Steel Shavings In Oil Filter

[ek02]

I noticed my oil pressure had dropped about 5-10 psi on the way home from the track. I pulled the oil filter and cut it open. It is full of steel shavings about 3/16" long. Some straight and some curved. There is no bearing material. All the debris sticks to a magnet. I have a comp roller cam with 885 lifters and a double roller chain with billet gears (no tensioner). It's a 274" with a forged crank and rods and Champion heads with Scorpion rockers. My thought is that a roller on a lifter is coming apart since there is no bearing material in the filter. The engine is quiet and has no abnormal valve noise. I plan to pull the engine to check everything since all that metal has to be in the pan and everywhere else. I can't think of anywhere else the shavings could be coming from. Has anyone else had the same problem?

 

[TurboBob]

post some pics of the debris.


B

 

[ek02]

Here's a photo of the filter and a magnet with some of the slivers. I am swapping in my 3.8 this week so I can take my time and go through the 274. Hopefully, the filter caught all the metal and the bearings are not hurt unless some of it went through the bypass. Another possibilty is a roller rocker coming apart, but the valve train sounds normal. At any rate, this stuff went through the pump, so it is probably trashed.

 

[Nick Micale]

Do your valve springs have dampers?

I have seen them rub and leave debris like that.

 

[ek02]

I've got beehive springs, no dampers. The stuff looks like short pieces of wire from a wire brush. It has not been apart since I built it 12,000 miles ago. Oil pressure has been 20 at idle and 70 at 6000 RPM. Can't wait to see what is coming apart.

 

[TurboDave]

I'm only guessing here, but when you get it tore apart check the cam thrust surface on the block.

 

[ek02]

I'm going to pull the cam to check the bearings, so it will be checked. I am using a shimmed type adjustable roller thrust bearing, not a spring loaded button, but anything is possible. I will start pulling the engine out later today.

 

[ek02]

I swapped the 3.8 in yesterday and pulled the stroker apart. Everything looks good except the mains. They are starting to shed material. The crank will polish out. The main bearings were Federal Mogul FEM-107M and the rods FEM-6-3755AP. These are hard bearings and the numbers are discontinued. Apparantly the bearing surface material will stick to a magnet. There was no metal anywhere in the engine except a small amount in the oil pump. The rollers on the rockers and lifters were good, no wear on the front of the block. The cam bearings looked good. Now the question is, what bearings to use? I have seen King bearings after a tear down and they looked good, but I believe they are fairly soft. This engine is N/A and spins to 6500 RPM with a 175 shot of nitrous in a Toyota. Anyone have a favorite bearing for a forged crank?

 

[bison]

I swapped the 3.8 in yesterday and pulled the stroker apart. Everything looks good except the mains. They are starting to shed material. The crank will polish out. The main bearings were Federal Mogul FEM-107M and the rods FEM-6-3755AP. These are hard bearings and the numbers are discontinued. Apparantly the bearing surface material will stick to a magnet. There was no metal anywhere in the engine except a small amount in the oil pump. The rollers on the rockers and lifters were good, no wear on the front of the block. The cam bearings looked good. Now the question is, what bearings to use? I have seen King bearings after a tear down and they looked good, but I believe they are fairly soft. This engine is N/A and spins to 6500 RPM with a 175 shot of nitrous in a Toyota. Anyone have a favorite bearing for a forged crank?

Id check the line bore

 

[ek02]

Good suggestion. Since the rod bearings look good, I don't think it is an oiling problem. It has never been line bored. I use ARP studs with stock caps. I figured that would be OK with a steel crank with just nitrous. It might be a good time to put in some steel caps and line bore it.

 

[3.8L V-8 eater]

As a suggestion you could use Calico coated bearings sold by Weber racing who is a sponsor of the board... That's what I used in my latest build, but haven't had to open up the motor to see how they are doing...

Calico Coatings bearings offer superior protection as compared to uncoated bearings. Calico CT-1 coated bearings offer a dry film lubricant and are used in high performance and race engines. Because of this added protection, and the proven history of CT-1 coated bearings, Weber Power Products recommends using this bearing in your 3.8L turbo Buick engine.

Not to ask a dumb question, but what is the best way to cut open a filter without mistaking the shavings from cutting the fliter with something going sour with the motor???

 

[WS6]

Not to ask a dumb question, but what is the best way to cut open a filter without mistaking the shavings from cutting the fliter with something going sour with the motor???

Not a dumb question at all! We should all have one of these if you put a beating on your car.

Summit Racing SUM-900510 - Summit Racing® Oil Filter Cutters - Overview - SummitRacing.com

 

[ek02]

I got down to the bare block today and took a good look at the cam bearings. The third bearing back had some chunks gone out of it. This is probably the bulk of the metal in the filter. The bearing had turned enough to cover the oil hole, but since they were TA bearings with the grooves on the block side, there was still enough oil getting through so the cam was not hurt. These engines are tough on cam bearings, maybe because of the high valve spring pressure. I have torn down stockers with many miles, and the cam bearings always looked pretty good.

 

[williamsGN]

Not to ask a dumb question, but what is the best way to cut open a filter without mistaking the shavings from cutting the fliter with something going sour with the motor???

Pair of side cutters has always worked for me.

 

[bison]

I got down to the bare block today and took a good look at the cam bearings. The third bearing back had some chunks gone out of it. This is probably the bulk of the metal in the filter. The bearing had turned enough to cover the oil hole, but since they were TA bearings with the grooves on the block side, there was still enough oil getting through so the cam was not hurt. These engines are tough on cam bearings, maybe because of the high valve spring pressure. I have torn down stockers with many miles, and the cam bearings always looked pretty good.

Check the cam for run out. It's not common to see the cam bearings like that. #1 takes the most hit from the position of it and the loading from the timing chain

 

[ek02]

Number one looked good, surprisingly. I have had # 1 wear the most on some V6 Buicks I have built. I will check the cam on some V blocks with a dial indicator. I had not thought about that. I had a 3.8 once that made a loud squeal on start up. I shut it off, started it back up, and the noise did not return. When a lobe rounded off due to the ZDDP being taken out of the oil before everyone realized what was happening, I pulled the cam and the # 2 bearing came with it. The bearing spun in the block for 6000 miles. I cut the bearing off the cam, polished the journal, put a #1 bearing in the #2 position with Loctite stud and bearing mount, and it ran fine for well after I sold it. I could not believe the bearing spun in the block that long and only wore it 1 or 2 thousands. I checked it with an inside mike against the other bores and there was not a lot of difference. A machine shop put those bearings in. I since do my own, but this is the first problem that I have had. Thanks for another very good suggestion to check the cam runout.