Tom Carson

umm...what he said !

brad-cam

No, I wasn't at the track. I think this problem has been developing slowly. When I got the car last November with 70,000 miles on it, I had strong oil pressure and no strange engine noises. I have about 79,000 miles on it now. A few weeks back, it developed a very slight noise that started at 3,000 rpm. I diagnosed it as a bad lifter. Oil pressure had been gradually falling from the normal 5 bar while driving, to 4.25-4.5 bar. Since that is still within spec, I was not worried. Probably should have been in retrospect. Like a dumb-***, I drove the car to Sacramento a few weeks back, with the slight knock about 3K, to do the mountain run with 2Tight and gang. The knock got much louder during this drive, and I limped the 120 miles home with a constant rattling knock and erratic OP (though always over 3 bar).

Next step was to pull the cam tower, and I found 2 bad lifters and a broken valve spring. Changed the lifters, put a newly rebuilt head on it that I had on the bench, and started it up. Knock still there. Pulled the bottom end this past weekend and found the #2 bearing still in place on the journal but in about 6 pieces !! Rod and crank are damaged.... I was very lucky that the rod didn't come through the block. It would have done that had I been driving it hard on the track at the time. Oh well....live and learn and wrench on the 951...

KuHL 951

Brad,
Sorry to hear the crank damage is confirmed. So what's the plan...sounds like a pulling party to me! You know the rules-We break it you buy it! Call me if you need a hand. I guess you'll never know what started the OP drop problem, something sure sounds suspect at 70K though, it was barely broken in.
I just finished the Acura today; Ol' Pokey is next in line for a clutch swap; then 4 new struts on the Q45...I just have way too much free time on my hands lately.

brad-cam

Hey Steve, I think the OP problem was caused by the bad bearing not the other way around. I think this car was abused by the previous owner. It was down 2.5 quarts of oil when I got it, if that's any indication...

I have a like-new crank from my donor engine, plus good rods. I'll be swapping the crank, new main bearings, rod bearings, and a rod from the donor engine. Also new rings, clutch kit while I'm in there. I'll let you know when I'm into it again - maybe a reason for a wrenching party.

I have the Loctite 574 on order. Time to get into it....

KuHL 951

[QUOTE=brad-cam]Hey Steve, I think the OP problem was caused by the bad bearing not the other way around. I think this car was abused by the previous owner. It was down 2.5 quarts of oil when I got it, if that's any indication...
[QUOTE]

Ohhh....I never heard you say that before...same thing happened to my friend...GF let the oil level get off the stick,
bye-bye #2.

gmsracing

Sorry to hear about your problem. I also live in Santa Rosa and if you need another set of hands just let me know. I've also got an engine hoist if you need one. I'd also be fun to check out each other's cars.

Rob

ibdavid

Brad, let me know if you need any help. I'm sorry I wasn't there with you guys when "opportunity knocked" so to speak. Sorry, couldn't resist that one, but as you can see, I am looking on the bright side. Again, do let me/us know if there's anything we can do to help get your P-car back in service.

H2Opumpr

Hey Brad ....., sorry to see the bad luck after the Nor-Cal Run. With that nasty lifter tick I was sure you had lifter issues. I guess the bad lifters and broken valve spring masked the rod knock. Let me know if you need any help or advice.. If you need the machine work, EBS in Reno has done all of my previous machine work and were extremely professional and very reasonably priced.

Good luck
Shawn

brad-cam

Hey guys, thanks for all the support. Very much appreciated !!!!

Rob, I may take you up on that offer to borrow your hoist. That is the only thing keeping me from pulling the engine at this point. Feel free to drop me a PM with your contact info.

I am also looking on the bright side. This is my fall/winter project now, with basically a full rebuild and clutch job. Hooray !

NZ951

I just bought a KEP PP, cup disk and lightweight stock fly from SFR, I will let you know how it goes...