64 replies to this topic

[koalasprint]

The smoking gun.

 

Last weekend I went to Dad’s place and grabbed the oil pump off the old 253. Been cleaning and blueprinting it since then. Last night I took the oil filter off my engine. I found a few threads of red cotton caught in the filter inlet….. WTF! Now I suspect a piece of rag/cloth is floating in the oil and blocking the oil pick-up. So my plan is to blow some air in reverse direction through the block into the pick up to try and release the blockage. Then drain the oil. Try and grab the blockage out through the drain hole. Going to try to borrow a camera to help.

 

PS Don’t think I used any red colored rags/cloth. (Have tried adding pics but give up. Doesn't like any file extension I try.)

 

[koalasprint]

http://s61.photobuck...y]=1&sort=1&o=0

[S pack]

Here you go Steve. Copy and paste the Photobucket IMG file into the forum. Those red pubes look troublesome. If there is some rag inside the crankcase you are probably going to need to remove the sump to get it.

Edited by S pack, 22 March 2017 - 04:25 PM.

[koalasprint]

Thanks Dave. I have no idea how the rag/cloth got in there. I had a real good look at things as I had to check main bearing clearances etc, change to a rear bowl sump,oil pick up, inlet manifold, cam shaft and heads. Maybe the first engine builder left something in a gallery I didn't see. If so it will only be very small. I plan to borrow a camera over the weekend. I feel better knowing what the cause is and thank godnes it isn't a cracked block. Even if the sump has to come off. If that's the case it will be engine out as it is an ASR high capacity sump and no room to spare.

 

Thanks for the help with pics too. I don't know that I'd have worked that out myself. (Have searched the topic and looks like a lot of people find it hard.)

[rexy]

You should be able to get the sump off if you drop the crossmember a little. I was able to get the high energy sump off the 383 in my LX without too much drama.

[koalasprint]

Thanks Rexy! I'll try that. Not sure if the camera will work as the sump has hinged baffles and I imagine the camera and cloth will be caught pretty well.

[8BALL]

Just rip it.
You'll kick yourself if you miss something caught up.
Plus f@#k getting oil everywhere in ya crossmember.
And working on the ground with it drippin in your face.

[Bernie]

Time to pull out the donk .It has been run numerous times that you know of without oil pressure .You may be lucky to have got away with it but every time you get in it to go somewhere, it will be on your mind .Pull it down ,find the problem ,clean it out and replace what damage it may have done .You dont want to be giving it a rev and have it do some real damage .Called peace of mind .

Edited by Bernie, 25 March 2017 - 08:02 AM.

[piquet]

Time to pull out the donk .It has been run numerous times that you know of without oil pressure .You may be lucky to have got away with it but every time you get in it to go somewhere, it will be on your mind .Pull it down ,find the problem ,clean it out and replace what damage it may have done .You dont want to be giving it a rev and have it do some real damage .Called peace of mind .

Absolute agree with the above statement. Bite the bullet and spend the time to check things by eyeball Mk1. It's always best.

[LJ RB30]

^^^^^ definitely agree!

If it was a $50 20 year old stocker that's been in the back of the shed & I wouldn't be too bothered but that don't look like it!!

Rip it out & check it out for piece of mind!!

[koalasprint]

Yeah once I read 8Balls comment I knew he was right. Even though I didn't want to hear it. When I drained the oil,(for the third time) it was confirmed. The engine is coming out for a good once over. Here is a pic of what I have filtered out from the oil. Remnants of a rag. First two changes were as clean as a whistle. I'm now half way through pulling it out.

[RallyRed]

on the upside..........

 

at least you were anal about having good oil pressure...and didnt go any further until you established what was going on.

[koalasprint]

Yes I'm thankful of that. I saw the gauge falling, gave it a couple of revs and it kept falling, then shut it off. Last night I did an autopsy on the filter. It had a lot of fibers inside it but it wasn't jam packed full by any means. So I doubt that the filter bypass valve opened. That's good because there is less chance that any fibers have gone through to block the oil supply holes. I'll know more when I get the engine out.

[Punchy]

Just as an fyi for the home engine builders out there.

 

Alot of people now days use alot more silicon and like substances for sealing engines up. Done correctly this isnt a problem, but more often than not, you see great wads and balls of the shit in the sump and pick up areas.

 

Having said that though. I am now getting into the practice of assembling holden bottom ends and fitting up the cams and sumps etc, and leaving the front cover off. Install oil pump and Fill the sump. Put the cam bolt in and spin the well lubricated camshaft etc using a large electric drill and prime the oil system in the block prior to start up.  Bottom end is fully wet and ready for start and run for run in. Not frock around looking for oil pressure and possibly damaging parts. Use silicon to manufacture bottom sump seal and wack on the front cover.

 

The top end should have all been checked during dummy assembly and accept lube on start up.

 

Just a tip

[grumpy xu1]

I did the sump gasket in the cluby (ls1) a couple of months ago replaced it with a felpro & all these require is a 2 mm square bead on the seal of a bit of 3 bond number1 easy as no leaks & hardly any sealant needed, my plan is to use it on the 202 aswell. Agree with good quality, you don't have to go crazy. So many o2 sensors are killed by the use of Silicones on exhausts, now you can buy o2 safe sealant.
So glad that you're pulling the engine apart to inspect it. Hope everything is fine for you, Gary.

[koalasprint]

I agree Scott, the pick above with all of the silicone around the sump is not my handy work. It pissed me off seeing it all. I threw away the cork sump gaskets and replaced them with a a silicone one piece gasket.

I've seen a clip on youtube where a drill was used to spin the unloaded camshaft and drive the oil pump to prime everything and I'd look at that for next time.

One of the things I'll do this time is to modify an old oil filter base to accept hose fittings and use that to pump oil into the system.

Edited by koalasprint, 29 March 2017 - 08:17 AM.

[koalasprint]

Just an update guys. A note to all aspiring engine builders/repairers. This will cause low/no oil pressure.

 

This was never going to be fixed without pulling out the motor.

 

I'm halfway through pulling it apart and cleaning everything. Pistons, rings cylinders are OK. Main bearings, so far are OK. Con-rod bearings, not so good, some have scoring. Crankshaft, camshaft and lifters look good.

 

I have to put up my hand, I left the rag in when I took off the inlet manifold to fix an oil leak after the Dyno testing. Most of it made it's way down through to the bottom end.

 

As you can imagine, I will never do that again.

 

[hanra]

That's cray cray.

[Redslur]

Bad luck mate but hopefully not too much damage.  At least it is a soft item so damage should be minimal.. Careful now with the reassembly :-)

[S pack]

Fark me that looks like it's going to be hard to get every last fibre of rag out of the sump.

 

Good luck with the clean up mate.

[RallyRed]

Ballsy to admit it ......nice work....hope it works out OK

[gtrboyy]

Oh lordy,safe to say you won't let that happen again.