Just changed rod bearings

[Tbonem3]

I wonder if my 2002 got new M11 bolts when the recall was done back in 2005. Probably not. Plays a role in my decision making if/when I do the bearings in the future. I'd probably re-use and that'd be their 3rd time.

[heinzboehmer]

You can't get M11 bolts by themselves, so you'd need to replace the rods (with the newer M10 ones) as well.

Snippet from the rod bearing service bulletin:

[Arinb12]

But you can get ARP M11s to replace them can't you?

[Thoglan]

The M11 bolts are not torque to yield, assuming you don't over-torque them they are good to reuse indefinitely and IMO that is preferable to using the ARP bolts given they have been shown to oval the bore slightly.

[heinzboehmer]

But you can get ARP M11s to replace them can't you?

Yeah that's an option.

The M11 bolts are not torque to yield, assuming you don't over-torque them they are good to reuse indefinitely and IMO that is preferable to using the ARP bolts given they have been shown to oval the bore slightly.

I thought that was only the case for the M10 ARP bolts? Info might have been lost with the old forum going down, but I remember Lang doing some testing and determining that the M11 were fine, but the M10 were not. Someone please correct me if I'm misremembering.

That being said, I agree that they're okay to reuse forever as long as they are always torqued correctly.

[Jersey_M3]

Step one get the best torque wrench - complete

[Jersey_M3]

Cylinder 2

[Jersey_M3]

Finished up. Looks like I torqued wrong. I guess? Anyways snap on wrench and plasti gauges to ensure the clearances are correct. If the car continues to burn through bearings I would assume my crankshaft needs to be redone

[cobra]

I don't see what's wrong with those bearings?

[eacmen]

Did you change them just because of oil analysis?

[Jersey_M3]

There is about 6-7000 miles on these and there was 100+ ppm of lead in my oil analysis. Something was going wrong

[michaeljchn]

What are you torqueing the rod bolts to?

[cobra]

I don't see anything wrong with the bearings. They aren't even worn through they first layer of protective graphite/moly. You showed several pictures of the rod/cap and that it has a rough surface. Normally it's more of a cross hatch pattern but that's the only thing that might be a little weird.

I would not make any judgment based on the first oil change. At least get the first oil change out of the way and then start tracking lead ppm.

[eacmen]

There is about 6-7000 miles on these and there was 100+ ppm of lead in my oil analysis. Something was going wrong

1. rod bearings aren’t the only possible source of lead.
2. oil analysis is a tool but shouldn’t be used as ground truth. i would only trust trends not one test
3. sorry to say but those bearings look new

[Jersey_M3]

I don't see anything wrong with the bearings. They aren't even worn through they first layer of protective graphite/moly. You showed several pictures of the rod/cap and that it has a rough surface. Normally it's more of a cross hatch pattern but that's the only thing that might be a little weird.

I would not make any judgment based on the first oil change. At least get the first oil change out of the way and then start tracking lead ppm.

Thank you for the comment but I already did this. so what would you do if you did three oil changes, all sent to the lab. All were over 30 ppm of lead? The only variable the changed was the rod bearings.