ls2pontiac

iTrader: (1)

When I first got the car, after i put about 1000 miles on it, the oil pressure gauge would go down to 0 for about 2 seconds or so, then come back with full oil pressure. I figured the gauge was just fucked up. I always shut it off when it did that however. It did this a couple more times down the line, but it hasn't done it for about 2000 miles now.

Fast forward to a couple weeks ago, we found some metal shavings and a small (pea size) chunk of metal on the drain plug. Figured it was probably piece of a bearing or something. Now today, it did the oil pressure thing, I saw the check gage light was on and I shut it off immediately. Waited a few minutes like I used to do before (it would always come back on after a few min), and fired it up...nada, still at 0. Waited 20 minutes this time, still at 0..NOW there is a tapping noise. After about 45 minutes of sitting there, I started it up again, and the gage registered some pressure, but still in the red. The tapping went away slightly, THEN full oil pressure was back and the motor sounds completely normal just like it always has. Nice smooth clean sounding.

SO I probably have a bearing thats on its way out then right? Or could my oil pump be failing?


How much can I get away with having the motor rebuilt to the way it is now? Same block, just rebuild all the internals and put a new LT4 hotcam kit back in. Does anyone have a nice list of parts that are budget, but solid that they can put together for me and a price list (ballpark)? Also how much labor would generally cost...thanks! I don't know whether to part this thing out or what, because I have about 2 grand in body damage I need to fix, including the radiator support.

Just put a new 9-inch rear in it too....hmm.

BattleShip

Stop driving it NOW!

The damage is the least it will be right now. I think it is already spun but MIGHT not be so stop and fix it.

IF main is spun you will need to align bore block, if rod bearing is spun you may need a new crank if it won't clean up. If rod spun rod is gone. So you don't have time to save for the fix it has to be done.

Hard to guage what you need without a look into the internals of block. If you hear an engine you can sometimes guage, but from someone elses description it sounds BAD to me. You waited a LONG time.


Good luck

95_transam_lt1

iTrader: (6)

Sell it to me for 2000? lol Kidding but yea dont drive it an engine will knock with no oil pressure you should get the pump replaced but while the pan is off (motor prob out of car) have them inspect the bearings and plastigauge everything

ls2pontiac

iTrader: (1)

lol...i must not have typed it right. it has full oil pressure now, its just that it takes 20 minutes of sitting with the engine off for the oil pressure to come back up after the gauge goes to 0....it happens like once every 1000 miles. its really strange..

I can def tell the engine is ticking a lot louder than it was before though, but the mains and rods seem to sound OK. time will tell i guess. if its gonna blow, im gonna save up for a couple months and put a 383 stroker supercharged in it and fix the body damage

Formula350

iTrader: (3)

I wouldn't drive it, but I'd try and replace the sensor (back of the intake). I know mine is wonky, but my PSI is good despite the gauge being goofy. Mine just sputters and I know it's a bad connection due to how it sputters (gauge not motor).

Just seeing metal shavings is more than enough reason to stop driving it.

DAVE00

iTrader: (10)

Same exact thing happened to me about 8 years ago when my 383 build was born. I spun one of the main bearings and lost oil pressure all together and a ticking noise started. After the tear down here is what the main bearings looked like:



Probably time for a rebuild.

jarendt31

Yeah man thats why I've now got a 383 in mine, about 98k miles the facotry engine had enough of my foots abuse

ls2pontiac

iTrader: (1)

o well...im just gonna drive it and let it blow when its ready to. itll only take me 2 months or so to save up 6 grand, ill put a 383 stroker in it. just got the radiator support replaced today , $450 later. drives straight as before. new bumper and hood are coming tomorrow. its only money right? i cant do budget stuff now that i think about it, if the motors coming out, a 383 is going in just gotta find somebody around here that can do it.


btw dave, those pics make me sick...a couple things make me sick, blown head gaskets and spun bearings. i saw my buddies oil filter one time, looked like a chocolate milkshake with throwup in it. the entire cooling system was in the oil. lol

BattleShip

Well do yourself a favor, and find out who has the best deal on a rental car.

ls2pontiac

iTrader: (1)

ill prob just break the rental to be honest, i have 3 other cars ( i know gotta stop buying so many), im fine on that, just i hate to see the SS sit for months again. i barely drove the ****** thing for the 5 months ive had it. really the main problem was i had a shitt yrear built and it had get towed back and forth like 4 times. then bought the 9 inch and that was ghetto rigged somewhat as well. lol. thanks for your insight though people. in the meantime, im gonna see how long i can actually get this mother fugger to last. anyone want to make bets? i drove it 60 miles today and never had it above 1700 rpm. i shift off idle pretty much. Oil pressure hasn't gone below 40 and I changed the oil again today (This time with 10w-40 to fill the tolerances a little since the bearings are probably worn down to slivers) and the drain plug was clear of debris. Cut the filter open too and nothing was in it...weird.

BattleShip

Definately adjust your wording in your riggin statement.

The motor has value right now and can be used for a 383, soon it could be worthless. A 383 doesn't need to cost $6,000

BattleShip

I just remembered you said a ball was on the oil plug. I think I know where that came from, it is from the bearing in the shaft that drives the water pump.

That is the only ball in an LT1 motor other than the one in the oil pump that I can think of, and if it came out of the oil pump the motor would quickly seize. ZERO oil pressure without that ball in the pump. So I think you have a dying water pump drive and bad bearings from oil pressure problems.

I think the water pump drive will die, then cause a bearing to spin since the increase temp lowers pressure..I drove a truck that had a severe rod knock for a year so who knows just why?

ls2pontiac

iTrader: (1)

wait a sec..i have an electric water pump though? did you see the thread i posted with the pictures of the metal from the drain plug? if not here they are:

https://ls1tech.com/forums/showthrea...556&highlight=

does that look like a piece of a bearing? i couldnt really tell what kind of metal it was...thanks

BattleShip

No I did not see that thread. I do NOT see a ball, and it looks like bearing material. The pic is not the clearest, but no matter it is not a good sign for the longevity of motor.

You will soon have pics and a title like OMG look what I found. At least you aren't depending on it as a DD or tight on $$, and you expect to need a rebuild so not as hard to tell you, you need a rebuild. Old Murphy is funny if this was owned and needed it would have probably blown.

ls2pontiac

iTrader: (1)

how long do you think i can go on it if i shift at 1500? lol

Also here is what my oil report says from about 600 miles ago...

Iron was above average in the first sample from your LT1 Camaro. This shows excess wear at a steel
part, such the cylinders or valve train. You mentioned finding metal on your drain plug and we think this is
what you were likely seeing. All other wear read normally so we aren't too worried about it yet but it's
something worth monitoring. We also turned up some sodium. It's an earmark of coolant contamination and
always gets our attention. It could be an additive in this oil or one used in the past. We'll know more next
time. Suggest resampling in 4,000 miles to monitor.

Frans96SS

iTrader: (15)

The oil pump is prob on its way out but the damage was already done. it might last you another week or so but you dont want to cause any more harm if you are reusing any parts. if your doing a 383 then it wont matter. If you are gonna do a 355 or something you dont wanna mess up the crank. If you put like a 15/40 oil in it it might last alittle longer but not really a point in doing that.

BattleShip

I bet the iron is from your rockers. They starved for oil and now you machined them with dry push rod. Since there is iron in the oil the problem is definately severe. The iron did not stay in oil filer and I am sure got close and personal with your bearings.

Seems a BIT optomistic to me. Pull valve covers if you want to see how bad it is. I would bet you will see rockers damaged, and push rods pointed instead or round. Were the rockers RR? I doubt they are worth spit at this point.

Like I said though some motors stay together a friend had a twin turbo that I called old clackety. He ran it ~30 passes after hearing it, he finally pulled it because of time available during the winter to fix the motor, but it was still running.

When he pulled the heads, you could see the rings in the bore the pistons had swunk so much. To look at his damage you would swear the rings would fall off, but they didn't.

DAVE00

iTrader: (10)

If you are doing a 355 and want to go forged it doesn't matter as you will need a new crank anyway. However, he's right if you're going 383 then don't worry about a thing as it will go when it goes, but you're gonna have to have the block machined anyway and new internals will be needed to.

BattleShip

I think his waiting probably will cost him this block. The mains will probably be spun. Extra cost to align bore block IF it can be saved. BUT there is only so much that can be removed from the block before the crank is so far in block that timing chain becomes a problem...could use a special timing chain but....

So it is NOT a matter of simply machining the block, there is a limit that can be removed, and I think the damage to his mains will be past the maching limit.

The stock rod and crank handles a lot of power. I mean >500 RWHP.

In my first post I said stop he said he doesn't care. It is his motor, car and money so....

No one believes his approach to continue running motor is a wise decision, but it is his choice. This statement is inserted in case someone searches later!

ls2pontiac

iTrader: (1)

Damn..that sucks. Whats funny is i already drove more than 1000 miles since that oil analysis. Shifting at 1500 rpm. It is really hard to do b/c the exhaust sounds so good.

I'm probably gonna go the 355 route now that i think about it. 2 engine builders basically told me that if i drive like i do (revving to 6000 all the time), the 383 stroker isnt gonna last more than 20-30,000 miles. Thats too much money to have it last that short.

If I go the 355 route, will I still need to save the block? I was looking at Victory Racing Engines and Golen, but i am leaning more towards victory...due to the reviews on the board. People are saying Golen isn't all its cracked up to be anymore. Does anyone know any other really good engine builders? I live in PA, fyi...

thanks so much for the responses, really appreciated. if you guys lived around here i would buy you some beers


EDIT: Didnt see your last response Battleship. I was wondering, wouldnt you hear a loud noise if a main bearing (or any other bearing for that matter) was spun?? Or would it sound just like normal?