fastassls1maro

iTrader: (22)

so built my engine from bottom up about 4 years ago. I put 1000-1500 miles on motor with no problems or any signs off issues. This year i went boosted and did some dyno pulls, maybe 500 street miles, and about 10 track passes. Last weekend i was out doing some weekend pulls and noticed a slight knock off idle and also noticed the factory oil pressure gauge was fluttering between 20-40psi. My autometer oil pressure gauge tee'd into the oil filter housing stayed rock steady at about 40psi the whole time. Knowing that something was wrong i babied it home and proceeded to drain the oil and inspect the oil filter. Upon cutting the oil filter open i found quite the collection of bearing material. So i pulled the engine and started to tear it down and found the problems with #1 rod bearing being trashed and the rest weren't far behind.
engine build list:
stock crank
melling hp oil pump, new dumbell, new cam retaining plate
clevite main and rod bearings
compstar i beam rods, arp rod bolts
mahle -16cc dish pistons 3.905 bore
243 heads, arp studs, ls1 mls headgaskets
was running 15psi of boost when i started having problems
on3 78/75 turbo

here's some pics of the carnage.





so where do i go from here??
Can i just clean the crank up and install new bearings?
Does this look like the bearings failed due to a clearance issue or could there be another problem?
Should i pull the main bearings and also inspect the cam bearings?
Should i pull the heads and pull the rod/pistons out to have them checked?

TLDR: destroyed #1 rod bearing, other bearings not far behind. What could be the cause? What should i do to correct it?

A.R. Shale Targa

iTrader: (2)

Definitely need a total teardown to get all the **** out of it.
My guess is perhaps the rods were a bit tight from the onset and the boost accelerated the bearings eating themselves to death.
I'm thinking the crank should be reground but after inside measuring some new 010" main/rod bearings to properly set the clearances.
Obviously new oil pump/valve springs etc.

fastassls1maro

iTrader: (22)

why new valve springs??

A.R. Shale Targa

iTrader: (2)

4-5 years old, 2000 or more miles with high lift cam, piece of mind ??
At the minimum have them checked/shimmed

blk00ss

iTrader: (66)

TLDR looks familiar lol

RockinWs6

Looks like they were overloaded-not enough oil pressure.

fastassls1maro

iTrader: (22)

thats what i dont understand, i always had great oil pressure on both my factory and autometer gauge. I tore the engine down completely tonight and inspected everything. The cam bearings and cam looked great. The main bearings had some scratches in them and some spots of copper were showing. At this point im just going to send the block/crank/rods to the machine shop and have them clean and check everything. The pistons and bores looked awesome so atleast thats a plus.

fastassls1maro

iTrader: (22)

RockinWs6

rods are the last to get oil, you need more oil volume and more clearance so the bearings stay cool. Those bearings just wore out from too much pressure and not enough oil.

KCS

iTrader: (20)

What were the main and rod bearing clearances?

fastassls1maro

iTrader: (22)

to be honest i dont remember as i built the engine 4+ years ago. I do remember using plastigauge and the bearing clearances were in spec. Or are you asking what the bearing clearance is now?

shadowfirep

Are you running a stock oil pump? I'm with RockinWs6; it sounds like a lack of oil volume/pressure. Especially when you're taxing the motor with 1atm of boost. Look into cleaning and rebuilding and include a high pressure oil pump. I have one from Melling and its rock solid so far.

fastassls1maro

iTrader: (22)

i had a melling high pressure pump installed as well as a new cam retaining plate and new dumbell.

RockinWs6

Holy edit Batman................those bearings were too tight.

KCS

iTrader: (20)

That's what I'm thinking. It was probably adequate for an NA application, but didn't like the boost too much.

static low 92

iTrader: (2)

KCS, whats your rod bearing clearance recommendation in a boost application?

KCS

iTrader: (20)

Depends on how much power, what rods and crank, etc., but I would want about .0025" or so.

static low 92

iTrader: (2)

Lets say stock crank, Gen IV rods, 750hp MAX

KCS

iTrader: (20)

Probably a little more, like .0028" then. A Melling 10296 or 10355 pump would be a good idea as well.

static low 92

iTrader: (2)

I've been on similar trajectory as OP, had a 10296 melling. It was in question as a potential oil pan drainer (which im extremely skeptical of) unless I was doing WOT pulls for extended periods 1 mile plus etc, which never did. Ran 7 qts in an H3 pan using Rotella

So I have been questioning what pump to use this go around.