blueoval85

hey all, i've been searchin these forums for hours, can't find what i'm looking for . so I must start a new one.

I have a 98 gt convertible, it spun a rod bearing. pretty bad, it stacked. well, ok, I've got a new crank kit for it. crank and bearings. got the motor out(bitch) got it upside down and pan off, all the rod caps off, all the main cap bolts out. but the mains still wont budge. I realize that i need to back off the jacking screws on the sides of the caps. HOW IN THE HELL DO I DO THIS?! my handy dandy manual says to loosen them up, thats it. um how!? they are round and slick beside the main caps. I can't grab onto them with anything. a flashlight in the side-bolt hole looks like their might be splines inside the jacking screw? do I need some kinda special splined tool to go in there and loosen the jacking screws?

this is frustrating and holding up progess.. any help please!

98MustangSTL

I just took the caps off yesterday. Kind of funny actually. After you take off the cap bolts, make sure the bolts on the side of the engine are out also. Anyways..they are in there tight. What I did was used a cro-bar. I stuck the end in one of the wholes(on each side there is some room in between the cap and the block), then took a rubber mallot and hammer on the end of the cro-bar. The cap slowly came up. I did that for each one. You may want to stick a rag in the whole to cover up the cro-bar or what ever you use, so you don't chip or damage anything. All and all, you should be able to find some semi-long that fits in between the cap and the bolt, then hammer on the other end, and the cap should start coming up. Good luck man.

FDNYBullitt

I answered your post on another site, please don't force them out with a crowbar. They use a T-50 long reach Torx but if not available you can use a 5/16 allen wrench. You'll need to cut the "L" off of the wrench for install so you can use a torque wrench-89 in. lbs. IMPORTANT--they are reverse thread, good luck.

98MustangSTL

I wonder if we're talking about the same thing. Are you guys talking about the caps that hold the crank in?

oxfordgt

Do NOT pry the caps off with a crow bar. Take the bolts out of the side then use the alen wrench to back the jack screws away from the block like said above. They will pull right off.

98MustangSTL

Are the jack screws the things on each side of the cap?

oxfordgt

The jack screws are the black things in the caps and the bolts go in from the outside of the block.

98MustangSTL

Ok. Cool. Should I replace them if I pryed up on them?

oxfordgt

did you damage them.

98MustangSTL

Nope. They look just fine.