BlackEclipse
01-16-2004, 09:00 PM
Plastigauge looks like a very thin piece of solid core wire - except that it is made out of plastic, not metal. You use it to measure clearances between bearings and the surfaces that they ride against like between the crankshaft and the main bearings.
To use it, you must wipe off / remove all oil from the surfaces of the bearing and snip off a piece of plastigauge that is as wide as the bearing. The plastigauge must lay parallel to the crankshaft in between the bearing and the crankshaft. Torque down the bearing cap to spec. Then remove the bolts and the bearing cap and compare the squashed plastic to the paper scale that comes in the plastigauge package. The wider the plastic is squashed then the smaller the clearance. Compare the clearance to what is the standard values in the Mitsubishi manual.
To use it, you must wipe off / remove all oil from the surfaces of the bearing and snip off a piece of plastigauge that is as wide as the bearing. The plastigauge must lay parallel to the crankshaft in between the bearing and the crankshaft. Torque down the bearing cap to spec. Then remove the bolts and the bearing cap and compare the squashed plastic to the paper scale that comes in the plastigauge package. The wider the plastic is squashed then the smaller the clearance. Compare the clearance to what is the standard values in the Mitsubishi manual.