I sympathize with you; the factory, instead of using plainly marked bearings, "stnd" ".0005 os", ".001 os" etc, apparently likes to use its own in house letter designations..which are pretty much useless. With a chevy small block, if there's any significant miles on the engine, I roll in a new set of rod and main bearings. To avoid the hassle, cost and time to pull the entire engine, I purchase a single bearing of each type, rod and main, in standard and .001 inch oversize; I install these "test" bearings on each journal in turn and check the clearances with plastigage and record what each journal seem closest to; i.e. standard, .0005 (a mix of one half standard, one half .001 os) or .001 os. Then I order the bearings that I need. Since bearings are available singly (as well as in a set), this is an economical alternative, and compensates for the excessive clearances of the worn out original bearings.

Of course I'm not implying that this is a permanent fix, but it certainly adds some life to the engine.

 

Yes... that was an option. Decided to just leave it for a later project. Too many bricks in the oven.

 

Figured it out... I think...
The intake gasket was leaking badly at cylinders 2 & 4. Oil vapor was getting sucked up through the block drain back port just in front of the #2 cylinder. The heavier droplets of extremely dirty/burnt oil did not get to the leaky ports... and dropped down to form the stalagmite. The previous owners it seems were driving the car with no regular maintenance.... and cheap oil. There was thick sludge everywhere in the lifter valley and the crank and lower end has a thick coating of burnt oil on it. Only the head intake ports at #2 & #4 were blackened with oil deposits. The others were clean. That's my story and I'm too busy to come up with another one.

 

I experienced oil sludge build up in a Engine. from someone using I believe 20w 50 Oil ~ Carb Cleaner. For this is actually brutal. if you do not clean quick enough. It actually dries so fast. Hardens up making the Job a nightmare. At least for my experience.

 

sounds like a decent Theory Tom. I have recently run into my first potential experience with so-called cheap oil. On my 2006 Denali XL I stupidly put on a Fram filter with the cheapest oil I could find. Within four days I had no oil pressure when I started up the truck. Unfortunately I discovered this in the middle of the Rocky Mountains in Canmore Alberta.

I heard no noise from the top end. The engine sounded normal. I took the chance that it may be a sensor problem. So with other cars aware of my situation they followed me out the Mountain Road. I experimented with gunning it. Once I gunned it, The oil pressure gauge shot up to 40psi.

this truck has 210,000 miles on it and I do extremely often oil changes as I want to vehicle to last forever. Up until this single oil change, since I have owned it, I have run Quaker State Defy high mileage oil in 5W 30. It's a has some additives to it, zinc being one of them, I have no idea if it's worth the retail price or not, but I buy it when it goes on sale in bulk so for me it's still cheap oil changes. I have no idea if the so-called additive package really does anything that I can tell you this.

when I got home I removed the Fram filter and put on a wix. I drained the cheap oil and put in the Quaker State defy and now my oil pressure is right back where it was. At 45-70.

I think what may have been happening is the O-ring on the oil pick up tube on my LQ9 engine, which is the truck version of an LS1, is wearing out. Maybe the Quaker State defy has some slight Swellers as additives.

I will be dropping the pan to swap this o-ring.

I am very new to everything to do with cars. I've been driving for a long time. But I have never worked on cars nor have I even done my own oil changes until September 2014 when I bought my Corvette and started to become active on this forum. I never would've believed that the type of oil and/or the type of oil filter, could make so much difference!

I am so grateful to be part of this community, it has saved me tens of thousands of dollars in work on my vehicles in the past year and a half and I'm not exaggerating!

incidentally on my 110,000 mile 1987 C4 I also run the Quaker State defy. I also run it because of the zinc in my 1985 even though it has low miles on it i read that zinc is good for the 1985 because of something called a flat tappet.



have you cleaned all of that crap out of there yet? I just did my head gasket on my 1985 and I soaked my intake runners plenum and both cylinder heads in a tub of gasoline in my backyard for two weeks. Everything but the hardest crusty stuff just fell right off.

might be worth a try on these heads!

PS, sorry for the grammar, i use Siri to dictate these and sometime she gets my sentences a little mixed up.

 

This isn't a sign of low mileage motor. You sure its the original?

 

I would consider it a high mileage motor. It's pretty well worn out. The timing chain was just flopping all over the place. The VIN matches the stamp on the engine pad.

 

All cleaned up. Heads are still on the car.

 

Hi,
Just my opinion, of course, but I cringe at you saying that you aren't going to pull the engine and rebuild. Build-up like that can only get totally cleaned out by putting the block in a vat for a day or so. Else, you'll have bits of that stuff going all through the oil system for months to come. If it is hard, it will go through the oil pump before it reaches the filter and may cause problems in the pump. But, you gotta do what you gotta do. The Chevy engine is a surprisingly forgiving piece of equipment. It scares and amazes me what I did as a 'young hero' to motors and they came back for more!! Good luck!

walt z.

 

I agree... it needs to be pulled... but...

Reasons for not pulling the engine..

1) Promised to let wife drive this Vette while I repair her car (Lincoln Town Car HVAC broken... have to pull entire dash)
2) Mustang #1 have to weld in a new radiator support & rebuild front end sheet metal (daughters accident)
3) Mustang #2 needs convertible top, have to re-install convertible body stiffener after (daughters) accident repair & rebuild front end sheet metal and replace in-tank fuel pump
4) Mustang #3 needs convertible top, pulled engine & AOD... in garage. rebuilding
5) Mustang #4 needs convertible top, brakes failed.
6) 66 Corvette, pulled 327, building 383 to replace, needs convertible top.
7) 70 Corvette, headlight mechanisms pulled for rebuild, front suspension completely pulled, pulling 454 due to bad bearings, needs new side yokes etc etc
8) Crown Vic, pulled engine & AOD... in driveway.
9) Rear end shot in 86 Silverado... bought Eaton Posi 4 years ago. No time to install.
9) CASE 580 backhoe in need of several major repairs
10) Just started getting bids on a garage addition to house.
11) Still healing from rotator cuff surgery

Only have 2 car garage and 66/70 Vettes are immobile inside.

Oh well.

 

YIKES!!!
Well, I'm still cringing but for a different reason! LOL You certainly have the "engine pulling" part down pat.
Hope the new garage comes with a well-stocked liquor cabinet!!

Good luck.
walt z.

 

Lol and I thought I had things to do!