new engine in.....WOW!

lost a brg?

I dropped the oil and the filter. I didnt cut the filter open, I didnt have to. I looks like a brg must be going/gone. There are little flecks of copper in the oil. So, I guess the buick is going on the back burner for a while, pushed to the back of the shop. I cant spend anymore money or time on it for a while. Maybe Ill pull the engine in a few weeks if I have time. What a drag.

 

Sounds like 2 noises -- a ticker (valve train) noticeable at idle and a rod knock off idle. Either way, not good.

 

Doesn't really sound like a lifter tick. Similar, but not quite. If it was a lifter, it would be a steady and constant tick at idle. Lifter ticks usually don't get louder as you rev either, they usually just sound like they are ticking faster. Whatever is going on in your engine, seems to get a little louder and a lot faster when you bring the RPM's up. Not good at all. Definetly a must to find out what it is before you go too much farther. Im just going on from what i've experienced from some of my buddies cars. Not a pro at diagnosing engine problems, but have been around quite a few, LOL. :grin: :TU:

 

bearing gone

No its no lifter, The oil is full of copper, so it ate at least one bearing. Im just screwing up my motivation to pull the engine. I guess I should have purchased instead of renting an engine hoist when I decided to build another Buick big block :ball: The last one I built when I was 18, 22 years ago. The 430 made lots of power too, until it threw a rod. Thank god I caught this one before it went too far. I made all of the suggested improvments in the oiling system, and triple checked the clearances. The only thing I can think of is that the adjustable oil pressure regulator was set to low. (50 psi max) I guess I should have turned it up a bit more before running it.
Exploritory surgery begins tomorrow.

 

Steve sorry to hear about your motor. Sounds like that thing is going to scream when you get it running again. Do you plan to race it? You're not to far away from me, have you ever run at PIR or Woodburn?

V8 Buicks are pretty rare at the drags, hope to see you out there sometime.

Good luck with it!

 

Portland Area buicks

Yes, I have taken the car to both PIR and Woodburn this year with the 350 in it. I wasnt really bracket racing, I was just trying to get a baseline on the car. I was out at PIR a few weeks ago(without the buick) and there were 2 bigblock skylarks out there. I talked to both guys who own them but cant remember the names. One is a pretty much a strip only car with a stock low compression bottom end, stage 1 heads and if I remember right he said his best pass was mid to high 11's. The other car was a 1972 4 speed GS with the same cam & compression as mine, ported iron heads and a 850 holley. He had run an 1/8th mile time that he said equated to about a 12 flat. I hope I get to see you out there sometime. My wife and I went to the wednesday beaches cruise yesterday and I saw a beautiful 1970 red GS455 convertible that followed us out past camas. There are some buick nuts in the area. I just havent been able to meet many of them.

 

Same problem here

I had the same problem with my motor spun a bearing Because the idiots that balanced my motor put the pistons on the rods backwards. I did not know this was possible my friend with more experience building motors caught it as soon as we took the motor apart. Bottom line is the crank had to be turned again because the metal filing got in all the bearing. Something to check when you get it apart. It really sucks at this time of year!!

 

update

I just tore the engine down. #3 rod was burnt and down to copper all the way around and that rod journal is burnt. The crank is going to the machine shop tomorrow.

 

That sucks, At least you caught it before something really serious happened. My dad has a buddy who used to spin bearings(a little different but similar in a way) on his Buicks all of the time, all of his Buicks too. Im talking about anything from the GS 455 engine he had in his Skylark to the station wagon he had, I guess it was his 17 year old right foot combined with his 17 year old mentality that did it though lol. Good luck fixing it. Sounds like you want it done quick sending ithe crank to the shop tomarrow. I dont blame you though. Do you know when youre going to get it back?

 

crankshaft

This shop has a 3 day turn around. I believe that the problem arose because I had the oil pressure regulated down to low. I am taking the pressure reading off the back of the rear cam journal. When I put the oil pump together I used the adjustable regulator as it came out of the box and used the stock spring per the instructions for initial set up. When I primed the engine with a drill I got 50 psi. On initial start up I got 50 psi. I belive the pump was regulated to 50, cold idle was 15-20. I intended to boost the oil pressure up later, and planned on taking it easy on the engine, but it reved so quick and blew the tires away so easily Im sure it sliped up to 6000 rpm and possilbly beyond a few times. From what I have been told I should be seeing 75 or 80 lbs at high rpm to get enough oil to the rods. I figured I had a fudge factor since the reading was coming off the back of the engine but I misjudged that one. Advice to any one else building an engine. Dont even drive it at all until you have the oil pressure where it need to be first. Its easy to convince yourself that it wont hurt it and you will "take it easy" but the testosterone kicks in and your foot gets real heavy, fast.

 

Just wanted to chime in with another "it could've been worse".

Hope you'll get a smooth ride after you've fixed the bearing issue. :3gears:

 

Input Appreciated

Thanks, If it helps ..... all of the rod brgs had what I would consider excessive wear.... for 138 miles. I would appreciate any other input on this subject. The mains were set up with .0025 clearance and the rods had .0015. I understand that this is acceptable, the cam brgs look great. What else do I need to look at? I plan on having the crank ground for .002 on the rods and .0025 on the mains. Any Ideas?

 

Don't remember if you said that you primed the motor prior to initial start up. It is a good idea to do so and also to turn the motor over several times by hand. If you haven't already done so, mods to the oil system are beneficial. Also many people are now plumbing an external oil line to the back of the block where you have your gauge connected to!

 

Harmonic Balancer?

Hi there. My sister has a 1993 Buick century that made a very similar noise like that. Only did it at low idle too. Came to find out it was her crankshaft damper/balancer. Could it be that, or are those motors so different that something like that would be silly to consider?

 

burnt rod

The machine shop said they could tell from looking at the rod journals that the clearance was too tight. I talked to dave at TA today and he also said that .0015 was too tight for 6000 plus rpm. He suggested .0022. and that the oil pressure needs to be higher as well at high rpm. When it goes back together Ill use the higher pressure relief spring and Im adding a rev limiter. When the tires get loose the engine tachs up quick.

 

Good to hear you're making progress. The rev limiter is definitely good insurance. I've got a 6000 chip in mine and I've bumped it many times on the street. Like you said once the tires break loose in first gear, the motor buzzes up there really quick...too quick to catch it with the shift light...or maybe I'm too old and slow to catch it? ou:

Hope to see that thing at the track yet this year! :TU:

 

Rev limiters will keep the engine RPM down, but its hard on the engine to go against the limiter. Dont send the engine up against the limiter if you can help it.

 

Fuel pressure too !!!!

Stock Stage1 pump ? You would be lucky to have 3 psi fuel pressure at 6000 rpm on a 500 HP engine full throttle.
Install the electric pump and check line flow tank foreward.

Watch your FUEL pressure with this hoss. Lean detonation can be hard on rods as well as pistons.

That surge of real Buick power is one of life's most unique wonders. Hang in there, have fun, you only live once.

 

I hear you for sure. I cringe with fear everytime I've bumped against the limiter. Mine is stock in the bottom end...6000 RPM scares me with these motors.