Hi

It seems that the builder of my motor did not allow for proper clearance between my T&D shaft rockers and the valve covers (amongst other mistakes). There are 5 very hard contact spots inside one cover (3 in the other) consequently it seems that there is aluminum missing from the inside of the covers.

The same amount of "loose aluminum" in my bike motor caused it to blow.

So I am thinking the givens such as changing the oil and the filter along with dropping the pan and cleaning it out.

BTW I am hearing impaired and did not hear the racket but fortunately someone else did

Any other suggestions?

Thanks in advance

Doug

 

Look around in the heads closely and see what you can pick up...probably not much.

I'd block off the filter bypass so that ALL oil goes through the filter even if I were to drop the pan tocheck it all. Disassemble oil pump to see if anything went through it.

JIM

 

Hi Jim

Thanks for your reply

I thought I had posted a reply earlier but I must have forgotten to hit the submit button. I talked to a company today to have the oil analyzed just to establish a firm foundation if I need to have one

When I strained the oil through a coffee filter there was both aluminum and what is believed to be machine shop debris. I imagine the filter is quite full of it and this is after two prior changes.

Here is part of a e-mail that I sent that should explain things


Dear Kevin

Because you did not sign for the certified letter I sent to your place of business I am sending you this and another certified letter addressed personally to you. This is so that you are very well aware of an alarming discovery of apparent aluminum metal and other hard debris (along with paint chips) that I have found while straining the oil from the motor that you built for me that has less than 30 miles on it. This is in addition to you having exactly one quart of too much oil in the motor. When I talked to your assembler "Scott" about the "too much oil" issue he said that because of the 6 quart pan plus one for the filter both of you have been putting 7 quarts of oil in the motor (along with no PCV system) while running the motor at up 7000 RPM on the dyno.

First off the combined oil capacity of both the pan and the oil filter is 6 quarts and not seven. In addition GM warns against overfilling their motors. Now secondly I started my investigation of the oil for two reasons.

1. A considerable amount of oil on the floor of my garage that appears to be coming out of the bell housing

2. There is a high degree of metal gouging in the inside of both valve covers. When I discussed all of this in detail with another local engine builder he suggested that I not only examine and change the oil along with the filter but that I drop the oil pan to clean it because a very small amount of debris can cause a catastrophic failure.

I have not yet dropped the pan but will do so today and was wondering if maybe you would like to be present for when I do? Also the pan needs to be cleaned in a tank such as you have and properly prepared to be re-installed. Since the main oil leak seems to be coming from inside the bell housing do you not think it would be prudent to replace the rear main seal while the pan is down?

I also believe that it would be very advantageous for you to be aware that in an unofficial but expert opinion of the hard debris found in the oil is that they consist not only of aluminum but also of debris associated with machine work. There will be an official expert opinion rendered from the analysis and prognosis of the used oil and filter that I am sending off to be analyzed.

I want him to change the seal rather than me. I would hate for the motor to let go because of scrap metal in a bearing and have them try to blame it on my work. They finally returned a call this afternoon and are suppose to get back soon. I believe in being as easy to work with as possible but as I have already told him that he is beating me up to much for way to long.

Back to the all the oil passing through the filter........ are you speaking of when draining it? Without my fuel pump being returned yet I am not in a real big hurry but even without changing the rear main seal I will get the pan off and cleaned up pretty quick. Just as you said there is nothing to be seen in the heads.

I did double up a set 3/16 valve cover gaskets and after I make sure there is not any loose aluminum ready to break away I will mark the contact points with blue dye to make sure the clearance is sufficient.

Other than that and checking the pump out all I know to do is run a micro filter and change it a couple of times while hoping for the best.

Doug

 

No, I'm talking about the aluminum adapter that is bolted to the block and the oil filter screws onto it. There is a spring loaded bypass in it that is open in real operation a lot and it allows unfiltered oil to bypass the filter and go directly back to motor. You can install a pipe plug in it (make sure it's flush so it doesn't contact filter) or buy an adapter with no bypass in it from Jegs/Summit. You also want to get a filter that does not have a bypass in it. Many do.

By doing all of this you guarantee that ALL oil goes directly through the filter and you can get all the junk out with a few oil changes.

Just make sure you let oil warm up before you *wing it* too much (especially important with thick oils) and once you get it cleaned out I'd switch to a less restrictive race type filter...like a long Moroso. It will clean things well yet not starve the engine.


Good luck.

JIM

 

Hi Jim

Ok I found the adapter and correct filter at Jegs and they should be here by Tuesday. They are going to change the rear main the same day and I might have the fuel system up and running by then now that the fuel pump is back. (That depends on whether or not I can get the 3/8 hard 90 out of the regulator without damaging the threads and replace it with a mandrel bend with a 8AN swivel...... it was put in with some real tough sealant).

The black hard trash in the oil is probably from the locks on top of the rockers where they hit the valve covers. The valve covers are being raised up with a new "extended" lip that should work better than gluing two gaskets together.

Looking back in hindsight I guess it was a good thing that the fuel pump went out after only 30 miles because had it not I would have driven it a lot more. This whole thing should not have happened and especially because they said that "they had suspected that I might have clearance problems with the valve covers".

Well all is well that ends well and once again I appreciate all your help. I will post a report on how it turns out.

BTW you take a good picture...... looks like you were having fun and whenever we meet your drinks are on me

Doug

 

That picture is pretty goofy huh? It's a long story..but a buddy of mine works in Russia a lot. He managed to *aquire* a couple of MiG helmets, leather *snoopy hat* and goggles. Mine is marked to have been part of the Russian Space Program for the STS-71 Space Shuttle mission to hook Atlantis and Mir together! His is a brand new one from the 50's. When we go to Bowling Green for the Cruise In each year...the helmets always make an appearance! He uses his to race at the dragstrip and the AutoX. That picture was taken on the highway just before I *threw down* on a new modded C-6 Z-06 from a 40 mph roll!

All I can say is...old sloppy cubes still work well to at least 145 mph when we let out.....with me a long way in front!!!!


He he he..........


Good luck!


JIM

 

Hi Jim

I have now done two changes and one of them was with the bypass setup. (I plan to do one more before returning to normal operation). Without even looking into the filter but straining the oil with a coffee filter I have come up with a lot more trash...hairs, aluminum (with one pretty good size piece), a 3/4 inch long piece of gasket material and more granular material.

It seems pretty easy to get stuff in there. While double checking my own work from changing to longer studs for the valve cover spacer I found a piece of steel stud thread material that had fallen into the head So I also installed a magnetic drain plug after closely checking the heads for more.

I now have a 1/4 inch spacer between two gaskets under the valve covers that are giving me the necessary clearance without leaking. However I was still leaking oil from somewhere else so I put dye in the oil and it is definitely coming from inside the scatter-shield. The lower flywheel end of the starter and the clutch rod by the opening both have considerable amount of dyed oil on them

So the next step is a new rear main seal and after that hopefully just having fun with it.

Doug