May / June 2015
15
Below are the two halves of the crankshaft
carrier. We are setting the main bearings
into the carrier. There are also a pair of
thrust washers that insert in the center, but
I seem to have skipped over a picture that
would show those. These bearings limit the
forward/aft movement of the crankshaft.
With the bearings lubricated with
assembly grease, the crankshaft is lowered
into the carrier half, and then the other half
is installed on top.
And we end up with a crankshaft along
with 3 connecting rods installed in the
carrier.
The connecting rods are interesting
technology utilizing cracked cap rods.
Rather than having two smooth machined
halves of the rod end, instead, the rods are
cast as one piece, then cracked in half to
create the two pieces. If you look at the
picture closely, you will see the jagged
edges of the two halves. This allows for a
higher strength rod as the uneven surfaces fit
more securely together than two flat planed
halves.
Next is to attach the intermediate shaft to
the crankshaft. Here you can see the IMS
is connected to the crankshaft via a chain,
and the IMS then has two chains (one has
ENGINE
ANATOMY:
M96/M97
PART
1
