Hey guys, Truck is 94 22re

I'm trying to track down a knock that I've had for a little while and is getting worse. A guy I know at work says it sounds suspiciously like early rod knock. It's not super loud, but I'm hoping I can replace the bearings in place if I caught it early.

Anyway, I pulled the diff and oil pan. I did see a few metallic flakes (not a lot)in the bottom of the pan, but I suspect that was from the timing chain rubbing on the guide bolts a while back.
1)There doesn't seem to be excessive play up and down on the rod bearings from my initial push pull on each rod, but there is quite a bit side to side. Is some play there normal? All four seem to be about the same.

2)What do I do next? Pull each rod cap and inspect surface?

3) Is there anyway to check the main bearings?

Thanks!

I'm no mechanic (so i really don't know how I end up working on the nasty dirty greasy beasts so often, but I guess that's another topic) but when i was rebuilding my JEEP engine (note the pride) I know that the rods didn't have any slop. Every other working engine I have had the great pleasure to work around (note the sarcasm) the con rod bearings sure as heck didn't have any play you shouldnt feel any play if everything is close to tolerances.

As for checking the main bearings, I can't say that i know any quick ways to do that short of taking one off and using a little plastigage.

I guess, in short, coming from a complete amateur who simply wants to help a fellow yota owner out, if there is play down there, it can't be good.

I freely admit that i may be wrong and welcome any correction that anyone might give.

-frozen

I take it you're referring to the ability of the rods to be moved front and back a little bit. That is normal.

Checking for excessive wear by jiggling by hand doesn't give good information. It also doesn't tell you diddly about what the bearings and crankshaft look like. The only way to inspect is to remove the caps, look, and measure. Since you describe a mild tapping, you'll probably see some bearing color from wear.

Main bearings can be done in the vehicle, but it's not easy and generally not worthwhile. You can undo the caps, but working the top half of the bearing in and out is not fun.

Oh, I get it now. Yeah front and back movement is normal, I was thinking for some reason that is was lateral movement perpendicular to the driveshaft. Sorry.

I say rebuild for the following reasons
1. adds character
2. then you know you have a solid engine
3. kinda fun (in a greasy sorta way)
4. you can customize it (torque cam, compression ratio, etc)

My grandpa used to be a mechanic back in the day. He said with the old rings that used to be used, engines would have to be rebuilt at 30-40k. He said he would do the rebuild with the engine in the car (not recommended, I mention this as trivia only). He wouldn't change the cam (they were all pushrod engines back then) but he would pull the pan, the head, pull the crank, knock the pistons out, slap new whatever in, and put it back together. I have never seen this done, but according to gpa, it was fairly common practice back in the day.

best of luck

-frozen