Help, metal in oil

[Bar50]

It's fine, put it back together.

Bearings have a protective coating on them for shelf life. Some builders scuff it off, some only scuff it off on the back or out side (like with a scotchbrite pad).

I have seen several aftermarket cranks come in at +.002 and .0025 from different manufacturers.

 

[lilbowtie]

I don't see anything to be concerned about YET except things should have been cleaner. I don't trust the big parts washers when you consider what goes through them. Some guys have piped up about cleaning - you can never be clean enough. If your cleaning the block it must be w/o all plugs and cam bearings. It scares me when you say Almost no metal and metal filings when there shouldn't have been any. You were obviously concerned or you wouldn't have pulled the pan - do you have any pic's. I know I would need to know where it came from. Have you checked your overhead ?? With a roller cam you don't need to be too concerned about break-in or high zinc although it don't hurt

 

[pontiacgp]

did you open the oil filter to see what you'd find?

 

[383_GrandPrix]

I did cut the filter open, I didn't find anything worrisome in the filter material. I drained the pan into one container and the oil filter into another. The oil from the pan has no sines of metal, the oil from the filter looked like a metallic or pearlescent paint. I dropped the pan just to make sure that there was nothing left in the pan that didn't come out with the oil.

 

[pontiacgp]

I wonder if the bearing itself was the problem. If the material on the bearing was not properly bonded to the bearing that could be the cause of the "dirt"

 

[383_GrandPrix]

I already dumped the oil from the filter into a waste bucket (dumb of me) but here's the bottom of the container that had the filter oil and left over oil from the pan in it. This is what got me concerned.

 

[TRX]

The scratches... it's hard to tell from a picture. The little dots in the bearing? That's flak.

If it's at all possible, write it off as a learning experience, buy another gasket set, and yank the engine back out.

Some motor oils are waxy and leave buildups here and there that the hot tank won't remove. Along the top side of the pan rail and over the rear cam bearing are good spots for dust and shavings to get embedded in the wax, where they then depart when the motor is fired up.

You need to check the insides of the wrist pins, and behind the rings. The timing chain can sometimes have a bunch of crud in it; wash it in gasoline or solvent and soak it in oil before reinstallation. Use a rifle cleaning kit and run brushes through all the oil galleries in the block and crank. Take the heads to the car wash and use soapy water to blast out any flak in the valve springs. Make sure you pull the oil filter adapter and clean behind it. Clean *everything*. And if you're using the stock intake, pull the sheet metal cover on the bottom and remove the pound or so of carbon and dirt behind the heat shield. Make sure there's nothing hiding behind the oil pan baffles.

Some shops use shot blasters for cleaning parts. The tiny steel beads can get trapped in odd places, to break free later. I've seen the steel shot fall out of a cylinder head's water jacket into the bores when someone was setting the head down on the block..

You'll always have some sparklies from a new motor. They generally come from the timing chain and the valve spings. Back when I was in the business, I specified an oil change after a 20-minute run in, then again at a hundred miles. Cheap non-detergent oil is perfectly fine for that. One of the fancy neodymium "computer magnets" in the pan, and one near each drainback hole in the cylinder head will help catch stuff if you have an engine failure. Remember, the small block Chevy has a bypass filtration system; only about half the oil makes it through the filter in normal operation. The Chevy's oil pump is a gear type and will happily pass sizeable chunks of debris back around and around and around...

 

[383_GrandPrix]

This really sucks. I got this engine for my birthday when I was 8 (14 years ago), finally got it running on my 22nd birthday. This engine was a complete overhaul. The only thing from the original motor is the block; everything else is brand new. I tallied the receipts once just for fun ( I know you're not supposed to unless you have to) and I was at about $6,000 probably closer to $8 000 now. I guess this will just have to be a really expensive learning experience 🙁

 

[pontiacgp]

This really sucks. I got this engine for my birthday when I was 8 (14 years ago), finally got it running on my 22nd birthday. This engine was a complete overhaul. The only thing from the original motor is the block; everything else is brand new. I tallied the receipts once just for fun ( I know you're not supposed to unless you have to) and I was at about $6,000 probably closer to $8 000 now. I guess this will just have to be a really expensive learning experience 🙁

be glad that you had the engine on a stand and not in the car...a new set of bearings isn't too expensive but get rid rid of those receipts...

 

[Texas82GP]

Man, this is a sad story. You can't be clean enough.