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At first impression, from looking at the oil cooler you're using , i would assume it's too small to have any significant cooling effect , especially on a race car.Also the grill material
you're using to protect your cooler could vary the effectiveness of the system.
I switched from a nice fancy stamped oval grill material to the run of the mill 1/4 inch chicken wire screen and it significantly lowered the oil temps as it was less restrictive.
What is the noise you're describing ? could it be lifter failure, although i've never heard of it before.
It's funny , because when my last engine blew , it was the upper balance shaft that twisted and blew the housing out causing a nice big hole in the block,everything else, pistons
rods, bearings were all good.Still never figured that one out ...
I since switched to Fram Ultra Guard no bypass oil filters with the Lindsey adaptor.We ran the new engine on the dyno for a few hours for break in and tune and i had the same
black soot sediment buildup on the drain plug !
Would a dry sump system or an oil accumulator be of value here?
Hey,
You registered for the VARAC GP in two weeks at Mosport ?
If you're in the area , come by for a chat , #96 Olive Green 944, under a black EZup , we'll be down in the #4 paddock area.
The 924S head, which I did NOT use in the engine, had a broken valve spring retainer ring on the #3 intake valve. This was NOT in the engine:
But it had left its mark on the hydraulic lifter in the cam tower that WAS on the engine:
The top side of the hydraulic lifter was well worn, probably as a result:
And the cam itself had some pitting and more wear than I'm used to overall. I mean, this looks like a failing wheel bearing!
I'm having a lot of trouble believing all the noise was generated by this imperfection in the cam. I mean, I'll never use this cam again, but I'm not inclined to believe it's the only thing wrong with my engine.
The lifters were very noisy when I first started up the engine after the rebuild, but I've come to expect that from lifters that have been sitting for over a year. They had quieted down to what sounded like normal by the end of my warmup session at VIR.
At first impression, from looking at the oil cooler you're using , i would assume it's too small to have any significant cooling effect , especially on a race car.Also the grill material
you're using to protect your cooler could vary the effectiveness of the system.
I switched from a nice fancy stamped oval grill material to the run of the mill 1/4 inch chicken wire screen and it significantly lowered the oil temps as it was less restrictive.
What is the noise you're describing ? could it be lifter failure, although i've never heard of it before.
It's funny , because when my last engine blew , it was the upper balance shaft that twisted and blew the housing out causing a nice big hole in the block,everything else, pistons
rods, bearings were all good.Still never figured that one out ...
I since switched to Fram Ultra Guard no bypass oil filters with the Lindsey adaptor.We ran the new engine on the dyno for a few hours for break in and tune and i had the same
black soot sediment buildup on the drain plug !
I hope you find a cheap $$$ solution !
The horrible noise simply sounded like the engine was running without oil. It was like a combination of some light rod knock and maybe terrible scraping of rings or pistons on cylinder walls. I started it up so a couple other 944 guys could listen to it. Neither of them wanted to allow that to go on for too long... we shut it down.
OK , shot in the dark here ... seems like oil and other mechanical parts look good , any possibility it had something to do with the
starter solenoid/ gear chafing on the ring gear , or some other interference in that area ? If you could get the car on a lift and listen from underneath , it might give a clue !
Probably too late for that as you already started disassembly of the engine ?
I guess without removing the head and checking the bores , there's nothing more that can be assumed ?
Van, I am shipping your 944 front crankshaft seal installer back to you today. I shamelessly copied your design with shaft collar brazed to a large flat washer (hole machined out to fit shaft.) Thank you for your help.Cheers, Tom
LS3 done blowed up. Reason is unknown, but based on the damage, I *think* a piston failed in cylinder #1, which caused a chunk to get in the way of connecting rod #2. And then everything got destroyed. Well, not everything - I can reuse the ARP head studs.
Originally Posted by T&T Racing
Van, I am shipping your 944 front crankshaft seal installer back to you today. I shamelessly copied your design with shaft collar brazed to a large flat washer (hole machined out to fit shaft.) Thank you for your help.Cheers, Tom
Thanks!
Originally Posted by V2Rocket
Van, a quick pass with a grape hone should set you straight there.
At this time I believe the cause of the failure was a loose crankshaft bolt. This would explain nearly all the issues, because it could have allowed the oil pump spline to slip and not turn the oil pump. That would have caused intermittent or no oil pressure, premature bearing failure, high oil temp, lack of power, and possibly a very noisy alternator pulley and timing gear flopping around. Pretty much all my symptoms to a Tee.
At least I didn't find any anti-seize compound on that bolt, which wouldn't have surprised me because I use it liberally, like Frank's Red Hot sauce. But this particular bolt is not a place you want to put that [stuff].
I suspect I never torqued it down to 155 ft-lbs when I assembled it. Maybe I figured it would be easier when it was in the car, but never circled back. I don't know. Maybe I'm just getting old.
06-02-2019, 01:05 PM
