My oil filter does not look good.

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doogievlg

doogievlg

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Just changed my oil in my dart after noticing a strange noise. I drained the oil and filled it with brad penn 10w-40. This is the third oil change on this motor and the last one after break in was probably 500 miles ago. I cut the filter open and found a lot of metal. This is a fresh rebuild so there is a possibility it could just be edges wearing off but this has me concerned.

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racerkilla said:
Cooper usually comes from the bearings.. How were the clearances?
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Checked every clearance with the plasti gauge and everything was dead on. I used a very reputable machine shop in Cincinnati and assembled it with a friend who has built more engines than he can literally count. The only thing I could think of it possibly being is from the cam. It is about 8 years old as well as the lifters.
 
My stuff looks like that ever it's coming it coming apart in my hands instead of it doing it on its own.
 
doogievlg said:
Checked every clearance with the plasti gauge and everything was dead on. I used a very reputable machine shop in Cincinnati and assembled it with a friend who has built more engines than he can literally count. The only thing I could think of it possibly being is from the cam. It is about 8 years old as well as the lifters.
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Only thing copper from the cam would be the cam bearings.. I don't think lifter or lobe would give you that color in the flakes... Said you heard a noise so whatever is going bad it getting there already
 
doogievlg said:
Checked every clearance with the plasti gauge and everything was dead on. I used a very reputable machine shop in Cincinnati and assembled it with a friend who has built more engines than he can literally count. The only thing I could think of it possibly being is from the cam. It is about 8 years old as well as the lifters.
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Hate to say this but I'd yank the cam and lifters STAT
 
racerkilla said:
Only thing copper from the cam would be the cam bearings.. I don't think lifter or lobe would give you that color in the flakes... Said you heard a noise so whatever is going bad it getting there already
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Cam bearings are Babbitt not copper.

That's bearing material not cam.
 
Maybe the oil pump drive bushing is coming apart or spinning in it's bore, that's an awful large amount of yellow flakes in the filter, usually bearing material is more of a greyish color.
 
daliant said:
Maybe the oil pump drive bushing is coming apart or spinning in it's bore, that's an awful large amount of yellow flakes in the filter, usually bearing material is more of a greyish color.
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Pull the distributor and see if the shaft is wiggling?
 
Sure looks like bronze...... bushing is suspect. Easy to pull the distributor and look. Sorry to see this.
 
nm9stheham said:
Sure looks like bronze...... bushing is suspect. Easy to pull the distributor and look. Sorry to see this.
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To tell I should pull the distributor and stick a screw driver down into the shaft and see if it will wobble correct?
 
doogievlg said:
To tell I should pull the distributor and stick a screw driver down into the shaft and see if it will wobble correct?
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Or you could just yank it because it's going to need completely gone through after finding what's coming apart anyway.
Looks like rod/main bearings to me.
With tri metal bearings they all have copper in them, so it could be main, rod, or cam.
I suspect mains caused by cam bearing, because you would probably hear a rod that lost that much material.
 
doogievlg said:
To tell I should pull the distributor and stick a screw driver down into the shaft and see if it will wobble correct?
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That is what I would do first.. but any metal in the filter has gone through the pump first, so the bottom had to come off the inspect the pump..... the thoughts expressed of a full teardown are wise. It sounds like the engine is basically OK at this point, so I would try to save what I could. Don't run it anymore, IMHO.
 
At this point the only thing I am concerned about are my heads. The crank is still the factory crank so it isn't a huge deal but I really don't want my aluminum heads to get trashed.
 
IMHO, you are screwed. How bad you're screwed, depends on what you do next. Do not continue driving, or even running it. Start taking it apart, taking your time, scrutinize every part, document everything you find.
The last time I saw something like that was on a used 67 cuda w/273 I had just bought years ago. The fuel pump diaphragm leaked, pumping gas into the engine, diluting the oil and wiping out the bearings.
 
These came out of a 350 chevy that wasn't knocking or rattling. The kid said oil pressure was getting real low after it warmed up. Fuel pump was leaking and pumping has into the oil.
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