Reading an oil filter

mustang70 · Dec 22, 2003

Due to some stupidity on my part during my cam break in, I think I might have hurt my motor. Right now my oil pressure is roughly half of what it used to be when the motor is running. Like at idle, I used to have between 20 and 25 psi. And when running about 2500 rpm, I was at 40 psi. Now at idle I have about 11 psi and the highest it goes when drivitng is 30 psi. I'm hoping something got into my pickup and is causing this, but I'm also concerned that my main bearing have been wiped. What would be the tell tale sign of this in my oil filter? Will the bearing material be easy to see, or will I need some sort of magnefying glass? Thanks for the help.

dodgestang · Dec 22, 2003

mustang70 said:
Due to some stupidity on my part during my cam break in, I think I might have hurt my motor. Right now my oil pressure is roughly half of what it used to be when the motor is running. Like at idle, I used to have between 20 and 25 psi. And when running about 2500 rpm, I was at 40 psi. Now at idle I have about 11 psi and the highest it goes when drivitng is 30 psi. I'm hoping something got into my pickup and is causing this, but I'm also concerned that my main bearing have been wiped. What would be the tell tale sign of this in my oil filter? Will the bearing material be easy to see, or will I need some sort of magnefying glass? Thanks for the help.

Like you said, if you are lucky, this will be your problem.....

^ caused by a little too much RTV on the RTV pan gasket

If you are not lucky..well
I crushed my oil filter in a vise and then used needle noce pliers to pull the inners out in large chunks:

They didn't turn up in the photo too well....but there is a metal shavings easily visible agains the black soaked filler material.....

This motor had spun 2 main bearings when I pulled it out for a rebuild (400 miles after the first one). It did knock at idle though which went away with a little throttle, but the oil pressure was down there

mustang70 · Dec 22, 2003

I don't have any strange noises coming from the bottom end. The only thing I hear is a lifter that bleeds down a little too quick. So I don't think it's anything really, really bad.

TurboDoctor · Dec 22, 2003

The best way to take a sample from the oil filter is a little less gorrila like. No offence dodgestang. But they make a tool and it can be found at almost every parts house and heavy equipment dealer that cuts the top off like a can opener. They can be had for about 15 bucks. Then take a razor knife and cut about a 3x3 section of the filter material and squeeze it between your vise jaws and try to get out as much oil as possible. Then examine it for metal that is still in the filter material once the oil is gone. Every engine outs out metal flake but it usuallly is so small the filter will not catch it, but You shouldnt see alot of metal in the material. Any local CAT,CASE,John Deere dealer ect can look at for you, usually for free.

dodgestang · Dec 22, 2003

TurboDoctor said:
The best way to take a sample from the oil filter is a little less gorrila like. No offence dodgestang. But they make a tool and it can be found at almost every parts house and heavy equipment dealer that cuts the top off like a can opener. They can be had for about 15 bucks. Then take a razor knife and cut about a 3x3 section of the filter material and squeeze it between your vise jaws and try to get out as much oil as possible. Then examine it for metal that is still in the filter material once the oil is gone. Every engine outs out metal flake but it usuallly is so small the filter will not catch it, but You shouldnt see alot of metal in the material. Any local CAT,CASE,John Deere dealer ect can look at for you, usually for free.

LOL

I was in a hurry plus I didn't want to have to worry about creating my own metal shards...what ever gets the job done right.....besides I was VERY upset...my brand new 410 stoker blew up....better to take it out on the oil filter than something else

D.Hearne · Dec 22, 2003

mustang70 said:
Due to some stupidity on my part during my cam break in, I think I might have hurt my motor. Right now my oil pressure is roughly half of what it used to be when the motor is running. Like at idle, I used to have between 20 and 25 psi. And when running about 2500 rpm, I was at 40 psi. Now at idle I have about 11 psi and the highest it goes when drivitng is 30 psi. I'm hoping something got into my pickup and is causing this, but I'm also concerned that my main bearing have been wiped. What would be the tell tale sign of this in my oil filter? Will the bearing material be easy to see, or will I need some sort of magnefying glass? Thanks for the help.

What was it that you think you did wrong? If there's a lifter that bleeds down quickly then you may have wiped a cam lobe. This is easy to tell, that rocker will be extremely loose and will not have as much valve lift as the rest. 30 psi while driving is not near enough on a new motor. Maybe for a high mileage 351M/400 Better pull it and see what's happened. You might be able to salvage some parts, but if you keep running it, you may end up spending as much or more than you have in it now.

351LX · Dec 22, 2003

Some kinds of break in lubricant can clog an oil filter.I usually change mine after I break in a cam.Try changing yours and see if it makes a difference.Also I have heard some bad things about Fram filters.My parts store refuses to sell them and stocks Puralator instead so if you are using Fram now try a different brand.

mustang70 · Dec 23, 2003

I've had the valve covers off quite a few times and none of the rockers are loose and they all move the same amount. So I don't think I wiped a lobe. Also, when I wiped two lobes in my 460, it left some deposits around the rockers. There isn't any this time. I don't use Fram filters. I use Motorcraft.

What happened was I forgot to make sure the gasket for the old oil filter wasn't on the block. The second time in my life. After about 30 seconds of my grandfather yelled at me to shut it off. It spewed all five quarts all over my driveway. So that's what makes me think the mains are gone.

mustang70 · Dec 23, 2003

Everyone slap Bob

Well, I was wrong about one thing, I had a Fram oil filter on there. I could have sworn I put a Motorcraft filter on there. Or maybe it was the Mountaineer. Anyway......

I got under the car with my drip pan and pulled off the oil filter. I turned it over to let it drain and just about nothing came out. I didn't think anything of it since the motor been sitting a few days. So I put it in my vise and punch a hole so I can cut the top off. In the process of punching the hole some oil starts to drip out. So I put it over my drain pan and the filter proceeds to empty about half a quart of oil. And the oil has the nice sliver streaks of metal in it. This is the filter I broke the cam in with, so I'm thinking that's what the metal is from. I ran my fingers through the oil and it didn't feel gritty. Which I thought was weird. So I finally get the top off and the filter section doesn't come with it. I thought it was supposed to be attached to the top. So, once my wife gets home, I'm going to get 5 fresh quarts of 10w-30 and a new filter. Hopefully that will fix it.

Reading an oil filter

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D.Hearne

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351LX

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