oil death sparkle

Grumpy

The Grumpy Grease Monkey mechanical engineer.
Staff member
Well, I just got to Minneapolis after a 2,000 mile journey in my '60 Biscuit. All and all it was a great trip with very minimal mechanical issues. We got stuck in Missouri waiting out winter storm Xanto, with no heater, but man what a trip!

No to the bad news... This morning, the day after I got back, I planned to drive the car to work to show it off. I warmed it up, drove around the block, got some Micky D's for breakfast, and then stopped back by home. That's when I noticed a strange idle quality, looked down to see the floor was all shiney, and saw the oil pressure was down to around 10psi.

I shut her down real quick, and immediately checked the oil. I ended up adding 3 qts to hit the low mark on the stick (that means 4 we're pumped out) and fired it for a second to check for leaks.

Sure enough, the oil line to the under-dash gauge cracked. After work I replaced it, topped off the oil, and ran it for about a minute to see if I could hear any bad noises. No noise, but there is a LOT of sparkle in the oil. I'm guessing cam bearings off the top of my head since there's no knock, but then again it's only 40° out and all I had in the trunk to top it off was 20w50 from the old 235 days... Tomorrow I'll get it up to full temp and listen again.

I'm at the crossroads of park it and fix it with as little damage as possible, or drive it til it blows and find another short block to build in the mean time. What would you all do iny shoes??? It's hard to think with how heartbroken I am after spending a but load of money driving it here to enjoy for the summer only to have this happen. At least it didn't happen in Kansas!! LOL!

Unfortunately I won't be moved in to the new garage until the end of the month, so it's looking more likely I'll go the route of changing oil and filter a few times and see if it clears up. I'm going to drive it to work this morning and change it before I leave for home to see if it makes any noises when fully warmed up.

Sometimes it's easy to get freaked out and forget exactly how much abuse these old engine designs can really take. When you think of how many cars you see with original engines still running you have to wonder what they've gone through in 60 or 70+ years and are still chugging along. We shall see!!

the more you run the engine, the more micro metallic trash will get packed into the internal oil passages and embedded in the other bearing surfaces and the more likely the cam, lifters and crank journals will be damaged.
the engine internals at this point will only get rapidly more expensive to repair or pushed past the point its economically feasible to be repaired and need to be totally replaced, if you continue to drive the car,
the longer you run the engine the more likely your seize a bearing wipe cam lobes, ruin rockers with metallic trash in the oil,or throw a rod through the block of have a piston crack and damage a cylinder head.
the smart route would be to use some other car, and as soon as you can, pull the existing engine, remove all the plugs in all the oil passages, remove the cam bearings and have the block internal oil passages brushed out and steam cleaned, have new fresh brass freeze plugs and cam bearings installed.and if required have the crank journals polished, and youll obviously need new rings bearings and gaskets.
remember the longer it runs in the current condition the more likely youll have bore wall damage requiring new pistons, rings and an over bore size to compensate for wear damage on the bore walls, you might want to simply consider swapping in a crate engine , or if you are rebuilding the current engine , look into your options, in some cases it won,t cost a great deal more and in some cases less to simply buy and install a 383 stroker crank rotating assembly, especially if you check with a local machine shop or two and see what parts or partial engines they have for sale, as a complete rebuild on an older engine and its machine work cost can rapidly exceed the price you'll occasionally find already rebuild engines , short blocks or long block assembly's for sale for.
obviously the only real way to know is a tear down and close, detailed inspection and precise measuring of all the components, and clearances and bearings surfaces of all moving components, and related adjacent wear, surfaces ,as you can,t reasonably assume the micro-metallic trash(glitter) in the oil filter or oil pan is from a single unique source , nor can you realistically expect the engines current condition to be un-effected by the oil flow laced with abrasive micro-metallic trash(glitter) in the oil

http://garage.grumpysperformance.co...k-after-a-cam-lobe-rod-or-bearings-fail.2919/

http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/block-prep.125/

http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/why-build-a-383-vs-a-350.715/

http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/engine-block-cylinder-wall-thickness.976/

http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/block-prep.125/

http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/precision-measuring-tools.1390/#post-68850

http://garage.grumpysperformance.co...y-in-building-a-good-engine.11682/#post-54682

http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/bare-minimum-tools.11026/#post-51843

http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/350-sbc-383-sbc-1980-malibu.14493/#post-75510
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