dburt86

iTrader: (2)

It's been a rough weekend. The final big push to get my project buttoned up.

So lq4 with new rings, speed inc tu1.5 cam, springs, 7.4 comp push rods, pro comp studs, ls9 head gaskets, new meling standard oil pump.

Car initially runs, seems a little off. Chalked it up to old gas, shitty plugs. It starts to run pretty decent, decent idle, revs good with no load.

Start street tuning it. Super soft timing, like 21-23 degrees. Car has great torque but has no power above 3500.

Car stops idling when hot, gets hotter then it should, quicker then it should.

Pull the oil and it's literally full of metal. Magnetic drain plug is covered in metal.

So thinking about this reasonably, i pull the cam. There's def something going on there but I don't know what. Stringy pieces of metal came out with the cam that I can only imagine is cam bearing but none of them look too bad. On top of that, the cam shows signs of major heat.

This engine has maybe 50 miles on it. Maybe 2 hours total run time. Everything was in spec when I put it together. Engine rolled over with ease by hand on the engine stand.

RockinWs6

Did you check ring end gaps? ALL OF THEM?

dburt86

iTrader: (2)

I set the top and bottom rung ends to .030 in preparation for some spray

KCS

iTrader: (20)

I'm reading this from my phone, but it doesn't look like there's anything abnormal on the cam. The lobes and journals have tracks on them, but I'd expect that considering the amount of metal in the oil. I think you're trying to show the discoloration in the journals, but to me that doesn't look like it would have been from running. More likely from the machining operations during manufacturing.

I'd say tear it down and see where the metal is coming from. I'd say either the bearings/thrust of it ate a lifter.

dburt86

iTrader: (2)

I agree, I'm thinking now it's probably the thrust bearing. Probably one of the only things I didn't check was crank end play after I installed the new thrust bearings.

rpturbo

iTrader: (47)

I am curious what brand/style of main and rod bearings you put in it? Did you check the main clearances? What were they? And is that long, stringy metal aluminum or does it stick to a magnet also?

dburt86

iTrader: (2)

The string is not magnetic. Originally I thought it was going to be cam bearing but they don't look all that bad. They certainly don't look bad enough to justify that much metal in the oil.

Cam bearings were durabond, mahle rings, clevit mains and rods.

imma_stocker

iTrader: (19)

Oh the joys of building a motor.

Hate to say it, but you have to open it up from top and bottom to find the culprit. Might get away with simply flushing the system and rolling in new bearings. If you didn't plastigauge before, now is a good time.

dburt86

iTrader: (2)

Yea i may just figure out what happened and move onto another block. I found a lq9 local, 600$ for the long block, un known mileage. But it looks super clean and he said I could pull the pan. I have a bore scope I'm going to bring too.

dburt86

iTrader: (2)

Got a chance to pull the motor out last night. The crank did have adequate end play but no bearing was even remotely still good. I think it's pretty clear that this was a low oil pressure problem but still not sure the cause of that. Took the cover off the new melling oil pump but everything seemed to look fine (other then major scoring from the liquid sandpaper)

Know It All

What were the bearing clearances?

What's that on the passenger side of the engine? An oil cooler? What was oil pressure like?

spencer321

Did you check clearances with plastigauge or mic and dial bore? I've never rebuilt an engine but from what I've read/seen I'd guess your clearances were too loose causing oil pressure to drop. This may be a stupid question but you did remember to prime the engine before startup correct?

dburt86

iTrader: (2)

I plasti guaged the bearings, I'm not sure what they were but they were right on the money. The block orgiablly had all standard size oem bearings and none of them looked bad. I replaced them all with standard size bearings and plasti guaged them and they were all good.

Never got a chance to get a oil pressure gauge on the car. Probably could have saved it had I had one. Actually the reason I noticed the condition of the oil was because I was installing a gauge and saw a drop of oil and noticed the color.

Taxman20

iTrader: (11)

Since you did not have a gauge on it and never knew the oil pressure, I am going to agree with you that its all due to low or lack of oil pressure.

If you took the block to a machine shop to have it cleaned, did you verify that the machine shop put all of the galley plugs back in after they cleaned the block? I had an engine burn up once in my stock car and it was a plug left out of an oil galley which was allowing the oil to bypass the filter. I had the same damage you have plus a spun rod bearing.

Paul Bell

iTrader: (9)

Did you install the barbell oil diverter/plug that's under the rear cover?

Paul Bell

iTrader: (9)

And next time, do this on the engine stand. Mount & power the starter, no spark plugs.

Jase01

^^^^^^^
I wish I'd thought of this with mine Paul, a great simple idea. I only saw your original post of this after I already had the engine off the stand and in the car unfortunately.

I used a garden sprayer from the port on the block while it was still on the stand. It got some oil pressure and flow from everywhere up top so I'm happy but this idea would have been so much easier and proves the pump as well.

Best wishes,
Jason.

dburt86

iTrader: (2)

Thanks for the tips Paul, but what are you speaking of?

Also, do you think there is a difference in measuring pressure at the port in your video in comparison to the oil line cover on the side of the oil pan near the filter?

Just wondering if it would be more beneficial to measure the oil pressure further away from the pump so if there is blockage somewhere in the system, the further away i am, the more likely i would see low pressure. Im not sure if that makes sense.

Know It All

There's a barbell shaped plug that goes in the main oil passage at the rear of the block. It's overlooked pretty frequently and can cause low oil pressure.

Paul Bell

iTrader: (9)