Mostly everything you wanted to know about crankwalk.

All right guys...I'm posting this thread to help some of you out and so you all have just a little more knowledge about crankwalk.

I've been to a lot of local car shows lately and have talked with many, many people about DSM's. Non-DSM owners and DSM owners always ask me about crankwalk since I own a '97 eclipse spyder GS-T. I always get the typical...

"What is crankwalk?"
"Have you had crankwalk?"
"How do you prevent crankwalk?"
"How do I know if I have crankwalk?"
"How much is it to replace the engine or short block?"
"So turbo eclipses suck because they all get crankwalk?"

What is crankwalk?

It's when your precious engine goes boom. Not literally boom, but you get the idea. It's thrust bearing failure. What causes it to fail? Mainly the clutch (from my knowledge) because it puts an assload of stress on the crankshaft. Poor oil circulation is probably another possibility. Starting the car with the clutch in is bad too since no oil has been circulating, you're putting a lot of stress on the thrust bearing and then starting the motor. This is why all 2g turbo owners should disconnect their clutch start switch.

Have you had crankwalk?

Yes. CW is not a myth, it's very real. In my case it was a very bad case of CW. You see, when I got CW my transmission and clutch also blew. Not cool. I started noticed that my car liked to stall when i pushed the clutch in. Then a day or so later, was driving past the mall, downshifted to 3rd and heared a horrible loud ticking sound. Well decided it was time to go home and take a look. Got a couple blocks from my house, downshifted to 3rd and the shifter completely popped out and wolud not go into ay gear. The shifter was just "free" i guess you could say. Had no resistance at all. Came to a stop, the car stalled. I smelled clutch. Popped open the hood and nothing but smoke.

How do you prevent crankwalk?

I don't believe there's really any way to "prevent" crankwalk. But there are ways to make your engine last a hell of a lot longer.
*Disconnect the clutch start switch.
*Change oil every 3,000 miles and use only full synthetic (you know, the expensive stuff). Don't run the engine with low oil either.
*Don't sit in traffic with the clutch in. If you're going to be sitting anywhere for more than a minute I would say stick it in neutral and let the clutch out. There is no reason to sit with the clutch in for extended periods of time. All this is doing is putting stress on the thrust bearing and oil pressure is going down.
*If you've been sitting long enough for the oil pressure to drop, rev the engine just a bit to raise it, then push the clutch in. (This becomes a pain in the ass, but whatever helps is good). Oil is good for the engine :)
*Try not to beat the hell out of the car every single minute of every single day. No lauching from every red light, power/speed shifting, etc. I know this is difficlut for some people.
*Use only 92+ octane (this probably has nothing whatsoever to do with CW but the 4g63 likes the good shit...this is why they printed that nice little message under your gauges...PREMIUM UNLEADED FUEL ONLY and kiss your hard-earned money goodbye with $2.20+/gal in some states). DSM's aren't cheap to take care of.
*If you ever have to support your engine using a jack, don't do so by sticking the jack under the oil pan. Not even with a piece of wood. Don't take any chances of denting the oil pan. (Besides why would you want to hurt your baby?)
*Keep your DSM clean inside and out! (Even though this has nothing to do with CW, it'll keep those heads turned towards your car!)

"How do I know if I have crankwalk?"

Look for the typical signs.
*Engine stalls when coming to a stop
*Clutch engage point wanders around
*The tick of doom (don't confuse this with lifter tick. You'll know it when you hear the CW tick. It's a lot louder than lifter tick. What this really is - is the crank trigger plate rubbing on the crank angle sensor. Most people say this is usually the last sign you'll notice before your car won't run. I'd believe it.)

How much is it to replace the engine or short block?"

Short answer - too much.
Long answer - (keep in mind that I also had to replace the clutch and tranmission)


Labor---57.50/hour

Receipt 1
DISC, CLUTC 1 90.48
COVER ASSY 1 106.65
BEARING, CL 1 25.12
FLYWHEEL 1 317.35
CLIP, CLUTC 1 1.22
MANUAL TRA 1 1832.43
ADHESIVE 1 4.50
TOTAL--- 3148.62 (w/ tax & labor)

Receipt 2
CYLINDER A 1 58.95
CYLINDER 1 124.00
FLUID 1 6.75
COVER, FR F 1 16.43
TOTAL--- 402.35 (w/ tax & labor)

Receipt 3
GASKET KIT 1 229.77
ENGINE A 1 2035.71
CASE ASS 1 198.43
BELT, VALVE 1 75.97
OIL FILTER 1 5.75
BLADE, CRAN 1 44.90
SENSOR, ENG 1 64.80
BELT 1 19.38
BELT 1 15.93
BELT 1 18.16
TOTAL--- 3654.23 (w/ tax & labor)

Receipt 4
BELT 1 8.28
BELT 1 11.80
BELT 1 12.60
BELT, BALAN 1 29.02
PULLEY, CRA 1 123.67
BELT 1 86.35
SPROCKET 1 45.75
COVER 1 63.35
NUT 1 1.75
DYES 1 6.70
TOTAL--- 562.84 (w/ tax & labor)

Freebies
*1 Eclipse license plate frame (worth $40...who would ever spend that much on a license plate frame anyway?)
*New thermostat (worth maybe $30...installed for free also)

So turbo eclipses suck because they all get crankwalk?

No they don't suck. They just require a caring owner. If you treat the car right, it'll treat you right. If you don't change the oil for 20,000 miles, beat on it constantly and launch from every stop then you're going to have a problem.

Well I hope this really helps some people. I figured I would post this because I am constantly asked about CW...Well from now on I'll just send the link to this post :) I think I've covered most of everything in here. If I'm missing something, feel free to add/correct me. Take care of your DSM!

sweet... thanks.. i'll add this to the Read before you ask thread!!!

great post! simple and straight forward... :)

that was really informative, especially to a newbie like me. thanks a lot.

Nice and clean :) . See, we need more of this not more of "What is CW?" :banghead: .

Thanks for the write-up.

*If you've been sitting long enough for the oil pressure to drop, rev the engine just a bit to raise it, then push the clutch in. (This becomes a pain in the ass, but whatever helps is good). Oil is good for the engine :)
*Try not to beat the hell out of the car every single minute of every single day. No lauching from every red light, power/speed shifting, etc. I know this is difficlut for some people.
*Use only 92+ octane (this probably has nothing whatsoever to do with CW but the 4g63 likes the good shit...this is why they printed that nice little message under your gauges...PREMIUM UNLEADED FUEL ONLY and kiss your hard-earned money goodbye with $2.20+/gal in some states). DSM's aren't cheap to take care of.
*If you ever have to support your engine using a jack, don't do so by sticking the jack under the oil pan. Not even with a piece of wood. Don't take any chances of denting the oil pan. (Besides why would you want to hurt your baby?)
*Keep your DSM clean inside and out! (Even though this has nothing to do with CW, it'll keep those heads turned towards your car!)

I'm not sure that I agree with these causing crankwalk, but a pretty good post. I appreciate the time and effort. It recaps the stuff that 95 GSXracer said 2 years ago on RKO, but I never wanted to steal it for here. His is a bit more technical. http://racingknowledge.org/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=185

Well I have read tons of information on crankwalk since I went through it...Seriously countless hours of sitting on the computer reading. So i decided to throw everything that I knew together and give the prices to repair it. Just thought it would help some people :) I'm glad you all found it informative.

one thing i saw was that the main cause of it is the oil squirters for the bearings. apparently 2g squirters are smaller and a different shape then 1g so they clog easier.

Like I said in my old post there, you cant point out one potential cause here, and another there. There are too many factors to list, and 90% of them are only understood by 10% of the poeple.

For example, I wouldnt blame the clutch, since the motors that lasted the longest for me were on ACT 2600s, and the motors with stock clutch shit the bed the soonest. ;) Etc. You can prove and disprove all of the dozens of claimed causes. More likely than not, its some combination. So they must all be mentioned if one is to talk about it.

I've probably forgotten more than I posted in that old link, but after 6 motors, I know a thing or two about it :D Not that thats a good thing....