3.3 internal bearing going bad X 2.

[phillipbruggeman]

Just wondering if other people have had their internal bearing fail in the 3,3. It happened twice in two different 3.3's. only about 3 months old. I have replace one of them and it is doing fine. I am making sure i do after run (WD-40) everytime now and running the high end needle 4 turns out. Just woundering if I was running it to hot or something. that for your input.

[ozziii]

I just had the same thing happen to mine, the clutch bell bearing started to wind pretty bad so I took the engine out & pulled it down to check it out & the rear bearing had a fair bit of play in it, its only had about 7 litre's through it. Only engine that I've tuned that I have ever had a problem with. It was still running good but the compression was already starting to get down a little compared to other engines I've had & tuned & I never ran it to lean or hot & always had smoke coming from the exhaust. I decided to get an O.S 21tm engine as I wasn't going to spend money on something that wasn't going to last very long as I have read about a few people having these engines die when they weren't that old, although some people do seem to get a pretty good run out of them. Get an O.S 21tm, they may cost more but should last longer & from what I have read they are easier to tune & have a bit more power. I haven't got mine in yet so haven't seen the difference between the 2.

[Double G]

Bearing problems are not that common at all. You may also want to consider going with different engine bearings such as Boca or Avid.
As long as your engine has good life in it, keep it and then upgrade. Many people make the 3.3 out to be a bad engine but it really is not.

[phillipbruggeman]

thanks for your input.

[lubecakes]

I've had a couple bearings go bad back when I ran the 3.3, it's pretty common for the inside one to go. You have to catch it quick or else the crank can eat into the block under the carb and it'll never run right.