Thread: Shavings in oil... What do I do?

hey need some advice...

setup is mildly bored and honed block... machinist did work to provide P2W clearance for my wiseco pistons.

the block has arp main studs so it was line bored. clearance between main bearings and crank was 2thou (I didnt measure myself to confirm).

after all the machine work was done. I asked my mech to wash up the block to have it delivered to the engine builder. builder did his thing and on the 3rd oil change @ about 250km's...

Problem now is the mech admits he didnt use compressed air to clean the galleries and all my acl bearings (rod & main) show hotspots and scraping marks.

apparently the crank doesnt show signs of any damage and I am not sure what exactly should be done to clean the block for reassembly. the engine is currently in the car and I need some recommendations.

- when shavings get in the pan, does that imply there are none left in the oil galleries in the block?

- i have oil lines running from my turbo and also my vvl head, is there anything I should consider before reassembly in regards to cleaning those parts and lines?

- should I disassemble the oil pump and clean it up? would there be shavings still in the pump?

- so i guess my question in essence is, do i completely disassemble and restart or do i just change the bearings and reassemble?

On all my motors i run pressurized cleaner through the oil ports before assembly to avoid any of that issue. If you think you have material in the galleys then id suggest at least removing the crank and run some cleaner through the galleys before reassembly. Why he wouldnt clean out the galleys is beyond me especially after machining.

I assume you used standard size for the rod bearings correct? As for the mains that definitely shouldnt show any serious signs of wear that soon.

Maybe a faulty oil pump, restricted filter and so on? On a new motor you will get some shavings in the pan from ring and cylinder wall break in. Shouldnt really have any bearing material though other than maybe the intial coating thats on the bearings.

Id say depending on the severity of the amount of shavings and wear would determine what to do. But from what your saying id recommend at least removing the crank, run cleaner then compressed air through the oil passages, replace the oil pump maybe with a ve pump if you dont already, and then replace all bearings. Also use a good quality oil. You dont need a long extended break in period. Once you do a couple heat cycles on the engine which im sure are done, just go with a good oil and stick with it. The bearings dont really break-in. Break-in is mainly for rings and cylinder wall.

ya... its my fault. i totally overlooked the compressed air... he should have reminded me though.

i am already running a ve oil pump. are you saying get another one?

i use puralator oil filters and ursa 15w-40 oil (zinc content). acl standard race bearings for both rod and main.

interms of severity. i think its pretty bad. seeing copper on all the mains (scrapings) and on the rod bearings im seeing alot of hot spots, no copper though. all the bearing surfaces are pitted and rough to the touch. its a total disaster.

ok so a complete disassemble and individual attention to each passage in the block, pump and head isnt necessary then. definitely will clean crank properly and get it micropolished before reinstall. i just wasnt sure about a complete disassembly

I wouldnt say a complete dissasembly is in order.

I think the mains have something to do with the studs. You said it was line bored though correct? Something doesnt seem right. Either something clogged the system or the mains were not properly done.

can the oil passages be cleaned without removing the head?

peace

You wouldnt be able to get them all, mainly the upper end but you could definitely get the bottom end. If your going to go through all the trouble of removing the crank though you might as well take the head off anyways and just do them all. You could leave the pistons in place that way you dont need to replace rings but yeah I would make sure and like I said, double check your mains.

after 250km...

Looks like no big deal. The bearings have probably caught all the shavings they are ever going to see, and that probably happened within the first couple miles anyway. I think you could toss in some new bearings and be confident everything is fine. The turbo bearing may not last as long as it should, but unless you like to rebuild turbos, I'd just leave it alone too.

The one troubling thing I see is that copper in the center strip of the main bearings. The bearings are a lead/copper alloy which is always the color of lead unless the alloy has reached temps around the middle of the melting point of lead and copper. When that happens, the lead melts away, and you're left with just copper. As you noted, that is a sign of overheating... The main bearings shouldn't look like that. I would wonder about an oil supply issue? It is very odd that the overheating seems to be centered in the oil channel.

Yeah you can definitely tell it was from shavings as it stayed right in the center.

Id say clean out the crank and throw new bearings in.

Use the oil that your going to use. Consider break-in complete.

The rod bearings look fine. That is just the coating your seeing coming off. The bearings will eventually be shiney as it will loose that dark grey coating.