scaxx

I guess I don't know what to do now. I spent over three years building this car and used the last bit of my funds to finish it up. Don't have any sort of money to rebuild the engine and I won't get out of school until next year. At least I'll have an engineering degree so I'll get a job unlike art majors. But f***, I thought that was normal for break in, never broken in an engine before.

6spdg37s

iTrader: (1)

^^^ + 1

truckdoug

iTrader: (25)

well you're gonna have to pull the pan to fix the o-ring if thats the issue.
so do that and pop some rod and main caps off, go from there.
one thing at a time. it can be fixed.

1FastBrick

iTrader: (16)

As mentioned, I would start with droping the pan first. Maybe pop the #1 rod cap off first and see how it looks then go from there.

If you're lucky, You caught it early enough and it's salvageable with minimal work.

As long as it did not spin any bearings it will be easy to repair.

maroonls1z

Did you prelube before you started it up?

Smo's04Gto

iTrader: (8)

What oil did you use for break in ?

MuhThugga

Where did you buy the crate engine from? With that much **** on the plug, I wouldn't rule out an assembly error.

scaxx

I was using br30 for oil, prelubed, and bought it from jegs. Luckily my buddy works at a machine shop and one of his buddy's there said he'd fix it for a case of beer and parts. We're hoping minimal damage. Gonna probably go that route and throw a bigger cam in it while it's apart.

Edit: Miscommunication, he meant tear it down and tell me what I needed. I can do that.

kingtal0n

iTrader: (1)

i would "fire" whoever sent me an engine full of shavings and black oil. it looks used, like somebody bought it, ruined it, and returned it. Did you check the oil before you started it? Did you check it after it ran 5 minutes? New engines, keep checking the oil, keep checking the... oil

scaxx

I had to put a new pan on it so it was definitely new oil in there. We filled it and checked it right before we started it. I should have checked it sooner, I guess I've learned a lot of lessons with this one.

dan96z71

Don't kick yourself too much, 17 miles doesn't seem like a lot before checking the oil again to me.

140K_GXP

I think you are fine. Crank, rod, and cam bearing material is not magnetic so would not be on the magnetic drain plug. The particles on your drain plug are made of iron. Most likely from the cylinders and piston rings breaking in.

If it were me, I would correct the O-ring issue. Change the oil and filter and go from there.

You could also take a sample of the oil that you drained out and send it to a lab for analysis. This would tell you for sure if you have bearing damage or not.

Also, your oil is most likely dark because of the assembly lube which usually contains molybdenum disulfide with is black.

MuhThugga

I was thinking more like an improper cleaning after the honing process.

scaxx

I've already fixed the oring issue, however I haven't started the engine yet because I'd rather not damage anything more. I talked to some of the guys at the machine shop and they said that seeing that much metal is definitely not a good thing and that running the engine anymore will only cause further damage. Probably gonna pull the engine next week and start opening it up.

I'm hoping damage is minimal, my main hope is that the crank isn't toast. We shall see though. I'll post pictures when I find what went wrong.

TipsyMcStagger

iTrader: (1)

Were you able to definitively see/determine whether the o-ring was in fact pinched?

Tipsy

scaxx

I wasn't able to see if it was pinched or not but I think I may have put the wrong oring on instead. I reused the stock red one but the pickup tube came with a couple blue ones that I realized I should have used.

I tore the engine down this weekend to see what the damage was. There's some very slight scoring on the cylinder walls and I'll find out today if I need bigger pistons or if I can get away with just a hone. Other than the slight scoring the crank and cam are fine. There was some very slight scoring on the bearings from the metal in the oil but I should be fine with just a polish on the crank. In the end it makes sense since I didn't see a bunch of bearing material in the oil and the material was magnetic.

Deeohgie69

iTrader: (3)

It's hard to tell in that pic, but it doesn't look bad enough to catch your nail on to me. I'd say worse case scenario run a ball hone through it and call it a day. Glad to see it wasn't major.

1BadGTM

Oil definitely dont look like it only had 17 miles on it.

With that said, still check the o ring and cut the filter open.

One of the most common problems I see (even with new cranks) is that they're bent. You can't always just put them in a set of v block and indicate them either. It takes more than that to do it properly.

1FastBrick

iTrader: (16)

Those cylinder should clean up just fine.

I am sure you will get it cleaned up and back on the road in no time.

scaxx

Yep my buddy's friend from the machine shop came by today and confirmed that the walls just need a hone, new rings, bearings...etc. Which is probably the best case scenario, definitely could have been much much worse.