10secbuick

hey guys

here are the details of my car:
97 anniversary z28m6
stock motor 124k miles
powerdyne 6psi supercharger
255lph fuel pump
36lb injectors
msd6a ignition
pacesetter lt's
pacesetter ORY

the longtubes and ORY were installed just the other day, and while driving normally, the car runs fine, but getting into it pushes the oil dipstick out of the tube. happens around 3500rpms (this info is unfortunately second hand, i'm deployed, and my father has the car currently)

to me, it sounds like the rings on at least 1 piston have given up. that being said, can any of you tell me the cost involved in getting the pistons redone? i'm not interested in a full build, as the car is mostly a weekend driver that isnt driven hard often, but i'm open to it if the price isnt much more to just go with a new shortblock.

thanks

Dave89IROC

Plug the breather hose from the throttle body to the pass side valve cover, and put a breater in the valve cover

Kevin Blown 95 TA

And have your dad pull off the oil fill cap or breather and see if it's puffing out of there. If it's not puffing and smoking out of there at idle, your pistons are probably not broken and Dave's suggestion should set you right, assuming you didn't address that problem when you installed the blower. Your dad can also listen to the car when it's cranking and if it cranks unevenly, that could mean a weak cylinder or broken piston. Also - if you don't vent it right and pressurize the crankcase under boost, it will probably leak oil all over in addition to blowing out the dipstick.

10secbuick

my dad just confirmed that it is "puffing" out of the filler tube. he didnt specify if it was smoking or not, just said it is definitely puffing. so that most likely means piston rings, correct? if so, the motor needs to be removed, and rings and pistons need to be replaced, correct? sounds like as good a time as any to atleast bore it .030 over.

its a terrible feeling to know the car was running perfectly last november when i parked it before i deployed, and this problem is only rearing its ugly head after i sent my dad some exhaust components to install.

this leads me to another question. my dad mentioned something about plugging/welding an egr tube on the headers, but only AFTER it had already been done, instead of letting me know the egr headers had been sent when i ordered the off road style. is it AT ALL possible, that an incorrectly configured EGR system could cause this? excuse my ignorance. i have not been able to consider myself a gearhead since joining the AF in 2007. had zero time for tinkering (still dont) and all the info/knowledge in my brain was pushed out in favor of job knowledge.

Injuneer

Detonation will often break the ring lands, particularly if you are using the stock hypereutectic pistons. It becomes a problem if the cylinder wall is damaged.

I can't see how the EGR connection on the headers (#8 primary) would cause your problems. If the headers were run with the connection open for any appreciable period of time, I suppose with any sort of reversion, there's a possibility an exhaust valve was burned. But again, that would not cause a broken ring land.

I wouldn't assume that the first step in an overbore should be 0.030". You're not gaining much displacement in any case. With my high HP nitrous setup, we chose to limit the overbore to 0.020" for greater cylinder wall strength, and maybe one more bore in the future. Wall thickness was sonic checked first.

mrmint69

I have heard of people welding the dip stick so it won't blow out under boost. You have a basic setup and it should not do that, but I would do some more checking before jumping into any extremes. When I remove my oil filler there is almost always a little smoke and has done it for 8 years. I would tell him to park the car till you can get back and see for yourself whats going on. I never let my family drive my Camaro, for this exact reason. I would never want to wonder if they did something, if it ever had a problem. Hope it is something simple!

10secbuick

the car has maybe 25 miles on it since i left it with him for my deployment. driven to storage, driven from storage to shop to install lt's, and the dipstick blew out on the way home from the shop.

the dipstick tube isnt coming out, if thats the welding youre referring to. its the dipstick itself.

problem with the car being parked until i get home, is that he lives in cincinnati, OH. and i live in abilene, TX. i go to ohio a few days out of the year, but certainly not long enough to tinker with a car.

i'll be having him do a compression and then a leakdown test soon, but i believe that with 124k on a stock motor that has been boosted since 2002, its got to be the rings.

mrmint69

That is a long time and if you have that many miles since 2002 then you might have problems. I think they made the dip stick so it can never be removed. There are easier ways and they bought the car that way. Must be several better ideas then never being able to check the oil level. Since it has little time on the road since you left, maybe its ok and he just thinks there is a big problem. If it was your son and not your dad, I might be worried he is out drag racing.

jeremyhurt

If you pull the engine.

This appears to be the best method. I pulled my from the top and it seems to be twice the work. I could be wrong, but if I had to do it again, I would do this.

Engine Removal

10secbuick

sorry, thats the TOTAL milage of the car. the original owner had the powerdyne professionally installed and tuned in 2002. since then, its had about 24k miles put on it. it was previously dyno tuned and was making very close to 400rwhp.

as for trusting a father but not a son, thats what our grand national is for! why run around in a 12 second car when there is a 10 second car sitting next to it?

mrmint69

I have under 15,000 on mine and drive it very little each year like you and the previous owner. Thats not bad and alarmingly high, so it not like you used it as a daily driver.

Vicious95Z28

[QUOTE=Injuneer;6901701]Detonation will often break the ring lands, particularly if you are using the stock hypereutectic pistons. It becomes a problem if the cylinder wall is damaged.

Exactly what happened to mine after I 1st put the KOOKS on it. I left it untuned shortly & popped#7. I had the same issue as this guy, blowing the new oil caps out of the chrome GMPP valve covers.