I saw a motor once where one of those buttons failed. The crank pin walked out and gouged its way through the cylinder wall. It was ug-a-lee.

 

A wrist pin Button?????
Never ...ever... how the hell could that happen????

 

Sorry, wrist pin, not crank pin. I recall it was a shovelhead. Somehow or other, the button wore down and then the wrist pin walked out into the cylinder wall. Whoever's motor it was didn't have a lot of money and just rode it like that, making noise and smoke, until the gouge in the wall was really deep. I seem to recall it was almost through the cylinder at that point.

 

Never ... ever heard of a wristpin Button wearing to the point of allowing the wristpin to contact the cylinder wall... I do Not see how that is Possible...
There is more to that story than you were made privy to..

 

Happened to my dad's '81 fx or fxe (can;t remember for sure) - was a hell of a mess

 

Buttons????
We talking Buttons here.... Not Clips/Spirolocks/etc...?????


I just do Not see how that is Possible...

 

No it isn't.

The OP said his breather gear was locked up but the fix was the wrist pin clip replacement. AND he pulled some metal out of the engine. When my motor ate itself last summer there was damage to the crankshaft bearings from metal shards.

Just sayin

carl

 

I'm pretty sure. I was 13 years old at the time....

 

Cranks twisted enough it forces the wrist pins to walk hard to one side, haven't run across many buttons outside race motors but every engine I've seen with a clip or pin into the cylinder walls the cranks had a visible tweak to them, runout on the shafts were crazy.

 

Sure don't need a race motor to run Buttons, you might be surprised how many street motors have them,..... and I still cannot see any way in hell a button can let a Wrist pin contact a Cylinder wall...Nope... ain't buyin that "expert testimony"

That and I know exactly how the Bottom end effects the wrist pin... but... still contend the Assembler [certainly not a mechanic] causes this far more than bottom ends do.... Like putting a Spirolock where a circlip belongs...Pistons have a Specific keeper they are designed for...