Scored Main Cap Bearing - Ouch

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Anytime I am adding anything to my crankcase that is not oil I get paranoid. Ok with ZDDP but other than that I stay away from additives. Like you John I am in uncharted territory. Right now the mtr has new oil and filter with Lucus ZDDP, zero miles. Just a startup after the change then turned off.
Partner at this stage of the game if you have another bearing(s) going bad it really does not matter how many times you flush it or what snake oil you use to flush it with.
A bad bearing it just that - bad. That being said I have torn down engines that were running fine that had bearings that were totally shot.
Drive it, if/or when it fails replace it with your other engine.
Good luck and happy motoring.
 
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crazy flushing and filter cutting and snake oil is not the answer. I like penn grade 10-30 high zinc, wix prformance filter, do not do excessive idling and say your prayers-I think she will be good!
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Yes I have oil,ZDDP and filters coming from Summitt for about 3 fifty mile run and drains to get the copper out. If its still there after that I'm calling quits.
 
One of the lower levels of the tri-metal bearings, I presume. See his earlier pix of the bearing damage.

As I read the info, the regular Wix filters out smaller particles than the XP. See here for their micron ratings:
Wix VS Wix XP

So if I understand things correctly, I would use the regular 51515 rather than the XP for this.
 
One of the lower levels of the tri-metal bearings, I presume. See his earlier pix of the bearing damage.

As I read the info, the regular Wix filters out smaller particles than the XP. See here for their micron ratings:
Wix VS Wix XP

So if I understand things correctly, I would use the regular 51515 rather than the XP for this.

Looks that way to me 35 microns is bigger than 23; however I dont have a device to measure the size of the copper particles LOL. I have used filters by Mopar which is made by WIX or Purolator but is an unknown on the filtration micron size. I have a WIX right now which is a shorter version of the 51515, but it is not an XP. I need to loosen my right angle adapter and rotate it some to use the longer 51515.
 
I use the XP with a hi volume pump for more flow on cold mornings and hi rpm. I questioned copper now after hearing of much cleaning and washing and rinsing and cotton tips etc. Good luck
 
OK, on the XP, MH. Yes, that sounds like a higher flow filter type with less restriction.... I see/hear of such types at the local tracks. But they get less restriction be having a more open filter media, that passes larger bits. 35 micron particles is .0014" and is getting up to close to, or exceeding the typical, bearing clearance gap; I'd suggest the OP use a regular media filter to filter out smaller particles.
 
Update! Last oil change at 50 miles had a lot of metallics in it. Changed it yesterday and drove it today about 30. Drained oil when I got home and I am not seeing any of the metallic looking material. Put in a clear container and shined a LED light in it, cant see anything. I will drive it 100 now and do another oil change and send a sample in for testing.
 
Ok guys heres an update. Against my own advise I decided to finish the work on installing the bearings and getting thr mtr to run again. John dont be to hard on me. LOL Since I already had the bearings, rear seal and pan gasket I went ahead and finished with the assy under the car. Everything back together and went for a 50 mile drive yesterday. Oil pressure was 70 cold and settled at 65 hot on the highway at 2600 RPMs and 170F water. Pulled the oil filter today and tore it apart and found only 1 tiny fragment that would not pass through the element. Drained the oil and it is contaminated with bearing metallics, but not like the concentration before. I am hoping this is left over and the flush will catch the rest. Filter doesn't catch any of these particles. Im running 10/40 and Lucas additive. Have kept RPMs under 3500 and easy driving. So where do I go from here. Frequent oil changes and filter checks? At what frequency? How should I drive it, rings are seated.
I would also like to thank everyone for their advice given and for being a part of the thread. I will continue to post updates when they happen. Hopefully they will all be good. FOR THE GOOD NEWS THE REAR SEAL LEAK THAT STARTED THIS ADVENTURE IS NOW FIXED. NOT A DROP.
Should have fired it up, idled it for a couple min...then drained the oil, not drive it 50 miles. That way.. if it is left over, you get it to the pan and drained, not cycle it through bearings for 50 miles.
I failed you... in that I didn't tell you that.
I did not think you would go drive around on the first oil change. You gotta treat it just like a cam break in, change the oil AND filter before you go driving it.
Some people leave the filter on for the 1st 2 changes, no thanks.
 
When I changed the bearings I used Red Line Assy lube. I use that on everything. Right now the oil looked good after the 30 mile run and I have clean oil now. I have used a Trick Flow ZDDP when the oil changes and since the 30 mile oil looked good I did not change the filter. I have not fired it up again since changing the oil last night.
 
The pic in post 177 shows the material that came from the second oil filter (500 miles). I drove the car maybe 10 miles on the first oil change (should have checked the filter then, my bad). The second oil change has all the miles on it. After I repaired it and put the 50 miles on it there was nothing in the filter, but still had some of the metallic material. After the 30 mile run I drained the oil and did not see any metallics but reused the filter for the next run, so far still sitting in the garage. This thing holds 65 psi at idle but once it heats up it runs 65 at 2500 on the hwy.
 
The pic in post 177 shows the material that came from the second oil filter (500 miles). I drove the car maybe 10 miles on the first oil change (should have checked the filter then, my bad). The second oil change has all the miles on it. After I repaired it and put the 50 miles on it there was nothing in the filter, but still had some of the metallic material. After the 30 mile run I drained the oil and did not see any metallics but reused the filter for the next run, so far still sitting in the garage. This thing holds 65 psi at idle but once it heats up it runs 65 at 2500 on the hwy.
Normal. Cheaper the oil...the greater the drop when hot. Even 35lbs @idle after mutiple hard wot runs wouldnt be abnormal , typical idle psi after freeway time @3500-3800 rpm cruise is between 35- 45psi with decent oil. Probably around 25 lbs hot idle with valvoleak after freeway time.
Around town, warmed up, 50-65/70 idle/cruise.
 
Update! Last oil change at 50 miles had a lot of metallics in it. Changed it yesterday and drove it today about 30. Drained oil when I got home and I am not seeing any of the metallic looking material. Put in a clear container and shined a LED light in it, cant see anything. I will drive it 100 now and do another oil change and send a sample in for testing.

Sounds like success to me. Congrats! With excellent oil pressure and a clean oil system you should do well for a lot of miles. Keep in mind that when oil is cold and thick not all of it will pass thru the filter element. So some of it will go thru the bypass in the filter, and if you rev the engine when it is cold, and some 'dirty' oil will get into the oiling system. Fear not. some old engines didn't come with any oil filter at all. Fram makes a mid-grade filter that has a screen in the bypass.
 
post 235 - oil change had a lot of metallics in oil or filter? with a fine filter and a cleaned freshen up should there be a lot of metal in oil? trying to learn, not trying to be negative
 
post 235 - oil change had a lot of metallics in oil or filter? with a fine filter and a cleaned freshen up should there be a lot of metal in oil? trying to learn, not trying to be negative
Look at the pics in post 120 and you will see where the metallics came from. Read it all and you will have a good understanding. It may help you avoid a mistake I made. The metallics are to fine to be caught in a filter
 
So as a continuation of my bearing and contamination problem, I decided to pull the rocker assys and check the shafts. Sure enough there was some scoring, but it cleaned up easily with some 400/600. The rockers have never been touched so I cleaned them slightly. These are Racer Brown and Hughes roller tip rockers with Racer Brown hold downs. Couple of questions. .015" clearance between rockers means what? .030 total between hold downs or .015 total? I need some .015 shims if anyone has any. Oil in head valleys was nice and clean.
Thanks.
 
.015-.020" total between hold downs is what I have done.

Good hear on the oil! If you really want to do this right, then pull out the shaft plugs and wash out with diesel into a clean container to see if there is more in the shafts.
 
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