a plan comes together.

[@SeymourBalz]

Your better off to chamfer the oiling holes in the crank. In the fashion suggested your just adding areas for debris to accumulate.

[@MeriBadger]

THISSSS

[@thatguyalex2835]

I know nothing about bearings, but chamfer/smooth edges around the oiling holes makes sense, to reduce places for debris to get stuck to harsh corners. Also, humanity is better off by not taking Tic Tac advice. ;)

[@SeymourBalz]

@@thatguyalex2835 I put a couple engines together... It works. BTW, that oil hole is sending pressurized oil to the inserts. (Bearings)

[@OtisDavies-cv6ze]

The mistake is that the test was not done on 2 completely different engines. There was spun bearings after the first time it was run without oil, which added to the second failure. Clearances and diameters with the bearing caps on and torqued were not taken and documented, oil galleries were not cleaned and washed, cylinder walls were not inspected and ring lands cleaned and measured, etc Failure around the same time would be expected because forensic breakdown and documentation had not been completed. I do believe the change in bearing design is a good idea, because it gives a place for oil to collect should the engine run out of oil, but who am I to know for sure. For those of you who are wondering, my job before I retired included amongst other things, mechanical forensic breakdown and failure, due to neglect, abuse, non maintenance and tampering and I was employed by the military. Hey guys at Garage 54, you have a great program and create a lot of ideas and bring a lot of people with ideas out of the darkness. You have my respect, but you should explain the results of not doing a full rebuild or a full tear down and using 2 test engines for that purpose, for the people who do not know any better. That would make your test results more credible and possibly create a situation where you can patent or trademark your ideas or give credit to those who urged you to try said experiment. Anyway, thanks again for the great content. This is constructive criticism and is in no way meat to be a insult, so please do not take it as such, because I really look forward to your content. -Otis- United States - Texas

[@randomoinkbomb]

If the carvings were meant to improve lubrication to the bearings, why was the oil taken out? Kinda counterintuitive

[@breakz187]

yup. silly video this one

[@olavl8827]

Yes, well. I enjoy this channel for the crazy experiments, but these guys are obviously not engineers. There's often not a lot of reasoning to what they do. They just do whatever.

[@breakz187]

@@olavl8827 I know I know. I knew someone would complain. I love this channel, but pulling the oil makes no sense when adjusting the oil passages.

[@pcshooter955]

its a fail rate control test if you know what your looking at,..

[@antonisantonis655]

yes, i was thinking the same maybe they are thinking that the grooves they made will keep inside them more oil than the normal bearing and the engine will last a bit more before sizing

[@russell11fitzgerald]

Some bearings inside of engines have channels in them, mainly on main bearings that channel oil pressure to put channels in all of your bearings is going to focus that bit of oil through the channels and out the sides of the bearings, instead of through the bearing journals in the crankthe pressure drop

[@MrWorth66]

i think whoever thought groves would work in a Babbitt dosnt understand how Babbitts work.

[@ryurc3033]

It's funny they think It just splashes around willy nilly.

[@keithstevens1713]

The channels carved into the bearings are like tires on a wet road, they disparate the oil and reduce the wearing area

[@peterbustin2683]

Fascinating stuff on this channel. Thanks, guys! ❤from UK.

[@kikihun9726]

I would have added oil to the tests and measure the temparature on the pan bleed hole to a bucket and pumped back to the oil intake. Or something like that. With this you could have measured the temp difference of the bearing.

[@prano2001]

id like to see a similar experiment performed, start with fresh bearings such as you did here, then run it without oil until the engine starts to drop revs and knock, but pour oil in while running to see if it quiets the knock and prevents the engine from seizing or if the engine will still fail in the same manor once it can lubricate everything. providing the orifices that lube the crank and con rod journals dont plug

[@Evanx373]

Once it starts knocking it won't stop if you put oil in. Damage is already done

[@chrishartley1210]

You need enough bearing material to support the load being applied. Simply cutting grooves into the bearing reduces the material. If you want to increase the load you need more material, in other words a larger diameter or a wider bearing. If you use a wider bearing the edges of the bearing may not receive enough oil which is where the grooves come in, but they have to be carefully designed rather than just adding random grooves.

[@poptartmcjelly7054]

Scoring the bearing will only decrease the load bearing capacity of the bearing. In the old days both the top and the bottom bearing shells had an oil groove, but Chevrolet found out in testing that the groove instead of helping lubrication just broke the fluid film and reduced the load bearing capability of the bearing my 2.6 times. This is why modern engines do not have an oil groove in the bottom bearing shell. Scoring the bearing only lowers the load capacity and if the fluid film fails then the crank will block the extra oil channels and starve the surface of oil.

[@dimitar4y]

my man! Yes! You know about fluid film! Like precision swiss lathes. Many idiots just "oil good, more oil in oil good, ooga me smart" and they are so confident, SO confident... dear lord.

[@qwulong3004]

these tik tok hacks are hilarious more in the future please and thanks bmi Russian

[@bobirving6052]

Thanks for doing crazy experiment. Surprising that the modification helped rod bearings. Bearings aren’t supposed to “rub”. Not actually supposed to even touch. Supposed to ride on a film of oil only.

[@tomconner5067]

These grooves are cross hatched and do not run in the direction of crankshaft main or rod journal rotation. I still agree that a smooth flat surface is the best for a bearing that relies on a layer of oil to prevent metal to metal contact, and catastrophic friction. The crosshatch in a cylinder holds oil on the surface long enough to lubricate the rings, but they only exert light pressure against the cylinder wall.

[@natereinhold6180]

Unless you have a high volume oil pump, id think most of the volume would follow the groves and not lubricate the bearing faces. Seems youd have to have enough volume to surpass the volume the groves have to be able to force oil to the faces. Edit: after watching video, i see that its meant as a way to allow oil to get to the entire bearing after oil pressure loss. I do know that the mods will help on a greased bearing vs pressured oil lubed. Moreso to allow the grease to make it around the bearing instead of squeezing out at the grease port.

[@rb3425]

On Drag Racing engines I have seen each bearing oil journal increased in size with a bevel to increase the amount of oil on the bearing but never any lines or multiple divits.

[@KevinATJumpWorks]

Great video! I think you should have pulled the oil plug while the engine was running though, simulating an oil loss in drive.

[@JohnDavis-i2p]

It really works,the trick is oil pressure relies on clearances, when you do the modifications oil pressure MUST be increased,our engines Bbc,was increased to over 100 lbs.for this to work,it was worth .6 in 1330 and 77 HP,was able to run mains all year,rods x 3 and we are looking at cam bearings,not advised (most critical pressure bearings),

[@alistairwhite2906]

Any break/edge in the bearing surface will cause an interruption to the oil film and increase wear. A slight radius on the oil feed hole is all you need. The rest of the surfaces should be completely smooth/uninterrupted.

[@isaacwhite7411]

The modification may help with cold starts , cause of the pooling effect it maybe worth experimenting further.

[@kinglouis6974]

A cold start situation is more of a top end of the engine I would of thought

[@Miner-49]

No, wouldn’t help at all.

[@isaacwhite7411]

Well the oil will pool in the dibits at lease it would have some lube before cold dry start.

[@isaacwhite7411]

​@@kinglouis6974the top really have the high revolutions as the crank when cold starts and maybe depends how the top is designed if it has a cam it may help to.

[@isaacwhite7411]

@@kinglouis6974it may help when theres no oil pressure when cold starting

[@christopherleubner6633]

If this is done correctly, it ensures the oil flows evenly over the shaft. I have seen extremely similar designs that used air with the bearing surface floating on a cusion of air.

[@phillcc8524]

on the second engine test there was a significant drop in oil pressure to the mains due to the cuts in the bearing surface , the dimpling by itself would not have affected the pressure , thats why the mains failed in the second test

[@rileyandikeysplaytime5936]

without watching video first, i'd say for an engine used for extreme output short term, these bearings are ok. But for long haul i would keep all the bearing material as they came out of the box. This technique may increase oil onto critical area of bearing but the missing material puts twice the wear on the remaining bearing surface. it will wear out very quickly.

[@Ecksterphono]

Might want to tweak the oil pump as well. Too many modifications in the lubrication system may affect oil pressure if put in full time service with oil.

[@MrFantasylover1]

If they took the pressure relief spring out and shimmed it to boost oil pressure I think the modified bearings would be amazing in the long run.

[@rileyandikeysplaytime5936]

On the bearings, there are galley holes that push oil under pressure through the crankshaft and into the opposite galley hole. From there the oil goes to the next bearing and so on....Usually when oil pressure is lost, the place where pressure is lost from there on all bearings will suffer overheating and fail. The cross cutting new channels for oil to move on will lower the oil pressure from that spot forward. Also if bearing half channel cuts do not line up exactly with other half of bearin, youll not have continued flow through new cut channel. Again, i ay stock bearing will last longer.

[@ljubomirculibrk4097]

Minimum growe can improve oil film, plus catching particles that can damage surfaces. If growes are reducing oil film pressure you get increased friction instantly. Oil shud prevent contakt of surfaces totaly. Big industrial machines use hydrobearnigs, oil is pumped under presure, precise gap betven surfaces, just enough to oil seep thru the ends, constant circulation.

[@peterlonter9053]

a very well explained video about how to be more cautious .technically explained .thanks for video .

[@TheBlackstag1]

Mate love your mechanical skills really great love your videos been a fan for a longtime now❤

[@pohldriver]

The bearings are there to protect the crank journals. The pressurized oil prevents metal to metal contact. With enough contact, the metal heats and acts like a brake, causing a seize or spun bearing. Dirty oil contains soot, metal particles, and acid that are abrasive, causing wear. As they wear, you lose oil pressure, leading to failure. A proper test would have been to bolt the engine to a large water pump with a valve to restrict outlet flow. Then restrict flow until full throttle maintains 3000 rpm. Then, under full load, let it run for 7 days or until failure. The disassemble the engine and assess the bearing condition.

[@ukkomies100]

What do you mean water pump. Like bolted to the cooling system

[@pohldriver]

@@ukkomies100 no, like an irrigation pump.

[@Eluderatnight]

The criss cross grooves is for low rpm applications in a dirty environment using an oil drip.

[@madjimms]

I really hope you smoothed down the cuts after, otherwise there will be burs

[@brentmiller3951]

Na these guys are amatures they could not figure that out

[@fastinradfordable]

@@brentmiller3951they are more capable than 99.8% of professionals in North America.

[@TurboVisBits]

i believe that was sarcasm. @@fastinradfordable

[@Lofi.z34]

@@fastinradfordable The US has some of the world's best engine builders. But you're probably just jealous. From Chris Forsberg's Alpha VQ to Texas Speed's LS engines... there are shops that make 3000 hp Viper V10's that will make any european V10 piss itself. So yea you're way wrong

[@craigcampbell8560]

Drilling and slotting engine bearings will make NO difference at BEST. Whomever came up with this idea clearly does not understand how engine bearings work in the first place. Under normal operation the bearings and crankshaft journals NEVER actually touch each other, they are separated by a layer of oil that occupies the clearance space between them. This is why engines can easily last over 300K miles when maintained properly. There's NO metal to metal contact in the bottom end, there's only metal to oil contact under normal operating conditions. That's why changing your oil and filter is so important. Drilling and slotting the bearings removes material which increases the amount of oil needed to fill the space, which is not ideal. It also gives more routes for the oil to go between the bearings and the rods/mains and caps. While it may not cause any harm at all, it sure as hell isn't going to make the engine more reliable since it's inviting a condition that's less than ideal. I'm guessing the idiot who came up with this was thinking that drilled and slotted bearings would be better since drilled and slotted rotors are better. The problem is with brakes you're trying to create friction to stop the car, and there's no lubricating fluid present to lubricate and remove heat for a reason. The holes and slots allow some air to come in and cool the rotors and pads to prevent brake fade. With engine bearings, you're trying to prevent friction. You're also removing heat buildup with oil. Unlike brakes, you are trying to keep parts from touching, so there's already a void for the coolant (air for brakes, oil for bearings) so creating additional space for the coolant to flow is completely unnecessary. That's why there's basically no potential for gain. Kudos for Garage 54 for conducting the test even though they surely knew that the bearing modification had ZERO potential benefits. It's a stupid idea.

[@TowerCrisis]

I'm not surprised the rod bearings fared fine. They get significantly higher oil pressure than the main bearings due to the centrifugal force slinging out outwards in the crank oil journals. Spinning at high rpm bumps that pressure up even higher.

[@TheTempest909]

You should have left the oil pan off and used a thermal camera while they were running. As far as testing longevity I would put the engines in a couple cars go beat on them equally. Then send the oil out to a lab maybe?

[@kris856]

russians don't have such a thing as a thermal camera

[@Kowyn]

So you're supposed to improve bearing performance by reducing the bearings surface area?

[@SparxI0]

I think the idea is to trap some oil in the grooves, but it wouldn't be a nice smooth oil film like in a normal bearing

[@martin-vv9lf]

@@SparxI0 I've seen these type of bearings with a parallelogram groove sold commercially, but they are for use in a gearbox for instance, where there is no oil pump to lubricate with.

[@dimitar4y]

yep..... spoken like someone who actually understands engineering. grooves help oil do what now? we want the oil squashed into a film, not into whatever cavitation nightmare that gallery is.

[@theepicslayer7sss101]

wait did i misunderstand, you guys tested oil channels without oil? if so, would like to see how well it helps with oil... if not then i guess there was not much difference with how the oil behaved.

[@HungryTv13]

They just tested it more quickly. A real test would take long time. But this just quickly shows that the grooves dont really lube up the bearing better. The geoves should of allowed some oil to stay inside the bearing a bit more but wasnt the case. As they survived the same, even less time as the rpm was a bit less. Even if they drop oil, the engine will still have some oil and parts will still e lubed up contain a bit of oil. So it was a super quick test to see if the modifications any useful or not.

[@theepicslayer7sss101]

@@HungryTv13 ah so the engine had oil in, sounded at the end like it was run dry yet i kept seeing the oil pan with oil and a lot of metal shavings thus why i was asking if i misunderstood it!

[@restojon1]

I liked the bit when they carefully measured the oil clearances in all the mains and big end bearings and checked the thrust loadings.

[@3029dz]

This is used on Industrial applications with Bronze bearings and 150 weight oil. Oiling method is a slow drip and the clearance is almost double that of what is used in Automotive. The bearing speed is also LESS than what Automobiles typically see.

[@Threads1220]

I have never heard of cutting scratches into the bearings but I have heard of old-school sbc guys drilling extra holes in them chanfuring them and then grind a slit into block to supply oil to those holes

[@leemartin3977]

It looks like it would be a good idea. The smooth bearings have more surface area. Grooves and holes would be less surface area and also would cause oil pressure loss.

[@babaoreally8220]

On a GOOD test mule that provides proper oiling,itwould take at least 50,000 miles on a main bearing to do a forensic wear evaluation.Unless of course there are assembly errors( both journal and side clearances)which cause catastrophic failure,or oiling issues,which is what this appears to be.Such a test can only be credibly evaluated in an engine laboratory.Also,I’m used to seeing bearings,here in the US,with a single bearing groove on mains and numerous shallow linear ridges across the surface of the rod bearings,which provide ample and even oil distribution across the entire surface.At one time TRW offered a fully grooved main bearing.I used these in on my RA/IV build in 1970.

[@donjohnston4215]

The whole idea of oiling the crank through the hole in the bearing is to A-create a film of oil for lube, and B-the oil being forced out across the face of the bearing is the largest way heat is removed from the crank. By cutting groves you are changing the way it’s designed to work.

[@jamesdexter7481]

To use the car tyre analogy, if you drive on a wet road with tyres with little tread left the water will cause your tyres to aquaplane meaning there is a layer of water between your tyres and the road causing low friction, whereas having plenty of tread on your tyres allows the water to escape so the tyre can make contact with the road causing high friction. Always have at least 3mm of tread on your tyres folke and NEVER believe what you see on tic to.

[@bluemeanie6395]

a thin film of oil across the bearing prevents the surfaces from touching. The grooves would make the oil squish away easier

[@robriot6882]

The other thing is the rods get lubrication from the mains. So doing this to the main bearings could reduce the oil pressure to the rods, resulting in shorter lifespan for the rods

[@bertgrau3934]

There's a lot of other things that can make the engine stop, not just the crankshaft bearings. Like the rocker arms could seize, or break, valves could also seize in the open position.

[@Homme_Pur]

you guys could try putting these in an engine that's used for the breaks testing or other non engine related stuff, just to see if it causes anything after a few thousands kms (maybe 5 to 10 thousands ?)

[@Thingsthatgopew22]

Then, CNC/Drill cooling fluid would be quite a good fluid inside a motor? Test it! The white stuff made of oil, water and emulsifier.

[@dimitar4y]

water = rust cooling fluid helps cool yes, but it doesn't lubricate. These are modern bearings that rely on a thin film of oil that acts as bearing balls. Hence why the oils have metal additives - that fine metal dust they add *is* the bearing material.

[@jonathanbrown1120]

I’ve seen bearings from factory with a single diagonal slash but not that many of them.

[@dimitar4y]

a single slash helps clean the oil- shaves it off and forces it to come out and be refreshed with new oil. minor benefit in specific applications. Otherwise crud could just do the full spin cycle forever.

[@GHOOGLEMALE]

Low oil pressure surely?

[@lincolnbliss4885]

Try adding paddles to the crank to throw the oil around better

[@jttech44]

@@danielleclark-zack864 It's not a theory

[@garyr7027]

Having a pressurized oil surface across the entire width of those bearings would be better imo, unless a oil channel is necessary to complete the oil circulation thruout the entire lubricating system. However, no mention of flushing out that engine after the first time, would end up decreasing the odds for the second go around. This should have been done on two different engines to get the proper results. The first go around left all kinds of metal particles in that motor that effected the second test.

[@uelld.8371]

I assume it has an effect similarly to tire treads. The groove cause the oil to shift from tight surface into the groove instead.

[@monkkeye]

I read a story of a known semi truck drag racer and sled puller where he explains he runs polished cylinder liners. He explains that they made more power less heat and no issues with oil lubrications. Im curious if you guys could remove cross hatching on liners and see what happens

[@wwmoggy]

how about fisrt get rid of any Burrs then have 2 matching cars leave oil in drive 5.000 or more miles then compare the resaults.

[@SparxI0]

Yeah they should send in the oil to a lab for analysis

[@wwmoggy]

removing the oil defeats the reasoning for the grooves in the first place

[@olafzijnbuis]

Good fun! In fact, you modify the bearings to perform better without oil in the engine. A bit pointless but great for an entertaining video.

[@brandonroeder2461]

No such result happened. It died just as quick, with the same (if not worse) damage.

[@marwanmabrook5892]

We asked to try this and you did. And we thank you for it❤

[@bunning63]

Ford had an SAE paper back in the sixties outlining the no, no of grooved lower shells in tests.

[@Mike-xt2ot]

Back in the 80s my machine shop alway cut a groove in the center of the main jourmals on AMC v8s.

[@perkins1439]

Those pits and grooves holds onto oil after it quits pumping in the crankcase is dry it's like tiny little oil Reserves but it only help if you lose all your oil if you run out of oil you're going to smoke the engine anyway I don't think it's worth it

[@blahorgaslisk7763]

I know they used to put groves in bearings like that ages ago, but there's a reason they went away. Or at least I think so. If it was as simple as putting groves for the oil to penetrate into the bearings like that then some engine manufacturer would certainly have discovered this. The simple fact that no manufacturer around the world makes this kind of groves in their bearings makes me feel that it's probably not going to make them more wear resistant or better at accepting lubrication from the oil.

[@anibalbabilonia1867]

👋😂👍I’m surprised it lasted this long! Next week they rebuild the engine and use it for another crazy experiment!🤣👍

[@wendellvoisin7090]

The only place I have ever seen bearings being grooved anything like that was when grease was being pumped into the bearing and that was only once in very large poured in place bearings for low rpm shafts.

[@orbitnick2781]

Yall should try installing and automatic trans behind a clutch

[@mikehannahs]

Something I would like to have seen was the oil pressure on both set up’s during the whole process, I’ve been told that doing this mod decreases oil pressure and it will be good to see if that is true or not, great video guys I appreciate what you guys do

[@jimastra8488]

This doesnt modify the sprayer system, only how long the oil clings to the moving bearings.

[@malcolmmackenzie9202]

Woukd be cool if they re did this but had low oil pressure instead of no oil at all then there would most likely be a big difference between them

[@tucka1234]

I love the burt and ernie voice over

[@Jonodrew1286]

More grooves would actually make the bearing matrix weaker - have seen bearing material go like crazy paving with insufficient oil change duration. Also it was a good test - however even with an oil pump, crank and bearing change - there will now be fine metal fragments floating about - hence the Main going - also failure usually occurs furthest from the oil pump. Finally that No.4 b/end journal in that rod would also be out by 1 thousandth or so and the edge loading would have altered - but it was a good test to see what oil starvation does to an engine - it can also destroy the Cam- Shaft journals 😮

[@CameronM47]

I'mma go out on a limb here, and guess the lack of oil caused it to seize.

[@Miner-49]

Exactly how would you demonstrate the failure with an oil supply? The video would be years long.

[@greebj]

​@@Miner-49machine to extremely tight tolerances that are right on the limit of the thermal expansion you'd expect? Probably happening in a high tech engine dev lab not on busted azz Ladas in a mechanics garage

[@baby-sharkgto4902]

If Clevite and King aren’t doing it then either am I

[@joseph317]

Excellent, l would like to see you drill holes in the top of the pistons and see if you get more compression.

[@barbraabsalom4531]

Yes that’s an excellent idea & I suspect there will always be the one that will insist that the more holes you drill , the higher the compression ratio will be 😃👍

[@NitroGnome]

This type of bearing solution works only with extreme high oil pressures and pocket's need to be larger.... it is called hydrostatic bearing

[@eweunkettles8207]

an eminent jaguar tuner i knew xk 120/150 would machine the rod shells to half the width it gave a good few hp they were replaced after each meeting

[@Artoconnell]

Sounds like a good way to quiet down actual bearing wear without spending any money. might hold together for a week or so.

[@GrugBug-f7j]

Solid! Top KEK! Peace be with you.

[@Circlotron]

If nothing else, it demonstrates how amazingly good modern oils are.

[@ZAPATTUBE]

GOOD JOB - I like all your experiments !!!

[@philipparge8064]

Reminds me of the government "cash for clunkers" program, where engines were killed on purpose! I have seen use of "spiral grooves" on huge bearings with L/D of 1 and a max RPM of 50 rpm. Grooves allow cooler operation. Also pure silver babbit metal for high temps.

[@GamezGames19]

It's like slotted disc brakes, they do not allow air between the disc and the pad. And this bearing does not allow a film of oil.

[@mrheart4242]

This should decrease oil pressure dramatically. It should hold oil for start up. But, the bearing does not ride on the crank. But on a thin layer of presurized oil between the bearing and crank. This is why the oil is filtered and changed regularly. In a hi volume oil situation, 5 to 300 gallons. The filter is changed but not the oil. It is topped off.

[@robriot6882]

The whole idea behind this was to increase lubrication to the bearing. So running the engine without lubrication totally defeats the purpose of the test. The only way to ascertain whether this is worthwhile or not would be to run the two types of bearings for an extended time under the same conditions with lubrication. The test is inconclusive IMO

[@kerrypierre9494]

I would say, this proves the engineers knew what they were doing.

[@scottgarmon4865]

Funny story..when I was a kid I put a used engine in a 89 Honda civic at my dads shop on a Friday. after finishing up I wanted it to sit and run inside the shop bay , I got busy as It was time to close so we shut the doors and closed for the day. We come that next Monday and the Civic is still running. It was so quiet that nobody noticed it and I had forgotten that I left it running. My Dad was not impressed with its amazing fuel efficiency. lol