I took my front cover off and I keep reading about some needle bearing falling out. I don't really see how anything will fall off with a 3 rotor engine. We have a nut holding our 20b e shaft. Our shaft isn't moving at all. How can a ring that is installed around a shaft fall out? Does needle bearing issue only apply to 2 rotor folks who have a bolt holding the e shaft rather than a nut?

It seems everything that can go wrong has gone wrong with my build so I just wanted to clarify before I put the engine back in the car. Thanks in advance!

 

The needle roller bearing doesn't "fall off" it drops down and can become pinched between the two surfaces that it is suppose to run on.

In short yes it still applies, read up on it there is a lot of information on this and the results of it happening.

 

Correct, though the common term for this part is Torrington Bearing. Every Rotary has them as part of the front stack underneath the front cover. Coincidentally, this exact occurrence is what led to Aaron Cake's E-shaft lamp being built out of the remains of the donor engine following the bearing being crushed and its fragments spewed throughout the oil system. Details and carnage pictures can be found here: Engine Damage!

 

Thanks for the advices. I have looked around and they say the easiest way to check it is to check for the 'endplay' of the e-shaft. I don't have a special micrometer to check this. I was going to borrow the tool from the Pepboys, but they had absolutely no clue what I was talking about. Is there another way to check whether the Torrington bearings dropped without taking the front cover off again? I have not torqued down my main pulley hub nut just yet for this reason. Thanks again.

 

Off the top of my head the end float is suppose to be 0.7mm, you can just use a DTI (dial test indicator) and stand to measure end float.
You should really be checking your end float before putting your front cover on, encase you need to adjust it by replacing the shims.

did you build the engine standing on its end? and have you rotated it at all?

if you built the engine on its end and you haven't rotated it at all you should be fine to torque it all down, however for your own peace of mind you might like to take the front cover back off an check before tightening up the front stack.

if you end up with Zero end float ....something isn't right.

hope that helps