b20ricepower

I posted this in the tech section without much input so I decided to ask in the drag racing forum since most guys here have a lot of experience with engine builds.
Setup
B18a1 sleeved block
















Ls crank
Acl race bearings
Type r oil pump (obd2)

Well ive been driving my setup for about 3000 miles now and had an oil pressure issue. My engine always seemed to be on the low side for oil pressure which was about 12psi idle when warm but something went wrong the other day. I was getting on the car a few times and noticed that my oil pressure was even lower than normal. I pulled over to check for leaks or anything and didnt see anything. However, I did notice a faint noise from the bay. Luckily i was less than a mile from home anyways so I babied her home. Oil pressure continued to drop severely. By the time i got back my idle oil pressure was almost gone. Around 4-5psi. I pulled in and there was definitely a loud noise from the engine. I popped the hood once again to see where it ws coming from but couldnt really pinpoint it. It almost sounded like it was coming from the head bit hard to tell. Didnt sound like a rod knock at all. Kind of just a whirling noise. Not good. So i shut her down immediately and the next day i started pulling her apart. Took off the valve cover and no damage seemed obvious to the valvetrain. Drained the oil and didnt see any metal particles. Cut open the oil filter and didnt see anything either. However I then pulled the mains and seen some wear on them. I plastigauged them and they are still within oem specs. All around .0015. I have the pics below. Any experienced engine builders have any input? Is this just the coating wearing off the bearings or is it more? When I assembled the engine all bearings were in spec and they still are. Now im trying to figure out what is causing the pressure drop/noise. I did do an oil change the day before which makes me wonder if that had something to do with it. Used 10w30 synthetic with fram ultra guard filter. Any ideas. Could it be the oil pump going bad? Do they make a whirring noise or something if they go bad? Pump doesnt have almost any miles on it and i also clearanced the rotor to crank snout before installing it. I'm kind of lost because this is my first complete build. The bearings are pictured above

b20ricepower

Also fyi I had a bad line hone first time out and it did minor damage to the crank. I asked the machine shop and he said that it should be fine. He line honed it correctly and said to reuse the crank. I also included a pic of the worst journal on the crank. Is it bad enough to lose that kind of oil pressure so suddenly or is it more likely to be the oil pump?

b20ricepower

Also keep in mind that the damage to the crank was done the first time i assembled. The block came from a "reputable" engine sleever here on the forums sleeved and "line honed"...supposedly. I assembled the mains and although they plastigauged decent, the motor wouldnt budge after they were torqued properly. Took quite a bit of force with the wrench to turn it over. Being my first build, I thought that maybe this resistance was normal. I ran it for a few hundred miles before I figured it out. My local machinist said that he doesnt know how they messed up the line hone but it was way off. He thinks they got main caps switched with another block possibly. Clearances were decently close, but the hone wasnt straight. They never line honed it regardless he said. No machining marks.Learn from your mistakes I guess. Now I know it should turn over real smoothly like mine currently does. Anyways, any ideas from some experienced builders would help me a lot.

b20ricepower

Sorry about the out of place pictures. Trying out the android honda-tech app and i'm still getting used to it.

dsmdan

Are you sure you put the main caps on in the right direction as well as order?

tepid1

Looks like debris in the oil wiped out the bearings. I've personally never seen the pump gear worn like that. Have you checked out the thrust bearings yet?

ArniFPR

x2

if you turn the main caps the wrong way this will happen, been there done that :D but isn't that a girdle in the photos?

b20ricepower

Yea i'm running a golden eagle main girdle. The main caps are in order from 1 to 5. 1 is closest to the cam gear side and 5 farthest away. Arrows point towards cam gear side(cyl 1). I did run the oil too long in the motor. My dd was down so I was forced to drive my project around. Still wasnt over 3000 miles but I know you are supposed to change at 500 or earlier. Still dont think the bearings are bad enough to cause the pressure drop. They all plastigauge fine. Idk whats goin on.

SwappedTURBOegg

it should run fine with the bearings looking like that.

b20ricepower

Could the score marks on the crank be bleeding off the oil pressure?

1HGEJ2

iTrader: (1)

which bearings are this? they havent a hole from dowl to dowel

90blackcrx

Did you clean the bearings good after you used plastigauge ???? I see green plastigauge as well to the left of the bearing. What were your clearances set to ?

b20ricepower

All the pastigauge was cleaned off prior to assembly. My mains are all around .0015.

tepid1

That's fine for 400-450hp and lower. You should open up the clearances a bit.

What oil?

b20ricepower

I was using 10w30 conventional then changed oil to 10w30 synthetic. If my clearances were on the tight side then my oil pressure would be high. The mains were all at .0015 to .0017ish.

tepid1

I understand oil pressure is your main concern and what pressure does with clearances. Just throwing it out there for the rebuild.

Did you take apart the relief valve in the oil pump? Perhaps there is some foreign material in there which is causing pressure to bleed out.

luck4rmkc

iTrader: (2)

I agree on the opinion of it looks like oil contamination.

It is hard to tell from the pix but the haziness of the bearings looks a little like when you get coolant or water into the sump. Any chance that happened? Oil didn't look milky when you drained it? On E85? What is your catch can setup like?

b20ricepower

I actually didnt check the relief valve. I suppose its possible.

b20ricepower

No, I highly doubt that any coolant got in there. Oil was definitely old. I should of changed it sooner so yea its definitely possible the wear is from dirty oil. My catch cans are vented to atmosphere. 2 -10 an lines off back of engine to one can. 2 -10an lines from the valve cover to the other catch can. The oil seemed thin when i changed it. Really black. Im sure it was just broken down a lot.
Whats weird is that I had just put in fresh synthetic and filter the day before this happened. The oil looks almost new.Car isnt running terribly rich either. Like 11.2 at full throttle/boost. I dont think its contaminated with fuel. 93 pump gas btw. Im just lost. I had a spare oil pump that I installed and i'm gonna finish up putting her back together tmrw. New quality oil filter as well. Fingers crossed but I'm not expecting a miracle. Ive had terrible luck with this build.

ninesecrx

Since that block has been line honed a couple of times I would take the dowel pins out of your oil pump. You have to remember the oil pump centers with the oem spec of the crank bore centers. When you line hone a block you change the location in which the the crank sits in the block which the pump centers on. Its dowel to stay straight. So what happens is it loads the oil pump gear up real hard. Check the pump housing itself you might see a bunch of wear in that. The bearings and pump gear certainly look like material has gone through the engine. With your clearances your oil pressure should be fine. My advice grab yourself a new oil pump and pull the dowel pins out of the oil pump and let the pump center on the crank snout.

b20ricepower

I was actually thinking about totally removing them and letting it center itself. However, I just filed them down again and clearanced it with a feeler gauge. I believe it was .006. I forget. I have it written down somewhere. It should still work this way as well.

Steeve_Civic

Any pictures of the inside of gear pump?
You should have no impact inside.

b20ricepower

Here is the video of it idling. I just readjusted valvetrain as well and the engine its still making noise. Oil pressure seemed ok but the motor wasnt up to full temp yet. Was around 25 psi idle. The noise sounds like its coming from the head but its hard to tell. Definitely louder by cylinder 1. Could it be a bent valve? Piston ring? Or does this sound like a rod knock? I did have some wear on cam jornals from having the belt too tight but i dont see that making a difference as long as the valvetrain is adjusted correctly which it is. I'm going to do a compression test tonight or tmrw and check that.

adam00

iTrader: (1)

Are you using a sandwhich plate? If so which 1

b20ricepower

Im using a golden eagle sandwich plate