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ruined my motor... because of low oil

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Old 06-19-2011, 10:12 PM
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Default ruined my motor... because of low oil

ohhh how dumb i am... went to the track this morning and had all intentions of checking oil level before i left the garage. Well of course packing up the laptop and everything else i forgot. I just changed the frickin oil less then 2 months and put 6 quarts in so i wasnt REAL concerned... maybe has been 1500 miles, dont know where all the oil went as it doesnt smoke or leak. Anyway i knew something was up when i was racing a procharged mach 1 that i usually beat by 4-5 tenths on motor... coupled with that i was spraying a 100 shot so i wasnt expecting to be behind... lol.. He pulled away from me like i was stock.... i let out 200' out thinking something was wrong... no odd sounds at that time... thought maybe fuel pump or something. then the car stalled at the ticket booth and i heard a squealing sound and ball bearing in a can specialty. **** me... Checked the oil and it was below the ADD mark... wtf?? thats a large amount to lose for no real evidence of losing it.

Now decision time... just buy a shortblock 402 and reuse my topend... i really dont need much more power but the price difference is so small might as well... or i could buy a 383 rotating assembly but i dont really trust anyone around here for machine work for ls motors.. i guess i could roll the dice on main cap round? not real worried about the deck as there are no problems currently. 99k miles. Didnt reach 100k AHHH BULL ****! Im not mad the motor broke... im mad it broke for such a stupid reason and my lack of checking the damn oil!
Old 06-19-2011, 10:31 PM
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Do what I did....buy a 6.0l iron block, drop lots of money in it and end up with an insane 650 rwhp 408 stroker daily driver and smile every time you get in it and for it up
Old 06-19-2011, 10:36 PM
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ooh, plus if tests droll not enough you can always throes a nice little 500 shot in it....have you ever heard a high compression, big cam 408 turning 8,000 rpms through3" dual pipes with bullet muffler? I just raced for the first time the other day...a crotch rocket messed with me...I took the bait and finally let off the throttle when I pulled over 10 car lengths on him lol... likeWise says, just do it!
Old 06-19-2011, 10:55 PM
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I know the sick feeling. I replaced 2 motors within 105k and 107k.
Old 06-20-2011, 09:25 AM
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http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/LQ4-6...item4aac14a53e

I checked around the junk yards for ya buddy, best I found was a 6.0 out of an 05 HD with 90k but they want $1400 for it. Its complete minus the starter and alternator.
Old 06-20-2011, 09:56 AM
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hey man thanks trying to figure out what im gonna do.. thinking for the money might just grab a 408 from texas speed for like 4 grand and just use my top end.. been wanting bigger cubes for a while anyways
Old 06-20-2011, 11:02 AM
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So did you check your oil level right after you shut off the engine? Or did you let it sit for an hour or so and then checked it?

Also, what evidence (besides the " i heard a squealing sound and ball bearing in a can ") that your current motor is shot? Did you tear it down at all?
Old 06-20-2011, 11:28 AM
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If I could do mine over again I would buy the 402/8 already assembled and drop your top end on it. When my motor blew, (motor stalled out at a stop, then bearing squeal just like yours-spun two rod bearings in mine) I bought a LS6 longblock from Scoggin-dickey only because I didn't know/trust any machine shops or builders locally to do mine and now two years later I want something bigger.
Old 06-20-2011, 11:32 AM
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I did what you're thinking about doing a year ago. My engine flooded and bent a rod. I bought an HKE 408 and re-used the top end I had, stock 799 heads, MS4 cam, LS6 intake, and Mac headers. I jumped up about 30 rwhp but gained 85 lb-ft peak and plenty more down low. I have 400 lb-ft at 3K, 450 by 3.6K, peak at 475 by 4K, and slowly roll off after that.

The combo doesn't break any power records by a long shot and is probably one of the weakest 408's in the power department but it's a ton better than the LS1 with that top-end and when I eventually do get the funds to swap heads, intake, exhaust, and cam, the foundation is set for 550+ rwhp!

Old 06-20-2011, 12:02 PM
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Am the the only one who questions if low oil was really what did this motor in? If it was below the add line on the dipstick then what is that, maybe 1 quart low? Is that even that big of a deal? Could maybe the nitrous have more to do with it then being a quart low on oil???
Old 06-20-2011, 12:04 PM
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Originally Posted by 1SLwLS1
I did what you're thinking about doing a year ago. My engine flooded and bent a rod. I bought an HKE 408 and re-used the top end I had, stock 799 heads, MS4 cam, LS6 intake, and Mac headers. I jumped up about 30 rwhp but gained 85 lb-ft peak and plenty more down low. I have 400 lb-ft at 3K, 450 by 3.6K, peak at 475 by 4K, and slowly roll off after that.

The combo doesn't break any power records by a long shot and is probably one of the weakest 408's in the power department but it's a ton better than the LS1 with that top-end and when I eventually do get the funds to swap heads, intake, exhaust, and cam, the foundation is set for 550+ rwhp!

****, Id be happy with that curve for n/a any day.
Old 06-20-2011, 12:09 PM
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Originally Posted by speedgoat
Am the the only one who questions if low oil was really what did this motor in? If it was below the add line on the dipstick then what is that, maybe 1 quart low? Is that even that big of a deal? Could maybe the nitrous have more to do with it then being a quart low on oil???
I agree with you. My oil temps reach 240-250F just driving home everyday which doesn't help my oil consumption issue. My check oil level light is usually on around 2200 miles in to an oil change if I neglect it which is about 2 quarts low. My oil pressure at this point still holds 45-50+ hot without cavitating the Melling 10296 pump which some members have had an issue with on the high volume units. On the other hand, oil returns relatively quickly due to the larger clearances in my iron block.
Old 06-20-2011, 12:43 PM
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Originally Posted by speedgoat
Am the the only one who questions if low oil was really what did this motor in? If it was below the add line on the dipstick then what is that, maybe 1 quart low? Is that even that big of a deal? Could maybe the nitrous have more to do with it then being a quart low on oil???
beig about 1 quart low on oil is not what dominated the motor, it is the nitrous/racing/etc. ls1's dont need all 6 quarts to run, its just a buffer for burning/leaking etc, dont quote me or try this but i think the motor only need 3-4 quarts to run bare minimum
Old 06-20-2011, 01:20 PM
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Originally Posted by got-a-ls1
hey man thanks trying to figure out what im gonna do.. thinking for the money might just grab a 408 from texas speed for like 4 grand and just use my top end.. been wanting bigger cubes for a while anyways
Not a bad idea, but I would wait till TSP holds their 4th of July sale and see what kinda deal you make. Your gonna need new gaskets and head/crank bolts anyways. Might as well cut a deal with Jon.
Old 06-20-2011, 09:10 PM
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My buddy popped his ls1. Reused his top end on a 402. Was ported Ls1 heads and etc. Made 493rwhp. Not bad for a "budget" build.. I'd personally stay away from a 383.
Old 06-20-2011, 11:27 PM
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hey guys thanks for all the support and deciding what to do

as far as the low oil... when i say it was below i guess i didnt make it clear that i was talking about the TEXT that says add... as in barely showing on the stick, not just below the cross hatching on the dipstick. very low... and im wondering why the ******* low oil sensor/light never came on for being so low... The run before it quit i felt the motor bog down slightly the at last 100 feet and let off it immediately thinking the nitrous leaned out... but wideband logging confirmed it didnt. I believe what happened was the pan was sucked dry by the end of the run and the damage was done.

nitrous had nothing to do with it... dont make nitrous the evil guy here. it was oil starvation. Nitrous would break a stock cast piston before it did much else.
Old 06-21-2011, 10:17 AM
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Originally Posted by mark21742
Do what I did....buy a 6.0l iron block, drop lots of money in it and end up with an insane 650 rwhp 408 stroker daily driver and smile every time you get in it and for it up
Do you have any evidence of this supposed 408 you have that makes more whp than the almost every single built N/A 427/440/454 street engine?
Old 06-21-2011, 01:56 PM
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Originally Posted by got-a-ls1
hey guys thanks for all the support and deciding what to do

as far as the low oil... when i say it was below i guess i didnt make it clear that i was talking about the TEXT that says add... as in barely showing on the stick, not just below the cross hatching on the dipstick. very low... and im wondering why the ******* low oil sensor/light never came on for being so low... The run before it quit i felt the motor bog down slightly the at last 100 feet and let off it immediately thinking the nitrous leaned out... but wideband logging confirmed it didnt. I believe what happened was the pan was sucked dry by the end of the run and the damage was done.

nitrous had nothing to do with it... dont make nitrous the evil guy here. it was oil starvation. Nitrous would break a stock cast piston before it did much else.
just curious, did you drain it and see exactly how much oil you were running on? I think a 400+ cube would be the way to go, just stay away from TSP, I have had bad luck with them
Old 06-21-2011, 02:19 PM
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Sorry, white shadow......typing while driving.....bad idea lol I made a typo...ment to type 550, not 650.

04 GTO
408 iron block
Fully forged internals
12.56:1 compression
255/266 .624/.624 115 lsa cam
ported/milled heads
ported Edelbrock proflo xt intake
60lb motion injectors
Lts, 3" true duals with x pipe
Built 4l60e
4,000 stall
Old 06-21-2011, 09:53 PM
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Originally Posted by mark21742
Sorry, white shadow......typing while driving.....bad idea lol I made a typo...ment to type 550, not 650.

04 GTO
408 iron block
Fully forged internals
12.56:1 compression
255/266 .624/.624 115 lsa cam
ported/milled heads
ported Edelbrock proflo xt intake
60lb motion injectors
Lts, 3" true duals with x pipe
Built 4l60e
4,000 stall
That sounds much better.


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