bad bearing, weird issue, advice?

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Sep 11, 2009 | 03:31 PM

eric1h

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bad bearing, weird issue, advice?

I recently added an LS1, 2004 with 14k miles on it, motor seemed to be in great shape.....

I just recently got the swap done got the car on the dyno and after the first pull i noticed a bit of a tapping sound, faint but still noticeable....

So, I finally dropped the oil pan, don't really know what to think!

The oil was BLACK BLACK BLACK, except for the streaks of new oil i put in. the oil only had 10 miles on it, i initially just added some cheap valvoline to "flush" the engine out

Good news and bad......

Bad news is it looks like i trashed a bearing in #5

Good news is the damage appears to be mainly isolated to the #5 cylinder bearing, so SLIGHT scuffing on the crank, and a little heat mark on the rod cap...

the rest of the bearings look great

there was a decent amount of metal and crud in the oil and pan. I am still scratching my head as to what happened, going to measure the rod bolts to see if they stretched, but dont know what to think, the motor never reved past 5500rpms on the dyno because of a fuel issue

..

So, what now? Should I do a FULL rebuild, or just replace the bearings? How the heck to i get all the metal shavings out of the engine, and most importantly, WTF caused this in the first place?

the only other possible issue was the oil pressure seemed abnormally high, @70psi at idle. Engine does have the ls2 timing chain, and the LPE high volume high pressure oil pump. Is it possible I have an abstruction in the oil cooler lines? I never had any issues with the previous engine and its the same lines and cooler.

Sep 11, 2009 | 05:08 PM

OUTLAWZ RACING

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Build from the bottom up. and be done with it. But as far as the problem if the oil was shitty then that would cause it how old was the oil?

Sep 11, 2009 | 05:16 PM

bjamick

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Make sure and clean out the pick-up very well. Mine had all kinds of metal in it after my incident.

Sep 11, 2009 | 07:55 PM

eric1h

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Quote:

Originally Posted by bjamick

Make sure and clean out the pick-up very well. Mine had all kinds of metal in it after my incident.

what did you do to clean it out? That's my biggest concern is getting all the metal shavings out of the oiling system.

suggestions are appreciated!

Sep 11, 2009 | 08:17 PM

idunno

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From: Pell lake WI

Clean it

The metal shavings are through out the oiling system. The only right way to do it now is to pull it and hot tank the block. Change the pump too. I had a GM dealership rebuild my motor under warranty. They didn't do the above and no it has to be rebuilt. 15,000 miles they f'ed me on that one. Tasch motors in Elkhorn can kiss my ***.

Sep 12, 2009 | 04:34 PM

LS1Formulation

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You can't hot tank an LS1 since it's aluminum. We just tore mine down to a bare block, removed all the plugs and power washed it inside and out, using rifle brushes to clean the oil galleys and foamy engine degreaser to carry out any leftover particles we couldn't reach. Worked great!

Sep 12, 2009 | 06:12 PM

JFM-jr

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From: Mastic Long Island N.Y.

My LS2 block was cleaned in a machine that was decribed to me as an overgrown dishwasher. I am guessing a "hot tank" would fully submerge the block in a solution?