Ouch - the crank snout...we have had a few of those failures over the last couple years, they were all scat 9000 series cast stroker cranks, we have over 30 of those cranks out in various mild street motors, and still 3 in 30 is a pretty high failure rate...that's the crank I have in my econo-stroker, in our inspection, there was no visible casting flaws, so we don't know why they failed, all the failures were checked for balance and were dead on...possibly could be a problem with bottoming out the damper on the crank gear and causing a stress point.

 

Okay so do I just pull it out(the crank)? What is an RMA number? What all do I need to do to take these things apart? I honestly don't have the kind of money to drop another 2 grand in engine removal and then again for engine install. I am 22, in college, and make about $2000 a month. I just dropped $10,000 on everything that I had done to my car, and to only have it back for a month, 4000 miles, and have this happen. I just don't know what to say. I am learning about my car, but never thought I would have to learn the hard way. I never even took it to the track, for the very reason that I didn't want to break anything, especially my rearend. I figured that would go way before my engine.

So when I ship the engine back to Golen, should I request a different crank? I was planning on running a NOS Dry Kit for about 125hp, so I should have everything that is not forged, forged, right? For the comment about my hp, I have heard that more than a few times. I don't know what that is due to, several people have mentioned the A/F ratio, but I was goin to have her chassis dyno'd in the next few weeks. Anyways, I will take as much advice as you guys are willing to give.

I have always wanted to have a 383 since I bought my first camaro when I was 16, a 3.4 V6, then totalled it right before I was goin to do an engine swap/tranny swap (Lt-4 setup w/ T-56). Bought the 97 30'th the car I always wanted, except it didn't have the houndstooth interior. Then I get the chance to have a 383 and I own it for a month! Sorry just had to vent, upset and pissed off.

One last thing. Is the crank breaking a problem due to a manufacturer defect, improper machining, or is it just a chance one takes and well $hit happens? Just kinda need to know what angle to go at with this. Thanks for the help so far guys. Keep the thoughts and suggestions coming.

 

I understand your pain. I've been through 3 motors in 3 years because of bad machine work. Not saying that is what is going on here. Sometimes its just bad parts. I had a friend that had a brand new LT4 spring break after 20 miles with a hotcam. Just see what Chad tells you to do about it. Ive only talked to him but he seems very reasonable. I would just ship the motor if you have the tools to get it out.

As far as nitrous there are guys running 125-150 shots of N2O on stock high mileage motors but they are tuned right and are usually wet shots(n2o with fuel). But if you have the money forge everything. What was you a/f ratio? If it was running real lean like my last motor that could have caused some detonation and add stress to the motor.

Keep us updated. Im curious how Chad deals with this because I am ordering from them soon...or planning on it

 

The price ya pay for not knowing is money.
An RMA is a return merchandise authorization.
If ya have never pulled an engine--NOW is the time to learn-- maybe ya have a friend that knows how and will help ya.
Just take pictures so there is no off the wall BS about what happened.
99.5% sure it is in a main brg radius and the snout has nothing to do with A/F ratio.
Just sounds like too small of a radius(larger radius=more strength V square corner).
Work with Golen and get it fixed.

 

The reason I brought up the A/F ratio is for the fact that someone said I should be producing more hp than I am. I am not blaming that for the reason my crankshaft broke. I am very interested in why it broke and will be posting every bit of information I receive in this process. Having the tools and friends with the know-how is not a problem. It is just having them around and having the time to do it is the problem. I will have pics up tomorrow night or Monday morning for the crankshaft, hub, oil, and oil filter. I guess after that I might as well start taking stuff off the motor that I know how to do. Thanks again.

 

Having friends is a good thing.
May be ya can get both of y'all time coordinated where ya can get it done in a short period of time.

 

Having worked in the engine building business for 10 1/2 years, all I can say is, don't get another Scat crank. I worked at a shop that used to race VW's. That's where Scat got their start, building hot rod VW engines (an oxymoron if there ever was one). We saw alot of broken Scat parts. I started referring to them as Scatter.

If you want a quality crank that will last, buy a Callies or a Lunati. I built a 358 ci alky sprint car motor that had a Lunati crank. The crew chief leaned out the motor so bad that the detonation broke one of the main caps, but miraculously, the crank was OK. Food for thought.

Lee
96 Z28

 

Yeah I have heard a lot about lunati, thanks for the heads up. Didn't even cross my mind till just now. Definitely will be goin with one of their cranks. Thanks again.

 

Spoke with Chad today (Monday), all that needs to be done on my part is have the engine pulled and he will take care of the shipping (round trip) and the labor, crankshaft, and anything else that needs to be replaced. He said turn around time would be 2-3 days. Def. best customer service I have seen to date as far as the car/performance industry goes, and I am def a critic, being a server at a restaurant.

As far as the comment on a Scatt crank, the crank is an Eagle not Scatt (Unless they are interchangeable names which I don't think they are). Chad said he has never had this happen before, so when he gets to check into what caused this I will be very interested to know and so will he.

Other than that if I have the $$$ I will buy a new lunati crank, if not will it be that big of a deal to go back to an Eagle?

This will be the last post I make under this thread unless any other replies come up. When I have any more information I will post under 383 GES Update or something along those lines. Thanks again for those who have had their input throughout this thread.

 

The eagle is a fine peice, I would just have the surfaces doublechecked to make sure they are ready. But I agree the Lunati peice, if you have the cash (almost 800$ through Jegs) is very very nice.

 

I would upgrade to a forged Eagle piece is possible. Ive' got a 4340 crank and the same crank has been in three motors. Definitely a quality piece.

 

If you are going to pay almost $800 for a crank go for a Callies Dragonslayer, it is a very high quality crank for the price.

 

Golens definitely has the best customer service.

 

Agreed. For $800, I'd run a DS. Lunati makes a good product, but for the same price, I'd get the Callies.