Mpfaff

On a positive note you had a arp head studs.... congrats on your new addition to your family.

yaz996

Thanks and thanks again Mike! Yup. ARP head studs and carrier bolts. Along with the FCP Euro replacements, actually had zero addition bolt costs this time.

yaz996

Trying to make it up to Thompson next year.

kingroon

zbomb

Cool - keep me in the loop and I'll see you there.

yaz996

Couldn't pass up a 55 deg and sunny mid December Sunday drive (especially after Saturday rain washed the salt away), but sadly that's probably the last one until April. Sitting at exactly 750 miles on the current engine build. Morning temps will be back down to the upper 20s tomorrow, and we're expected to get a foot of snow this week.

Now looking forward to my list of winter projects. The big one is a new suspension to go along with the new engine. Total mileage is just shy of 115k miles (with receipts covering the last 75k) and only a pair of shocks and a drop link have ever been replaced. Most parts are already patiently waiting in the garage with the exception of my coilovers and some hardware. Also going to be doing some brake work. In particular Spiegler SS lines to go along with rebuilding and powder coating the calipers. Probably go non-traditional on the caliper color. Leaning toward Mexico blue at the moment, but would love to see pics and other suggestions.

Mike Billings

Yaz, congrats. Impressive work.

What was the root cause?

yaz996

Now there's the million dollar question. The actual root cause would be me not going to same level of detail and research for the install and initial start-up as for my engine build. As for those details that led to the engine failure, everything is right in the RND/Nickies documentation available on the LN website. The key highlights:

"Ensure the battery has a FULL CHARGE; do not attempt to start a new engine with a weak battery."
"DO NOT REMOVE THE OIL FILTER AND PRE- FILL WITH OIL PRIOR TO STARTING." (Yes that line is actually in all caps in the RND documentation. For more detail, please read the thread: https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...-pre-lube.html )
"Proper engine oil system priming and break-in is critical... excessive cranking will cause rod bearing failure..."

I should also address the scare I had with dropping oil pressure earlier on with my current build. Cutting open the oil filter revealed crushed/collapsed pleats. A couple theories on the cause:
1. Oil pressure relief valve became stuck, and the high pressure crushed the pleats. Slowing the flow of oil and resulting in decreasing pressures.
2. Excess ARP fastener lubrication on the head stud nuts and washers clogging the oil filter. Something that has been mentioned on other forums. Apparently the lube is graphite based and no longer contains Moly.

Fortunately the oil pressures returned to normal after an oil and filter change. Now its also possible a crushed filter led to my bearing failure as I can't say that I was paying close attention to oil pressure during my abbreviated time driving that build.

Mike Billings

Thanks for the excellent info and awesome write-up.

Flat6 Innovations

Filling the oil filter before start up is a huge problem, and leads to lots of bad things, like Yaz experienced. I have seen this happen too many times to count.

BTW_ I wrote the RND engine break in and first start instructions for RND when SSF Auto Parts had the program, and I was their consultant. That said, lots of the things in them only apply to RND engines, but the oil filter pre- fill applies across the board.

Imo000

Why is filling the filter a problem?

Flat6 Innovations

You can ask Yaz why it's a problem, as well as dozens of others who have made the same mistake- because they didn't know, what they didn't know about THIS engine.

The filter is after the oil pump. With a new engine you have 1/3 of the primary oil system located above the oil pick up tube, and filled with air. The oil pump tries to push the oil through the filter with air... Ever tried bleeding brakes and let the fluid level run low, and suck air? How long did it take you to recover from that, and remove all the air? Same logic here.

Filling a filter at an oil service is much different, but I still don't do that, either. I want the air to be bled by the column of oil pushing it through the system, not vice versa. I've started 700 engines after I learned my lesson about filling the filter, just like Yaz did. The only difference was, I didn't have anyone to help me figure out what I did wrong. I had to make the same mistake twice.
The first time is a freebie, anyway.

Imo000

Ok, thanks, that makes sense.

Coopduc

An interesting side note: some cars, like my MB, have a cartridge filter mounted upside down. This makes it impossible to fill it before installation. I’ve always wondered why, maybe this is the reason.

dporto

I just did an oil change on my GF's Audi A3 2.0T - same^^^