A follow up to "oil starvation issues" thread

[joespanova]

So I started pulling the engine down , pulled pan and its full of bearing material. One by one the rod bearings looked like they were getting restricted oil flow but not as bad as I 've seen. The rods looked fine.

The main bearings on the other hand WERE COMPLETELY DESTROYED , to the point of the 3 center main caps getting "blued or blackened" .
As you can imagine I'm angry , pissed and any other verb you can come up with.
This isn't my first small block , to say the least...............but it IS my first Dart block ( Little M sportsman ).
The main caps no longer fit tight in the registers either, BTW.
Now here's the really pathetic part.........THESE BLOCKS ARE SUPPOSED TO BE PRIORITY MAIN OILING? WTH is going on here?

Main clearance at .003 , crank is straight ( BRC crank ) new Melling pump etc etc. The plugs in the block at rear are not plugging any passages...not that I'm aware of. The sump had 6 quarts.

Now how in the he*lL can a priority main oiling block starve the mains?

You can bet I'll be calling Dart in the AM.

[grant6395]

[QUOTE=joespanova;499472]So I started pulling the engine down , pulled pan and its full of bearing material. One by one the rod bearings looked like they were getting restricted oil flow but not as bad as I 've seen. The rods looked fine.

The main bearings on the other hand WERE COMPLETELY DESTROYED , to the point of the 3 center main caps getting "blued or blackened" .
As you can imagine I'm angry , pissed and any other verb you can come up with.
This isn't my first small block , to say the least...............but it IS my first Dart block ( Little M sportsman ).
The main caps no longer fit tight in the registers either, BTW.
Now here's the really pathetic part.........THESE BLOCKS ARE SUPPOSED TO BE PRIORITY MAIN OILING? WTH is going on here?

Main clearance at .003 , crank is straight ( BRC crank ) new Melling pump etc etc. The plugs in the block at rear are not plugging any passages...not that I'm aware of. The sump had 6 quarts.

Now how in the he*lL can a priority main oiling block starve the mains?

You can bet I'll be calling Dart in the AM.[/QUO
its definatley lack of oil.Severe windage or you are pumping all the oil upstairs..I resonded to your issue on another forum.When you get it repaired,if your still using the same cam and lifters,put a drill on the pump and see if your getting excessive oil to the top,starving things down below.restrictors may be order.Seen this movie plenty times before.Not the blocks fault.

[joespanova]

Then why aren't the rods that bad.............in fact some of those bearings looked almost reusable. No bluing on rod bearings ......some shiney but thats it.
The rods get oiled through the crank..........
Grant.....I did see your other posts and point well taken . I used restrictors in the old Gen 1 stuff and still had starvation issues...........
HOWEVER , starvation never happened as fast as this............ 1RUN? ........Maybe 2? I mean I ran it TWICE and trailered it. It had great oil pressure in the shop......
A new pan , pump and accumulator on the way. I will definately measure lifter to bore clearance ( Carl ).
I want to know about the oil band lifter issue? I'm using Comp plus .300 std rollers. No fancy rollers here.

[Chevy55]

Crank bent? Just my thought.

[rod butcher]

Have the crank mainline checked.

[Mike Taylor 3601]

Have you had crank wet magged,cracked crank will flex and wipe mains out.
Wet magnaflux uses black light to see cracks.
I mag EVERY crank that comes through the shop,is figured in price of polishing or grinding,
you may mag a dozen and all be good and then next dozen have 6 or 8 cracked.
Mike Taylor 3601

[carl hinkson]

Originally Posted by joespanova

So I started pulling the engine down , pulled pan and its full of bearing material. One by one the rod bearings looked like they were getting restricted oil flow but not as bad as I 've seen. The rods looked fine.

The main bearings on the other hand WERE COMPLETELY DESTROYED , to the point of the 3 center main caps getting "blued or blackened" .
As you can imagine I'm angry , pissed and any other verb you can come up with.
This isn't my first small block , to say the least...............but it IS my first Dart block ( Little M sportsman ).
The main caps no longer fit tight in the registers either, BTW.
Now here's the really pathetic part.........THESE BLOCKS ARE SUPPOSED TO BE PRIORITY MAIN OILING? WTH is going on here?

Main clearance at .003 , crank is straight ( BRC crank ) new Melling pump etc etc. The plugs in the block at rear are not plugging any passages...not that I'm aware of. The sump had 6 quarts.

Now how in the he*lL can a priority main oiling block starve the mains?

You can bet I'll be calling Dart in the AM.

With your build and the results you had it really would not have mattered if it was a Dart, World or Bowtie block the results would have been the same in the end.

I really doubt it has anything to do with Dart I have worked on a alot of Dart platforms over the years with zero problems.

Oil aireation is not a good thing, Once again those rods are a lot of mass compared to a good steel rod and aluminum rods will create alot of windage that you don't need at that RPM.

You have no clue on lifter bore clearance and those lifters run small with is dumping to much oil on the crank and rods plus the oil to the top end is regulated off lifter bore clearance to much clearance to much oil to the top end. Those budget lifter did not really save you any money in the end.


Your running a 90's pan that has been discontinued there is a reason they discontinued this pan.

You need a cam bearings that will not pour unwanted oil down on the crank and cause windage issues.

I will send your links to Dart for you so that they can evaluate your build and go from there.

The vacuum pump is a good deal but with vacuum and poor oil clearances it sucks oil out of those areas.

When your oil pump is sucking aireated oil that is full air the results will not be good in the end.

When your bearings were failing and your running unfiltered oil through your engine was not a good thing, Blocking your bypass really works believe me. I have been doing this for 40 plus years.

If those aluminum rods are like any other aluminum rod that has been run they do change they shape and will probably need to be resized to as they don't hold there shape like a steel rod.

I would really look into a dry sump next time as I mentioned earlier as this would not have happened and would have saved you a ton of money and time in the end.

Once you get all your ducks in a row you will have a good piece there.

At least nothing is broke and its repairable. Its a big set back though.

Good luck in the future.

[joespanova]

Originally Posted by Mike Taylor 3601

Have you had crank wet magged,cracked crank will flex and wipe mains out.
Wet magnaflux uses black light to see cracks.
I mag EVERY crank that comes through the shop,is figured in price of polishing or grinding,
you may mag a dozen and all be good and then next dozen have 6 or 8 cracked.
Mike Taylor 3601

Mike I'm going to look at that REAL close this time..........

[carl hinkson]

After talking to you on the phone I think your headed in the right direction.

Talk to Jake Stelter or google his his name and add drag week.

[HP HUNTER]

Originally Posted by Mike Taylor 3601

Have you had crank wet magged,cracked crank will flex and wipe mains out.
Wet magnaflux uses black light to see cracks.
I mag EVERY crank that comes through the shop,is figured in price of polishing or grinding,
you may mag a dozen and all be good and then next dozen have 6 or 8 cracked.
Mike Taylor 3601

Listen to this post.