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The compressor first stages and rods were redesigned in 1995 and I was primarily a Bauer dealer until 2002. The inlet filter was redesigned, valves were changed over to reed valves and the bearings were built into the connecting rods.
My first thought is that the valves are at least 16 years old and may be a little part of your problem. But, realistically, the compressor shouldn't care which direction it is turning ... valve wise ... since the pistons are just going up and down.
My suggestion ... pull the head and spin the compressor. If it binds, it has nothing to do with the valves or head.
To be honest, I have never substituted any generic hard parts or bearings since the OEM parts were so cheap. Perhaps there is someone here that is more familiar with generic parts that can chime in here.
I will try to pull the 1st stage head and see what happens and also I will change the bearings to the stock ones after that and see if there is any difference. I'll come back with you.
So guys after giving it some thought I replaced the bearings and voila! The compressor is just fine now. The bearings I was given were 188 size but the first letter was B, so it is B-188. I looked into the spare parts manual and the code of the bearing was SCE-188. The difference is that the B-188 is a full complement needle bearing (needles all around) and the SCE-188 has the needles in small gaps in the cup that does not let the needles rotate left or right. This is what was causing the rods to actually "screw" on the crankshaft.
It was tiring to asseble and disassemble the compressor several times until I located the problem and fixed it but now I know what to watch for in the future and also I can share it with you!
Thanks to everyone for your help and have a Happy New Year.
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