I'm not sure about the idea of the crank bearing being gone all together. I would think that would make a terrible noise, even at idle (which is 700 revs per minute - pretty quick with no bearing) Its not worth it in my opinion to try and remove the crank
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(It has to be removed to polish the bearing surface) with the
engine in the car, you still would have to pull the timing chain
and unbolt the transmission. I've never seen a engine with a
main bearing gone without a badly damaged/broken crank.
The bearing cannot "get out" without being ground to small bits.
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