O.K. I just changed my oil since doing the GTP head install. Anyway when I drained the oil I noticed a very fine silverish/goldish metallicy glittery crap in there. Anyway I wont worry until I change the oil again but is this a sign of badd things starting to happen for me?... Also my Oil pressure at Idle is about 15 PSI & at WOT about 55 PSI. If my memory serves me right I don't remember those to reeading being that low. I believe the Idle used to be around 20 & WOT was like 65 PSI. Anyway I am not extremely worried but just wanted to get a couple opinions on what may happen next if anything. Car is strong but I just don't like what I found today...

Thanks

 

That metal is most likely your crank journals and bearings, maybe even some of the block/main caps in there too.

Cut your filter apart with a hacksaw, guarantee you find ****load more metal.

dont run the car anymore, honestly.

 

The oil pressure sounds a bit low, but it doesn't mean for sure that the bottom end is toast.

The oil will look somewhat metallic as the new springs and valvetrain are breaking in.

I would do as thewinner suggested and cut apart your oil filter and see if there is alot of metal in there.

 

i must disagree with the above statement. its almost a guarantee its your bottom end. your valvetrain is not made out of gold colored metal, bearings are. i had 5 or more bad bearings and the motor still had normal oil pressure. I kid you not. 2 main bearings were welded to the block, 1 spun rod bearing, 2 others trashed, one so loose it let the piston hit the head.

how do i know? cause ive seen 2 motors in the past month with trashed bottom end. mine and my neighbors. mine had a nice sliver powder, his had bigger silver/gold chunks.

stir the oil with your finger, turn white?

you should be extremely worried about this situation, and if you want to attempt to salvage any part of your motor including the block, dont turn the car on again, and prepare to pull the motor out.

 

"your valvetrain is not made out of gold colored metal, bearings are."



I suppose you have never heard of bronze valve spring shims?

It is definitely possible that the bottom end is having a problem.

But the oil being slightly metallic does not guarantee a bearing problem.

 

uh huh. please explain why spring shims are coming apart and producing that much metal.

pull your filter apart, 10 bucks says you find lots more metal.

IMO, its your bottom end, either way, stop running your car.

just wondering, you did have the heads milled right?

 

Someone else mentioned about spun bearings and no low oil pressure. This happened to my dad's 1989 L98 GTA. The car was losing a ton of power, but no burning oil or anything else. We figured it was just some bad gas. Well, before we knew it, the car had spun a bearing and ruined the block.

I'd take the advice of the others and don't start your car. If you need a new motor, try a boneyard to see if they have a low-mileage one, or try www.gmpartsdirect.com to see if they can help you. They have pretty reasonable prices. I've ordered numerous parts from them, including my LT4 HC setup for $475 plus s&h. The grand total came out to around $505, I believe.

 

O.K. I just cut the filter housing & removed the filter. There was ZERO metal shaving in it,Idid see RTV in the filter & other crap like that. When I had the heads off I did a lot of scraping around the cylinders & intake to get a lot of the surface crap off before I re-installed everything & I didn't really cover up the lifer valey or cylinders. I did it half ***.... Anyway I never seen what I saw the other day in my oil. I changed it the other day after 75 miles of driving on my new set up. So it would seem to me that it was just crap from my lack of caution on cleanliness when I did the work. I noticed that my Oil pressure gauge (Aftermarket) sometimes will bounce around as if there was some debris still floating around & getting caught a bit in the sending unit. Also I probably have some crap in the oil pick up. I will change the oil again in a couple of days to see if it get any better.... I will use caution & if it does blow up I do have another LT1 sitting in my garage waiting for my next project...

Thanks guys....

 

FWIW, I noticed on a couple of brand new cars I have had, that there was some glitter in the bottom of the drain pan when the cars were new and even for numerous oil changes after. I never worried about it too much, since they were under warranty and never had any trouble. The only reason I am saying this is because a little glitter is not always catastrophic. Every situation is going to be a little different because of circumstances and every effort to find out the cause should be taken.

 

weird. looks like you are probably good then. id still be a little weary of it.

my car had no metal in the oil drained from the pan, it was all sitting on the bottom and in the filter.

 

Sounds like it's OK, keep us informed.

 

Hey INTMD8? I am looking for a good, LT1 Knowledgable tuner to get my car Dyno Tuned. I am running a mail order tune now that was set up for just the Hot Cam & it really seems O.K. with the new Heads on the car. Anyway I am Eddie '94 Z28 on MFBA & I met you I think last year at a rental I believe. Maybe not. Just wondering how much better I can get the car with a Dyno tune. I have not yet delt with LS1 Speed yet cause you guys are so busy that I am hesitant about getting a 1 on 1, quality care from you guys. Not a flame in no way, just sometimes when things get too busy, people fall between the cracks.

Thanks
Eddie

 

Thanks for your info. I would have never thought of cutting the old filter in half to inspect it, if you didn't suggest it. I still will be keeping an eye on things. If my Oil Pressure starts to consistantly drop then I will know that a major problem is about to come up.

Thanks again...

 

Their are some good mail order tunes out there for hotcam cars. Ed Wright's are as perfect as a mail order tune can be. I have heard good things about others, but have no personal experience with them.

There really isn't any way for me to know how much your car would gain with a dyno tune until I actually did it. If it's an Ed Wright tune, I doubt it would be much (maybe within 5 rwhp). I can tell you that even though we are very busy, I treat every car I work on as my own, and I won't let a car I am tuning, leave without knowing it's got the best tune possible.

Before commiting to a dyno-tune, you could just do 2 pulls on the dyno, and the air/fuel will be a good indication of how close the program is.

-Jim

 

Thanks Jim. I do appreciate it...

I may be in touch.