Is my engine eating itself?

Spongo · Post by **Spongo** » Wed Jan 27, 2016 9:25 am

Oh dear so I decided that I will sort the ticking lifter on my SBC, first thing was a quick engine flush and drain the oil which incidentally has been in the car for less than a thousand miles. Removed the sump plug and this is what I got

I think I will get the lifters out but I am guessing my CAM is not well

Stu E · Post by **Stu E** » Wed Jan 27, 2016 7:39 pm

A friend of mine had a tapping noise like a failed lifter in his 383. Turned out a roller had collapsed on a rocker. Cam was fine, new set of rockers from the States sorted a week later.

mgbv8 · Post by **mgbv8** » Wed Jan 27, 2016 9:55 pm

That does not look good mate.
Bear in mind that the magnetic plug is not in a recess at the bottom of the sump. So it can only catch what passes by that raised section?

It would be better to have a magnetic pad in the sump like you get on old overdrive units with an oblong flange that you can remove from the sump for inpsection.

Long story short!! Those shards look worrying to me.

mgbv8 · Post by **mgbv8** » Wed Jan 27, 2016 10:03 pm

That does not look good mate.
Bear in mind that the magnetic plug is not in a recess at the bottom of the sump. So it can only catch what passes by that raised section?

It would be better to have a magnetic pad in the sump like you get on old overdrive units with an oblong flange that you can remove from the sump for inpsection.

Long story short!! Those shards look worrying to me.

JP. · Post by **JP.** » Thu Jan 28, 2016 5:36 am

Have found this so its not uncommon.
Thought mine came from the LT77

Spongo · Post by **Spongo** » Thu Jan 28, 2016 8:58 am

Oh bother more expense, guessed it would be, I took the lifters out from cylinders 2,4,6 & 8 which is the side the ticking was coming from and they are all OK nothing collapsed and all bearing surfaces were OK as well. I suspect the ticking is due to a lifter sticking and not pumping up fully so it will definitely get a set of those.

Going to take a cylinder head off as well to check bores etc but methinks the engine is in need of a refresh.

Anyone near Doncaster got an engine lift I can borrow?

JP yes I have seen that on many a gearbox drain plug but then I would expect a little swarf in a manual gearbox, it only takes one fluffed gear change to create a few filings like that.

unstable load · Post by **unstable load** » Thu Jan 28, 2016 2:41 pm

JP. wrote:Have found this so its not uncommon.
Thought mine came from the LT77

Mine was that X 10 when I went to change the oil on my LT77... Ended up changing the box instead....

Spongo · Post by **Spongo** » Thu Jan 28, 2016 3:20 pm

Well after checking the oil pump drive I have found the cause of the metal filings take a look at these

Another couple of miles and the failure would have been catastrophic

v8250 · Post by **v8250** » Thu Jan 28, 2016 5:45 pm

That's a great find...caught in the nick of time.

Cobratone · Post by **Cobratone** » Thu Jan 28, 2016 7:12 pm

Do you have a high pressure or high volume oil pump??

Spongo · Post by **Spongo** » Fri Jan 29, 2016 8:58 am

Funny you should ask as another well known user on here who I hope can do a rebuild for me has asked the same, I honestly don't know as I bought the car with the conversion already done but it appears that it may have given the condition of the drive gear.

Needless to say it wont have a high pressure pump when it gets rebuilt

unstable load · Post by **unstable load** » Sat Jan 30, 2016 6:22 am

Spongo wrote:Needless to say it wont have a high pressure pump when it gets rebuilt

No reason why you should remove it, if fitted. All you need is a properly functional relief valve.
Check the relief valve first, it could well be the culprit.

Spongo · Post by **Spongo** » Mon Feb 01, 2016 9:01 am

Could be I guess, either way its engine out time and then decide how far to go with a refresh, hopefully just rings and bearings along with replacing the damaged items.

So have just bought an engine crane, looks like I am in for a few scraped knuckles over the next few days.

DEVONMAN · Post by **DEVONMAN** » Mon Feb 01, 2016 9:56 am

Besides the damage to the dizzy cog, from the photo it looks like there is a lot of end play in the dizzy shaft.

Spongo · Post by **Spongo** » Mon Feb 01, 2016 11:18 am

Yup there is about 3mm of end play there I guess that's a symptom of the strain on the oil pump drive gear.

Once the engine is out then I can diagnose more reliably.

Gonna try and book some time in the man cave next weekend