Ok so heres my problem bought a budget rebuilt 302 short block from late model restoration bolted everything on ran the car for 250 miles changed the oil the first time had minor gold colored dust and figured normal for break in on a 0 mile Brand new motor second oil change more dust took it apart junked the crank bearings cam lifters oil pump . they wouldnt take it back due to the time i bought it in november found the issue in april now mind you i live in new england and it abviously doesnt drive in the winter. anyway bought all new stuff for it rebuilt it AGAIN and just changed the oil after about 50 or so miles and theres gold in the oil again and yes i cleansed the block soap and water and blew out all the oil passages cleansed the heads cleansed it all should i be worried again or is it just me being scared from the last time? help please im out of cash lol
thats sucks man.
It sounds like you may have the same problem as the first time. Did you look thru each galley with a flash light? did you use lots of assembly lube? Did you prime the pump before start up? If your seeing copper and a lot of it those bearing are wearing fast. The first layer of the bearing is aluminum. If your seeing copper you have already worn the aluminum off. Did you check with a magnet to see if your getting steel as well? What about the crank did you mic and polish from the first time or did it need to be ground.
Could the block be mis machined that is causing main bearing issues and washing debris thru the rods? Did you plastic gauge or mic the mains and rods to see what kind of clearance.
lets see you brought up lots lol to start i didnt look through the passages, i figured by soap and hooooot water id get all the crap that was in it out and then blew out all the passages with an air gun so all was clean and clear. as for the crank it was baaaaad for the cost of turning it made more sense to buy an eagle crank so thats new and we used tons of assemblylube. also primed the pump prior to start. im hoping its not a bad block though simple reason is late model will not stand up to it because it was over 4 months since the build not even 400 miles on the block but they dont seem to care about that. thanks for your input though i appreciate the time.
A magnetic drain plug might be a good idea for you.
I'd call up late model and ask them if they've had this prob with any of the motors because it seems as if you now have bought two in a row from them that are doing this.
when were talking about amounts it wasnt a whole lot but it was enough for me to see it in the pan wich is why im worried like i said maybe its because of the first experience that im nervous but im not sure i am going to change it again today i have put on about 30 miles and i figure if theres something wrong then i will have more than the first oil change now. as for calling lmr i resused the block but bought all new crank bearings cam oil pump and lifters. and i will say that lmr tried to help me as best they could buy contacting the company that does the blocks and had no luck but they did step up and sell me all i needed aside from the crank because they dont carry it at cost so that was nice i thought. Also i did ask mike at lmr and he told me they have never had this issue before the only problems theyve had was with shipping problems and things getting beat up but mine came in on a perfect pallet and no tears in the wrap or anything.
well i changed the oil yesterday and it looks alright. still not trusting it 100 percent but ill change it again after 100 or so miles then we'll see i guess no racing this weekend after all