What Causes a Spun Bearing in an Engine?

A common question in the comments is how can we have a junkyard engine and still be below the $500 limit and here is the answer: The goal of the 24hrs of Lemons is to try to level the playing field by having a bunch of junk cars race. This is the most affordable wheel to wheel racing in the world. Since our engine blew at our first race and we are putting in an equally junky 140k mile junkyard M54 engine which is what came stock with our car, the replacement engine does not count towards the budget. The new seals we installed to stop the oil leaks ($60) and the chain tensioner we installed ($6) does count and the headers ($100) definitely count but we were at $340 after selling everything we could from the car… So now we are at our $500 budget. I need to see if I can sell the cats because those are $400 but something tells me that we can’t haha. With that said, safety stuff does not count towards the $500 budget. Otherwise it’s impossible to race because the fire suppression system alone cost more than $500 and the cage cost $3800. Parts to make the car faster or perform better do count, but not stuff to save the drivers life. Now the “backup engine” is a good opportunity for a collab with another automotive YouTuber who wanted to get involved and is trying to grow his channel. We aren’t using the backup engine unless ours blows up again which I can’t imagine will happen (knock on wood). So that engine won’t count towards the budget because it’s not in the car at the start of the race. If we end up having to swap it in at the track, it still won’t count because the time it takes to swap it in will make it so we are not competitive anymore. The next race we would have to remove it and put in another junk engine or take penalty laps. Lmk if you have any more questions about the $500 budget. Again, the main goal is to prevent people dumping money into a car and have an unfair advantage because they have a bunch of money.

Excited for the next race! Your team is going to have a lot of fun and do great!!

My guy literally inspected and explained every aspect of an engine failure better than my engineering professors that brag about their phds shoutout to chrisfix ❤️🇪🇬

I've never worked on a car engine in my life and only have basic knowledge on how an engine works, but the breakdown and explanation still made perfect sense to me! Love how you're able to take complex topics and break them down into an easy-to-understand video for even the non-mechanically inclined folks.

The fact that you actually attempted an engine swap instead of giving up says a lot about you and your team. Can’t wait to see next year.

I’m excited for the next race, your team will be much better prepared 🏎💨 🏁

Because of you Chris I got the courage to start my career in this field of work and I own my own shop now! Your the only one that made me feel like I had the ability to make it in thus industry

That's THE...BEST explanation of a "spun rod bearing" I've ever heard and seen. Great job!

Even after learning for years how internal combustion engines work I never knew how a spun bearing would damage the engine so this was quite interesting and I definitely learned something new , thanks !

Let get fixing!!!! Hope you’re doing alright Chris

I love the explanation of this. I know a ton about metallurgy and it's so interesting to me that the problem was an oil problem -> bearing wear -> friction causing tons of heat -> heat changing the volume and properties of the metal -> and then an explosion. Heat is the BIGGEST problem with internal combustion engines and is absolutely the limiting factor for them.

I am an old mechanical idiot but can change basic things and follow instructions. I am most certainly a novice on this stuff but you break down what happens in a way I can understand. I find it so interesting how things work. I have so much respect for the knowledge that people possess and are willing to share. It is crazy how complicated things are that most, including me at times, take for granted. Thank you.

I think it's important to also remember that oil gets really thin on the track. I actually would not use the factory recommended oil in this car. I'd consider going up to a 10w60 oil. I also recommend a product called Motorkote. I've been using it for years and it really does work. You can check out Project Farm's video on it, it will seriously save an engine in that kind of environment from being cooked. Even if it is a 240k mile worn out hoopty lol. I watched a friend run his chevy small block around the track for almost 20 minutes without realizing it didn't have oil in it (his oil pressure gauge stopped working). The only explanation we could come up with was that the Motorkote saved the engine

You’re like the Mark Rober of cars and the passion and effort you put forth in these videos is absolutely amazing!

Chris Fix is the king of making car content that any level of mechanic can enjoy

That parts layout table is FIRE! It looks so good. It's like those exploded diagrams from old school manuals, but in video form.

Yo this 24 hours of lemons series is gonna be absolutely legendary. Seriously I don't think any other content on YouTube can compare to the amount of dedication and entertainment you're putting into each and every video in this series.

Very cool video man. I didn't even know about that aftermarket oil chain tensioner. I'm gonna check out that other video on the engine build now. Btw, don't you have to factor the cost of these replacement engines into the $500 budget? How does that work?

That explanation of the spun bearing was so gripping! :elbowcough:

I used to “pit crew” for my Dads boss doing dirt circle track racing with trucks. It was so different than what you guys are doing but there was one team that didn’t race all year. They had so many problems that they just couldn’t figure out but they came every other weekend just hoping it would work. Keep it up and I can’t wait to see the next race!