Unless that metal has come from the oil pump (still not a good sign though) - the flakes could possibly be nothing more than white metal from bearings.Originally Posted by WarStryker13
Unless that metal has come from the oil pump (still not a good sign though) - the flakes could possibly be nothing more than white metal from bearings.
I'd drop the pan and start shaking some con rods. Unfortunately, I don't think it'll be a fluke. My truck builds oil pressure faster than that at -10deg F. There is a possibility it's the balance shafts and balance shafts/oil pump timing chain. Could have started chewing up the chain and chain wheels if those bearings started locking up. I believe they are usually the first to go, and what leads to the untimely demise of many a 2.6
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All that's left is unbolting the engine from the mounts and bellhousing and yanking...
I still need to figure out how I'm going to lift it out, I don't have a hoist available and I don't exactly have the time or money to buy one right now.
Anywhere you can hire one out? If you have all of the prep work done and it's just a matter of yeeting it out, you could book one for a day and get it swapped.
Eventually, once I actually get the engine out of the truck and get it apart, my plans for this block are as follows:
1. Clean and hot tank the block and head
2. Machining (if necessary, hopefully not)
3. Adding piston squirters (I believe the Starion blocks have these, which is probably one of the reasons why it's preferable to start with a Starion block)
4. Drill and tap for oil feed and return lines for the turbo
5. Balance shaft delete
6. New bearings, rings, oil pump, timing chain, and any other parts that got maimed or are showing signs of excessive wear...
I'm going to do some research on camshafts, I'm thinking something relatively "mild"...
I'm probably going to do some porting on the head and intake manifold, and I'm planning on doing a blow-through carburetor setup for two reasons: A boost referenced fuel pressure regulator is cheaper and easier than trying to find a Starion EFI setup, get it working in this truck, AND tune it... And I'm a rebel.
As for swapping to a different engine, I'm not going to unless I find a 4D55T for cheap.
We had draw through 2.0 turbos here in Oz. They ran a CD175 Stromberg carb and a tiny bit of work made them fearsome. This has come up before and I posted this - http://www.mightyram50.net/vbulletin...ll=1#post44007
Draw through would be cool, but I'd have to buy more stuff and I'm trying to keep this as cheap as possible.
I'm not looking for major power, just a little more... Plus turbo noises.
I'm also probably going to do a hater pipe, but it'll be off an exhaust cut-out so I can still drive the truck without hearing protection. Because tractor flappers straight out of the hood are awesome.
Oh, and when I pulled the balance shaft cover off the side of the block, there was zero evidence of any gasket material. Just a buildup of dirt and burnt oil. It didn't leak that much, surprisingly.
I want to try cleaning the block as much as possible before I decide whether it's going to a machine shop or not, and I'm just wondering if what I'm thinking makes sense...
Once the block is completely torn apart, I want to take a pressure washer to it and get as much of the built-up dirt and grease off of it as possible, and get as much sludge and varnished, burnt oil out of it as possible.
Next, I was going to set the block in a plastic tote big enough to submerge it completely and fill the tote with a mild acid, either hot water and powdered citric acid, vinegar, or whatever... I'm hoping to break up and dissolve as much of the rust as possible, and potentially dissolve some of the sludge that I have no doubt is coating the inside. I'm hoping that I wont have to, but if or when I do take it to a shop it will be less work I'd have to pay them to do.
I know that I could just clean the oil passages, replace bearings and slam it back together, but if I'm going through the trouble of pulling the engine I want it to look like brand new when it goes back in.
I will be deep cleaning the engine bay, and paying extra attention to the front crossmember, differential housing, and anything else still covered in sludge... And since I'm making the engine pretty, I might as well drop the trans and t-case out from under the truck and pressure wash those...
I am not going to do anything to the outside of the truck to make it look nicer, because I like the idea of that contrast between the rusty, beat up faded shell, and the gleaming, shiny new engine bay...
Also, should I make it a point to check for ring ridge or bore taper? I'm already planning on measuring the pistons and crank journals, but if they're over/under sized I need to know before ordering new bearings or rings.
If you're going down this path, get the bare block hot tanked. I did a 'dirty' block clean with oven cleaner and a small scrubbing brush and gave the bores a quick deglaze with a scourer ball on a cordless drill as there were no signs of cosmetic wear on the bores on this particular engine (I finished it off with spray can degreasers as hosing down the inside of an engine block with water is asking for trouble) . If it's got a lip on it, it'll need boring. Likewise if it has obvious cosmetic damage like scoring or gouges. But if the bores appear to be undamaged but worn smooth, my deglaze trick will work (I installed new stock size rings and polished up the pistons) This may be advantageous as a little extra clearance on the bores with a turbo install is helpful - boost will force the compression rings to seal tighter. An engine with already tight clearances will more than likely snap piston rings.
That's why I'm wanting to get the engine torn apart as quickly as possible, so I at least know what will need to be done.
And I'm a fan of the dingle-ball hone too.
I was already planning on opening up the ring end gaps a few thousandths, just as a precaution against chipping a piston.
I didn't use a dingle ball hone but something similar to this - https://www.ebay.com/itm/4-100mm-Abr...8AAOSweW5U-NPd
It's not very aggressive and I was able to use a spade bit extension on my cordless drill to get the whole bore with the crank still installed without fear of damaging anything. The honing stone tool I bought was way too aggressive and I just happened to run into these by chance.
Got the oil pan off, and found out what went wrong...
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Floppy chain.
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I'm going to say that chunk of metal looks like a bearing that fell out and got caught in the chain... and destruction ensued.
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More shiny bits...
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The sketch level here isn't as high as I would like.
I still have to get the engine fully out and get it taken apart, but I've made progress and I'm claiming it as a win.
It would take catastrophic damage to the engine for a bearing to make it's way out of a journal. Could be from a balance shaft?When they fail you get a huge drop in oil pressure which sort of follows what you experienced.
That's what I'm thinking, that it's a balance shaft bearing. Above that bearing there's a piece of the chain sitting in the pan...
...and all of the shiny mud in the sump are bits of cast aluminium from the timing cover as it got ground off by the chain. The question will be - delete or not delete the shafts? There's a good chance that at least one of the balance shafts is chewed up as a result of the bearing failure (my money is on the exhaust side)
Definitely delete. I'm not going to chance this happening again.
https://www.racetep.com/automaker/starion.html
I'm still looking, but I think I've found at least one place that offers some of the go-fast parts I'm looking for... I can at least ask them a few questions about stuff like their Montero turbo kit or head/block modifications.
I have over 60k miles on my balance shaft delete. Don't notice anything in the oil at drain, and I make 90psi running down the highway. Would probably be a good idea to balance the rods and pistons while apart, should minimize any vibrations.
If I cared enough, I would have it balanced... But I'm not worried about vibration.
I'm more concerned about ensuring that I have enough oil pressure and that there's enough oil flow, and I'm concerned about removing potential points of failure...
In my case, that point of failure fulfilled it's potential.
You don't need to take it into some high performance engine shop to balance your rods and piston assemblies. Buy a cheap set of digital scales, weigh each one 3 times to get an average weight for each assembly, record the average weight and take a die grinder to the heaviest one first and use the lightest one as your bench mark. You will literally be shaving off a few grams to get the balanced weight you're after. Anything that helps... Don't forget that turfing the balance shafts is going to improve throttle response plus ramp your oil pressure.
????
"turfing the balance shafts is going to improve throttle response plus ramp your oil pressure."
????
Turfing ????
Please, do explain ---thx.
Turfing: Deleting, removing, tossing in the trash, etc. lol
I'll weigh the pistons and con rods, if they're close I'll just leave them. I don't want to accidentally remove material from a potentially weak spot and lose a piston skirt.
Well then ,
Please forgive My intrusion on the 'Mutual Administration Collective ' super secret squirrel handshake society
Last edited by claych; 10-31-2019 at 04:58 PM.
LOL
I had never heard the term before myself, but I figured that was the gist of it.
You have grasped the vernacular well, my apprentice...
I'm on my way to pick up an engine stand, and either later today or tomorrow I'll be renting an engine crane.
By the end of this weekend I should have the engine torn down and have an idea of what all it will need.
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