mickster

Next oil change-hope you have a good oil catch and also a magnetic oil drain plug. Good indicator.

Good luck!

FredR

The TBF problem generally pertains to auto models of the S4/GTS variants.

I believe benchmarking crank end float should be a matter of course for every 928 [read peformance engine]. It gives a measure by which you can see if there has been a sudden engine deterioration. From my own experience an engine performing correctly should see no measurable wear on the thrust bearing faces unless perhaps you are doing mega mileages and even then it should be miniscule.

Regards

Fred

Jim Devine

Here is the procedure for checking the end play-
Bill *****' excellent write up-

https://rennlist.com/forums/928-foru...pictorial.html

Shawn Stanford

Is there a way to check for this condition with the car on the ground and without taking stuff apart? Even a rough guesstimation.

docmirror

Not really. If you take out the dipstick with the engine running and see a lot of sparkles, I guess that would be an 'indication'. If the engine seizes when it gets warm, and cranks very slowly, that's another.

This job is so critical that it should be done asap even if you have to take it to a shop, print out the instructions and let them proceed. A decent mech will be able to do the test in about an hour, and it will also give you a chance to release the tension on the flex plate.

NoVector

Some write-ups don’t include the rear pinch bolt that Stan mentions in post #15. But, Dwayne does have pics in his "Torque Tube, Torque Converter Bearing Replacement Procedure." Starting at the 4th picture.

Landseer

Harbor Freight has an inexpensive electronic dial indicator and a magnetic base. Has good adjustability Works great. Seems plenty accurate.

For a base, I generally use a floor jack to pin a piece of steel square tubing against the bottom of the car, near the bell housing, then put the magnet on that steel.

I guess if you are car shopping, and want to test endplay in a ppi, you'd want to have a couple replacement manifold gaskets and 6 appropriate size nuts / bolts in your lunchbox --- so you can replace what you or your mechanic break doing the exam.

Mrmerlin

FWIW if you dont check the rear pinch bolt then you have not completed this inspection/repair.

Most of the cars I have checked have loose rear pinch bolts,
so its safe to assume that these rear pinch bolts have never been retorqued.

If the rear bolt is loose then this can cause the drive shaft to migrate and preload the thrust bearing,
so just releasing the front flexplate isnt a cure for this issue.

This to make sure that the rear pinch bolt is also removed and inspected then installed.


NOTE the other issues with a loose rear bolt is that the shaft can migrate so far forward that the rear bolt will begin chafing on the side of the shaft cutout,
thus damaging the bolt shank and weakening it,

NOTE if a bolt is found with this damage then it should be replaced and the shaft moved rearwards before the new bolt is fitted.

NOTE torque to 66 ft/lb add a drop of blue loctite to the bolt threads