my puma seems to be suffering from crank walk, quite drastically im realising now i look into it. i noticed about 2-3mm of play while changing my timing belt (among other things, to try and stop the now not-so-mystery rattle). i knew this couldnt be normal but had no choice but to put the engine back in and run it, as its my daily driver.

i had initialy planned on just getting a replacement engine and lobbing that in, but the more i look into im tempted to try and cure it with new bearings.

what im wondering is mainly whether or not its likely that there is any serious damage done to the crank or block, and therefore simply replacing the bearings wont make any odds. if this is the case itll make more sense to pick up a replacement engine and hope its ok...

any thoughts? is it worth getting the bearings and giving it a go? the engine is relatively low miles at 77k and has full service history. the rattle comes and goes, sometimes at idle and low load, manouvering the car and cruising at certain speeds.....