had a bad night
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 54,124
Likes: 30
From: Cincinnati, Oh USA
Rod bearings grab their throws when there is a lack of adequite oil film strength. Low oil flow, foamed oil, hot oil (above 260 F), or way too small bearing clearance (causing low oil flow) are the main causes of spun bearings. When a new crank is installed, every bearing on the crank should be measured, oil holes rodded to be sure that there is no debris in them AND the block webs should be measured to be sure that they are in line and if not, the block should be line bored to insure the webs are in a straight line. Out of line webs cause binding and early bearing failure.
One other thing causes spun bearings in the first 25 miles and it happened to a friend of mine. He bought a short block from Chevy (I shipped him one due to a sale locally) and had his shop install it. He called me and told me he drove away from the garage and spun a bearing before he went 5 miles. I asked him if the shop ran the oil pump before they started the engine and he said he watched them do that. Upon engine teardown the shop found that the cap bolts on some of the rods were not torqued. The shop believed that Chevy torqued them and they didn't check them. Chevy replaced the short block for free. Your shop is run by humans and humans make mistakes!
One other thing causes spun bearings in the first 25 miles and it happened to a friend of mine. He bought a short block from Chevy (I shipped him one due to a sale locally) and had his shop install it. He called me and told me he drove away from the garage and spun a bearing before he went 5 miles. I asked him if the shop ran the oil pump before they started the engine and he said he watched them do that. Upon engine teardown the shop found that the cap bolts on some of the rods were not torqued. The shop believed that Chevy torqued them and they didn't check them. Chevy replaced the short block for free. Your shop is run by humans and humans make mistakes!
Race Director
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 14,165
Likes: 9
On the LT1 there isn't really a good way to prime the oiling system before initial startup. You can spin it up and get some oil through it, but then you slap the intake down and you're supposed to wait 24 hours before startup to allow the RTV to set. By that time a lot of your oil will have drained back anyway. As such one should go very generous with the assembly lubricant since it's gonna be your engine's life blood until the oil does it's thing. After initial startup though you'll want to change the oil pretty quickly to get the assembly lubricant out of the oil. That stuff is very thick so as to stay put, once it washes off of everything it doesn't pump around too well.
I imagine if it was me I would put it all together, very heavy on the assembly lube. On first startup I'd leave the valvecovers off to ensure proper oil flow to the upper end of the engine. After 5 or 10 minutes I'd shut it down and drain the oil, change the filter, etc. I'd then go drive it for about 20 minutes, avoiding full out wide open throttle. Change the oil again. Then I'd drive it for about 100 miles, change the oil again. At 500 miles change the oil again and start driving more aggressive. At 1000 miles I'd probably switch to synthetic and call it good.
I imagine if it was me I would put it all together, very heavy on the assembly lube. On first startup I'd leave the valvecovers off to ensure proper oil flow to the upper end of the engine. After 5 or 10 minutes I'd shut it down and drain the oil, change the filter, etc. I'd then go drive it for about 20 minutes, avoiding full out wide open throttle. Change the oil again. Then I'd drive it for about 100 miles, change the oil again. At 500 miles change the oil again and start driving more aggressive. At 1000 miles I'd probably switch to synthetic and call it good.
Drifting
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 1,277
Likes: 1
From: Santa Maria CA
Originally Posted by CFI-EFI
Oil at 225* isn't high. I regularly see 235. What caught my eye, however, was the increase from the 200 range to the 220 range. That is why I asked about the operating environment. I agree, if there were no good reason for the increase, it could have been for warning the failure.
RACE ON!!!
RACE ON!!!
Thread Starter
Drifting
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 1,485
Likes: 2
From: Champaign, IL
St. Jude Donor '05
Originally Posted by ski_dwn_it
Next motor, change the oil every 20 or so miles for the first 3 or so times. Too much is not going to hurt anyhting. Too little you will have the problems your having.
Now I know for next time I'm going to be all about changing the oil. BTW I should have shut the car down right away but while I was still inside the car driving I heard the noise and thought my alternator was coming apart or something. Then I drove the car all the way across town to the shop and there were lots of metal on metal noises so yes I should have parked it immediately. 
Originally Posted by CFI-EFI
Oil at 225* isn't high. I regularly see 235. What caught my eye, however, was the increase from the 200 range to the 220 range. That is why I asked about the operating environment. I agree, if there were no good reason for the increase, it could have been for warning the failure.
Originally Posted by SHINOBI-X
agreed,most newer cars run high oil temps and most manufactures change the breakin oil at the factory and then say run it for 5000 miles! i think thats bogus but Hell! they run forever it seems like,and the more people abuse them the more they keep going.the machine shop that built my 469cid pontiac dislikes syn.oils aswell.they had a burning hatered for the stuff.
...Hey wait a minute they do make a living building engines so if everyone was using synthetic maybe they're afraid they'll be out of work!
ok bad joke 
thanks for all the feedback and input guys
Joe
