Fresh Rebuilt Engine Destroyed Several Bearings??
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Teching In
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Sorry for not checking in for a day or so. Thanks for all the responses, I'll try to address a few of these questions and comments. Yes, the oil barbell was good, and all the oil passages were clean, I should mention that I took the regulator out of the oil pump and it was a little seized from the metal in the oil, but that was definitely from after the damage, and it was stuck in the fully closed position. The filter was the Wix that comes up for the Camaro at O'reilly #51042.
Regarding clearances, I definitely wanted like .0025", and my machinist just said that that is where the should have been, so either his measurements, or my plastigage readings were wrong, either way I will make certain that they are right next time.
I definitely agree that it looks like oil starvation, I just really hope that I figure this out. My plan for now is to clean the hell out of the engine, take everything to the machine shop again for thorough cleaning and inspection, then if the crank is salvageable, he will turn in and I will inspect everything extra carefully before reassembly. I won't assume that any of the machine work was done right, and I will carefully inspect everything myself, haha, and I'll buy enough oil and filters to change it at least a couple times in the first couple hours. Just to be certain, I'll have someone lay underneath and make sure the converter doesn't push the crank or anything (I'd be surprised if it does, but it is easier to check than rebuild another one.)
I am going to replace my oil pump, for a mild turbo setup, do people usually have better luck with HP/HV? I don't plan on running anything crazy, but I might end up playing with race gas or e85, only if pump gas timing and boost levels get boring after a while. haha.
And seriously, thanks for all the help guys, it is really cool that there are so many experienced people on here willing to share their time to help people in the community.
Regarding clearances, I definitely wanted like .0025", and my machinist just said that that is where the should have been, so either his measurements, or my plastigage readings were wrong, either way I will make certain that they are right next time.
I definitely agree that it looks like oil starvation, I just really hope that I figure this out. My plan for now is to clean the hell out of the engine, take everything to the machine shop again for thorough cleaning and inspection, then if the crank is salvageable, he will turn in and I will inspect everything extra carefully before reassembly. I won't assume that any of the machine work was done right, and I will carefully inspect everything myself, haha, and I'll buy enough oil and filters to change it at least a couple times in the first couple hours. Just to be certain, I'll have someone lay underneath and make sure the converter doesn't push the crank or anything (I'd be surprised if it does, but it is easier to check than rebuild another one.)
I am going to replace my oil pump, for a mild turbo setup, do people usually have better luck with HP/HV? I don't plan on running anything crazy, but I might end up playing with race gas or e85, only if pump gas timing and boost levels get boring after a while. haha.
And seriously, thanks for all the help guys, it is really cool that there are so many experienced people on here willing to share their time to help people in the community.
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Feb 2018
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This is not an assembly lube issue. I’ve used every conceivable lubricant available and as soon as the engine fires it becomes irrelevant. This is with out a doubt oil starvation. Not from a bad pump, wrong O ring or improper clearances. Nope
I’m not sure why the block received a line hone on the mains to start with since it’s not mandatory unless there was a prior issue I most certainly would not have it done again as it will only loosen the timing chain. They obviously performed it correctly the first time as you stated the crank spun fine. If you’re bores were too tight or caps on wrong, it simply would not have spun
OIL FILTERS FILTER
Always replace it after initial fifteen or twenty minute break in. Lubes dirt debris and general dust from air will all get caught in the pleats diminishing the volume of oil able to pass through it. Because it’s designed to trap all the crap.
I would bench sand the bearing thrust surfaces to obtain.012”-.014” since turbo application but otherwise polish crank. And clean block and passages. Reuse rings if they don’t appear scored. I would use federal mogul mains and plain King rod bearings. Cast cranks should not use H bearings. Weird but I’ve seen failures from that combo.
Dont overthink this. Your filter did it’s job and simply didn’t get removed soon enough
I’m not sure why the block received a line hone on the mains to start with since it’s not mandatory unless there was a prior issue I most certainly would not have it done again as it will only loosen the timing chain. They obviously performed it correctly the first time as you stated the crank spun fine. If you’re bores were too tight or caps on wrong, it simply would not have spun
OIL FILTERS FILTER
Always replace it after initial fifteen or twenty minute break in. Lubes dirt debris and general dust from air will all get caught in the pleats diminishing the volume of oil able to pass through it. Because it’s designed to trap all the crap.
I would bench sand the bearing thrust surfaces to obtain.012”-.014” since turbo application but otherwise polish crank. And clean block and passages. Reuse rings if they don’t appear scored. I would use federal mogul mains and plain King rod bearings. Cast cranks should not use H bearings. Weird but I’ve seen failures from that combo.
Dont overthink this. Your filter did it’s job and simply didn’t get removed soon enough
and to be clear, you would be pretty confident that the filter was my oil restriction? Oil pressure seemed to drop within just a couple minutes of running, but then it didn't really get bad until I actually hot rodded it a little bit while I was dialing in the tune, so that seems reasonable to me. Maybe the bypass was actually helping a little at first, but it couldn't flow enough when it really needed it. I also remember that when I first fired it up, the oil pressure would sit around 50, and go up around 70 when I revved it up, but before it starting dropping a lot, it went to around 20-30psi, and the oil pressure would hardly move at all when I revved it.
Thread Starter
Teching In
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Oh man! That might be significant, I should have caught that when I cut the filter apart, haha, but I guess I just thought I had seen a bypass, but it only had the anti drain back.
I think some oem oil pans will have a built in high pressure oil filter bypass built in (independent of the filter internal bypass), but I know most aftermarket oil pans will not have this valve built in. They’re designed on the same principle as the oil filter internal bypass in that they will still allow (unfiltered) oil flow in case the oil filter becomes too restricted. Ideally I would want at least one of these valves in place on a stock build. And if using a high pressure oil pump I personally would prefer to delete the oem bypass valve and run a filter with a high DP bypass built in. An oil system with neither bypass would be more susceptible to loss of total oil flow (and pressure) in the event of a clogged oil filter.
Which oil pan are you running? Does it have a built in bypass valve? It would typically be visible with the oil filter removed.
Which oil pan are you running? Does it have a built in bypass valve? It would typically be visible with the oil filter removed.