Originally Posted by
Anonymous
Hmm. Looks like the bearings in these things are pretty standard.. There is an oil journal on the block that has a small hole in it to feed the bearing and lube the cap. There is also an oil hole on the top of the connecting rod that feeds the top of the bearing as well. All the bearings are common crush bearings. It is possible debris from that might get into the oil journals and plug it.
Also interesting to note is the standard play is .098 - .26mm, the limit is .3mm.. That is a really really small amount. The clearance required is .024-.034 of a mm. Were talking, stupid small.
End point is that the engine has two ways for oil to get to that bearing, and the clearance is tight. The fact that these are going at varying mileages leads me to think there is something not being filtered out or perhaps gunk deposits. Maybe improper cleaning at the assembly line or they simply aren't big enough. Perhaps deposits are forming during break in?
I still think the NC is likely investigating this. The fix is probably stupidly simple too.
I don't think that this is an abuse/underuse thing either. The micra's that raced at the cup or the targa would all have it as well, and we haven't heard anything from that camp yet.
Maybe it was an extremely dusty day in Mexico.. Or perhaps the wrong bearings were installed at the factory, they are color coded for a reason to take up the gap...
Theres just 1 spec of bearing?! Hummm.
Usually there are multiple colour codes
So they can use ones specific to that engines tolerences. Or it that different now with these newer engines?
Either way, the thing that made me think when you said how small the gap is..
These are torqued when decked. The head straightens the block. So, what if, the tightest engines, and 2 is warping cause of the coolant changing that cylinder at a different rate.
Maybe just the shear shock of being assembled in hot mexican factory then shipped to fridged canada.
Too me. The fact that its #2 cyl. Says design flaw. Not assembly error.
If it was a bad day, or a bad batch of bearings, or poor assembly or something.
It would be all over the place #4 or #3. Always #2 so far. Hmmm...
Im going to change my oil tomorrow and do a test.
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View my fuel log 2015 Micra S manual: 7.7 L/100 km ... 36.8 mpg (Imp) ... 13.0 km/L ... 30.6 mpg (US) ...