Cut Open Oil Filter - What To Look For??

[motorhead]

I am running Valvoline 20w50 standard dino-oil in my LC2 and I have 25lbs at hot idle... I am running the booster plate, the HV kit and the 60lb spring with a ~1/8" thick gasket instead of a shim in the PRV.

Thicker oil might help depending upon where you live

 

[Chuck Leeper]

Pullin the pan?

V6..Simple project. pull the x-over pipe, the starter. Remove the pan bolts [20] and drop the pan down.. You MAY have to turn the crank w/ a breaker bar to get the crank in the position of max clearance at the ft throws. Work the pan over the oil pump pickup and WALA!! It's off.
To install. I use dental floss to tie the gasket to the rail in several places. I install the pan and the bolts, leaving the bolts loose. Once all the bolts are started, I cut the floss and pull it out, then tighten the bolts... DO NOT overtighten them!!
Look at the thrust main and some rods too!!..
When retorquing the rods, be sure to use some feeler gauges between the rod cheeks and the crank face. This keeps the caps from twisting when tightening the bolts.

I'm betting there's material in the pan, if you have it in the filter can already.

While you are there, put a dial indicator on the crank and check end play.. Should be in the .004 to .007" range.

 

[PaulRV6]

For all those following this post, I have decided to pull the engine and check things with it out. After checking the press relief and finding nothing (except a few more specs) I thought it would take me 1/4 of the time just to pull the pan, so instead I used that time to begin removal. I will inform the board what I find.
Thanks for all the responses.
paul

 

[Chuck Leeper]

ENGINE OUT!

Paul, GOOD MOVE!! The time spent will pay off, BTDT!!

 

[PaulRV6]

Engine is out, pan off, not good. More shiny material on inlet pump screen. Checked thrust and it measured .007" (same as installed) so thrust brg is ok.
Removed cam sensor to check pump and with screwdriver in shaft it rotated pretty hard. Removed pump adapter cover and it had some swirl marks but not bad at all. I think the finer particles were causing a tighter clearance within the gears.
Rocker assemblies look ok. I will remove the timing cover and inspect chain and button and then on to the cam brg inspection.

Now for the questions:
1. With the amount of material I am finding, what about cleaning the oil cooler in the radiator? It looks like the filter was definately doing its job. How do I do that?
2. What about turbo brgs? Do these have to be removed (I just replaced them with the engine rebuild) or can I just flush the brgs?
3. Can I do all this work without removing the heads? I would like to preserve the head gaskets.
4. Can the Felpro intake valley pan gasket be reused? I just hate to waste short lived gaskets.

I will next go into mains & rods depending on cam brgs.

paul

P.S. This also explains why my engine was running hotter by 10 deg. I was all set to blame it on the thrasher chip that I was trying out.

 

[Chuck Leeper]

Metal everywhere?

Paul, the ENTIRE engine, all oil lines, have to be flushed, as does the turbo brg. The oil cooler must be replaced. [NOT flushed!!] The oil cooler will not give up ALL the metal during a "hot tank" at the rad shop.[BTDT!!]
As for the rest of the engine, the oil passages in the block have to be scrubbed, the pushrods and lifters are contaminated. In short, the entire assy has to be cleaned.
As for the gaskets, once they are compressed, they are junk.

I'd check the turbo brg next... Could be it, or the backing plate is FUBAR, and creating the contamination??

The added operating temp could have been from:
1. The brg drag on the crank, elevating the oil temp, thus the rad attempting to get rid of the added oil temp.
2. The turbo brg dragging, causing high exh. gas backpressure, thus higher than normal H2O temps.

 

[Steve Wood]

I am glad you pulled it instead of driving it. Hopefully the redo will be about 25% of the price that would have been if you had driven it till it blew.

Chuck is absolutely correct on the clean out procedure, unfortunately. It's a lot of work but the coolers cannot be cleaned completely.

You need to pull the engine completely apart and run brushes thru all the passages and clean it out...pain in the neck but not expensive.

 

[PaulRV6]

The only item that I am not sure of is the oil cooler. How does this get flushed or replaced? It is a fairly new radiator from Griffin but they do not do copper core any more. You don't think I can run cleaner fluid thru it to flush? Thanks

paul

 

[Steve Wood]

It cannot be cleaned within any degree of certainty. You can either have it replaced, or, run an external cooler.

 

[PaulRV6]

Ok, so who replaces these things? Is it a std replacement item for any readiator shop or is it a specialty type thing? What should I expect it to cost?

paul

 

[Steve Wood]

Not sure what is available from GM at the moment but a radiator shop should be able to handle the swap. Not sure, tho', on your Griffin..

 

[PaulRV6]

the answer is cam bearings

Well the answer is my cam bearings went south. I remember when I installed them they were a little tight until I hand worked them to get the clearance. What could have gone wrong? It looks like the 2nd and 3rd ones but until I get them out not sure of rear. I will check the # on the brgs I used but which ones are recommended?
Still not sure if I am going to pull heads but everything else is off and apart, what do ya think?

paul

 

[Steve Wood]

I like the HD ones from TA Performance. Cam bearings should be snug but the cam should rotate smoothly by hand.

 

[Brian Schauder]

I hate to say it ,but pull the heads.Your going to want to clean everything up REAL good.You don't want trash going through a new rebuild, not to mention it will confuse you if you check your oil again once it's back together.

 

[PaulRV6]

engine experts needed!!!

Ok, I have pulled the heads off and removed crank. What I found on the cam bearings is they were all wiped at the 10:00 position. I also found the mains #2 & 4 to be mildly wiped. What could this mean?
When cam brgs go is this where they typically wipe at? Is this the position where the cam runs in? I wonder what caused what? The rod brgs are fine and so is the thrust surface and #1 & 3 main brgs.
I looked back in my records and found that the clearance on the #3 cam brg was .0009, wondering if that was not enough.
What do you all think? Thanks

paul