Hi. Found it in the oil pan of a 350 I'm working on. It's been in the pan a while, covered by lots of stuff. My guess it's a cam bearing babbit. thanks Bruce
Hard to tell the composition from a pic, but are you are sure its not petrified rubber? Looks like the front part of an oil pan gasket where the two pieces join under the timing cover. Lokks like the same jigsaw puzzle pieces that fit together.
It does look like original cam bearing babbit. I recognize the goofy "jigsaw puzzle" interlock looking connection, for lack of a better description.
How did the engine run before you started pulling it apart? I found what looked like the remains of a large snap ring in the trans pan of my F250 when I changed fluid and filter. freaked out for awhile then put it back together. been 4 yrs and no problems. yet.
Hi, Thanks for the replys Ive had the motor for about 6 years, start it for a few minutes now and then, decided to run it last week. http://www.streetfire.net/video/heating-the-garage-with-a-buick-350_2185208.htm The material feels like soft steel (lead), I was taking the pan off for a look, Im going to dig further tonight. My gut feeling is its a cam bearing, thats failed, cam and bearing have been replaced and they never took the pan off to clean up the mess. Bruce
Short of a grenading of your engine, it's a little hard to believe a cam bearing (yes, that's what it looks like...but) in that state of being made it to the pan intact. I think it got left there during the rebuild. I'll be astonished if you pull this apart and there is one of them missing out of the block. The openings large enough for it to pass through just don't exist.
I agree:grin: I pulled the rod bearing caps last night, they are all there, other than the babbit layer looking a little thin there ok, tonight it's the main caps, then I'll flip it over and pull the intake. Can you see the cam from the top on a 350? thanks Bruce
definitely a cam bearing piece. I tend to agree that it is a "leftover" piece from when the older bearings were knocked out, but theres no way of knowing for sure short of disassembly.. Ive had cam bearings go bad and squeeze large (not that large) pieces of delaminated babbit out from under the cam. when I removed the cam bearings, the "squeezed out" pieces got clipped off and fell down into the engine. and yes you should get a decent view of the top of the cam in the lifter valley. maybe not the front or rear journals but the inbetweens, yes.
Well I was wrong, 3/4 the second last cam bearing inner liner is missing and some of the last cam bearing inner liner. So much for slapping new gaskets on it and dropping it in my LeSabre.:laugh: Bruce
Well, color me surprised. I never would have believed it if I hadn't seen it. I'm also not sure I'd be smiling if that happened to me! You have more fortitude (or money) than me, I guess.
Wow Bruce, I'm shocked! it amazes me how well these engines car run with serious problems, I was afraid to put gauges in my Electra since the car ran so well I kind of did not really want to know...of course after I installed them I have some of the best oil pressure of any 455 I've ever owned and my ratty looking 38 year old radiator keeps the engine super cool as well
Hi It was better to find out now than have the engine granade half way through next summer. Now I can decide weather to fix it our dig up another to check out. Bruce I'm really suprised the motor ran as well as it did, (streetfire video), had 45 lbs oil pressure. Now I have to decide wather to fix it or not, rebuild on the motor doesn't look that old, there are still hone marks on one cylinder, rod journals show no signs of scoring or scratches, haven’t pulled the heads yet. Bruce
Yeah Azeem (online170) has been teaching me bad habits http://s111.photobucket.com/albums/n149/online170/Buick 3/?action=view¤t=430run.mp4 mine was only a 350, his is a 430. Bruce
Here's the rest of them, any ideas what would cause thiso No: I'm astounded that the motor ran as well as it did, I don't think it was going run much longer :laugh: thanks Bruce
Only takes a minute or two to toast the bearings if you run it dry. Was there any visible scoring on the main or rod bearings? The oil gallies may be clogged to the point of not feeding oil fast enough.
Hi, Thanks for the reply, the main and rod bearings show no sign of scoring, to the point the machinist looking at the crank states if the diameters fall within recommended tolerances he can just give it a polish. The engine is over all clean, no sludge, no cylinder ridge, cam bearing surfaces are clean with no scoring, of coarse the cam was riding in mid air:laugh: Just toasted cam beaings. I'm going to pull the oil galley plugs out of it tonight for a look. Bruce
