Engine oil problem

Boze · Post by **Boze** » Thu Jul 13, 2017 11:09 pm

I guess you didn't use Plastigage when checking the bearing clearances. There is a "crush factor" which dictates the amount of tolerance at each bearing journal. The Plastigage flattens out to a desired width when torqued to spec and if the material is too wide or too narrow then the bearing will be too tight or too loose. In other words, the bearing spec doesn't match the journal spec.

I did the same thing you did to my engine and the lesson cost me a new crank and all new bearings, gaskets, etc. and quite a bit of time and humility.

Make sure you clean the block and all parts REAL good, since you had powdered bearing material floating around in your oil.

Good luck.

johnpstoll · Post by **johnpstoll** » Sat Aug 05, 2017 7:59 pm

Update: I got the crank back from the machine shop. They polished the mains and reground the rod end journals. I Plasti-gauged all the bearings and they all fell in tolerance. I installed new bearings and got her back installed and running. SO far so good. I did notice that before the oil pressure was 50-60 Psi after starting and running at idle. Now the pressure at idle runs about 30-35 psi.

Thanks for all the help.