Hey guys so I am rebuilding my 89 renix I6 4.0 motor and am having some trouble getting the crank shaft to sit right in the thrust bearing journal...

So there is a area cut out in the block and in the thrust bearing cap that seems like it would be used to keep the crankshaft from moving to far forward or to far back. My problem is that when I put the new bearings in and try to set the crank and main cap down it wont fit (see pic below).

 

I have tried using the old bearings and it didnt make a diffrence (thinking maybe it was the wrong size). Anybody rebuilt one of these 4.0's and had this same issue?

 

Thrust bearing doesn't go where you have it. It goes on #2 or #3 IIRC.

 

So the regular bearing goes in that spot? What sits in that gap?

 

I tried swapping them out and that didn't work... The number three cap would not seat over the crank. It takes so much pressure that it wants to shave the side of the bearing.

 

#3 is the thrust bearing. I just looked it up in the factory shop manual.

 

Huh... That's weird... Maybe I got one that was sized incorrectly.