So far, it sounds like the OP caught the problem before it became serious. $100-$150 and a bunch of cleaning; it could have been *much* worse.
Help, metal in oil
- Thread starter 383_GrandPrix
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Can't express cleanliness. GM would have engine assemblers wear white cotton gloves.
If the lines or marks on the bearings cannot be felt with a fingernail, put it back together. Run Wix oil filters. Not sure what cam, I am allowing flat tappet because you mentioned 20 minutes of break in. I have also seen engines clog an oil filter after cam break in due to assembly lubes, lint, dust, and byproducts of the wear in from rings, springs, rocker arms, lifters, cam, and such. I change oil and filter after break in, or at the least the filter, then all of it at 500 miles. I still use GM EOS along with manufacturer cam assembly lube AND Valvoline VR1 oil for flat tappet cam applications for the ZDDP.
I also can't stress priming your oil system until you have oil to all the rocker arms. Sometimes this will require turning the crank a little.
If the lines or marks on the bearings cannot be felt with a fingernail, put it back together. Run Wix oil filters. Not sure what cam, I am allowing flat tappet because you mentioned 20 minutes of break in. I have also seen engines clog an oil filter after cam break in due to assembly lubes, lint, dust, and byproducts of the wear in from rings, springs, rocker arms, lifters, cam, and such. I change oil and filter after break in, or at the least the filter, then all of it at 500 miles. I still use GM EOS along with manufacturer cam assembly lube AND Valvoline VR1 oil for flat tappet cam applications for the ZDDP.
I also can't stress priming your oil system until you have oil to all the rocker arms. Sometimes this will require turning the crank a little.
At least it's just a bearing situation. I've seen way worse. At least with a few hundred bucks yours can be going again. Me for instance, I have to rebuild the entire bottom end. Crank, rods, new bolts, the works. And new bearings and cam. And maybe pistons and rings.
Funny story with that. That's actually the main reason I pulled the pan... I bought a Proform oil pump priming tool and used that to prime the oil system while spinning the motor over to make sure everything had oil. We pulled it and fired it up, then I realised the next day that the aluminium bushing (area circled in red) was up against the cam gear and that the cam gear was shredding the aluminium bushing into the pan. So we pulled the pan to see if anything was floating in there still. My coworker seems pretty sure that it was the aluminium that got into all the bearings and destroyed everything, I'm not convinced. I think it was a combination of not being clean enough and the oil pump primer.
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