I am currently facing some challenges on my Fully Built B18C Turbo Engine.. here are some specs

Total Approximate Miles: 75-100 miles of drive time and dyno
Fresh JDM B18C Golden Eagle sleeved Block
83mm Arias 9.7:1 Pistons
LS Crower Rods (750hp rated)
HONDA OEM 89 mm LS Benson Knife Edged Crank (LS Stroke)
ACL Standard Bearings
ATI Fluidamper
Using Torco Break in oil ( i believe 40W)

A lot of top end stuff... Can't be explicit about the whole build..

At a dyno session the other day, we noticed a knocking noise somewhere in the bottom end.. We thought it might have been a rod knock, although we had 80 psi of oil pressure.. Engine was shut off.. Immediately after dyno pull, we checked oil and it looked as if it were low approximately 1/2 quart. Mind you the dip stick was checked immediately after pull.. No real time for oil to settle. Dyno session was ended to not further damage anything else.

After pulling the oil pan off, we noticed copper flakes..


We assumed rod knock.. We pulled off the rod caps.. and they look pretty good in my opinion..
Rod Caps #1 and #4 Pictures




We pulled off mains 2, 3, 4 and mains #2 and #3 were ruined... Main Cap #1 looks close to main cap #4 (Will post picture later).. Not able to pull main cap #5 until i yank the engine out.

Main #2



Main #3



Main #4



Now before I place my input, this engine was professionally built... So NO... it was not a novice build.

I am kindly asking experienced engine builders what they think this is caused from.. I have already received a lot of input from local machine shops and causes... Please let me know. I appreciate all the help.

 

ttt. thanks

 

any questions, please let me know.. thanks again.. greatly appreciated

 

was the proper crank used for ther build?

 

ls crank, ls crower rods... in a b18c... its ok

 

Some cranks are to be used with tapered bearings. what kind of bearings did you use.? tapered or none. thats most likely what happened IMO.

 

i have no idea... i believe standard ACL... its an OEM honda crank.. nothing crazy

 

you said its a benson knife edge crank? not oem.

 

i appreciate all the input everyone... if anyone can answer this.. do you think it was because it might have been a little low on oil? say worst case 1/2 quart... considering engine didn't even go all the way to redline... although it could not have been 1/2 quart because oil was not done settling...????

 

sorry it was knife edged by Benson... Honda OEM LS 89mm crank

 

no that little bit shouldn't have done all that. either bearing clearances weren't right. or the oil pump wasn't working properly. doubt it was the oil pump tho. my guess would be bearing clearances.

 

your crank might have also had the oil holes clogged with little dirt particles being that only number 2 and 3 are really bad.

 

Bearing issue or clogged oil line in block from when it was in machine shop.

 

i'm no professional but i've been around racing, cars, engines, working on them, building them etc since i was about 10 years old. i'd say its either the wrong bearings, wrong clearances, bad oil pump, faulty machine work, or clogged oil holes or lines. i know that pretty much lists it all but until you look into the oiling in the crank and block you wont be able to take that out of the equation... most machine shops wont admit they were wrong or messed up because they will have to eat all the costs. i know you said it was pro built but everyone makes mistakes, i suppose its also possible that the bearings you got were no good... main number 4 looks a little scored in the pic but its hard to tell from the angle. i'd have the crank checked to see if the oiling holes are flowing properly. then i would have the block checked.

you said you had 80psi of oil pressure but a sudden loss of oil pressure that could of been unnoticed could cause some major damage at 6k+ rpms. 1/2 quart of oil low isnt going to cause damage like that. hope this helps.

 

double check ur oiling in block. also was everything built in place right? i know you took it to (pros) but they could have messed somewhere up.

 

I had this happen to an old setup of mine. I had the machine shop balance my whole rotating assembly, which consist of the crank, rods, and the flywheel of the clutch, hence it is connected to the crank when all put together, and also my fluidamper main crank pulley. When I went to assemble the motor, I was reusing my old twin disc clutch, I found out the spline of my clutch disc were all grounded out, so I had a friend with a tilton twin disc for sale, I went ahead and threw that in.
After getting it all together, the car started and drove around fine for about a day, until we started to tune for a boost. I had problems with Vtec engaging so I go to check my Vtec solenoid and it was full of metal shavings.

Come to find out all my main bearings were gone, but my rod bearings were fine. I had perfect oil pressure until the bearings went out. So with that said, my motor became unbalanced with the new tilton clutch, thus causing the crank to chew up the mains.

Hope that helps.

 

Great advice everyone. I appreciate everything. I hope my builder will realize that the "low oil" could not cause this. Although I do not believe it was that low. Again the reading was immediately taken after a dyno pull. I'm sure straight 40W takes timevto settle. Thanks again for the input

 

1/2 quart low wouldn't cause damage like that.

Something had to of gone wrong with the clearances. Were the mains checked for trueness? Are the caps the original on that motor?

 

Agreed.

Either the mains needed a good line hone, or the clearances were plain too tight.

And oil pump failure would normally wipe all of the bearings fairly quickly.

- Derek

 

At the time of assemly I was notified by te builder that it be best that I get a line bore. Golden Eagle performed the line bore. Paid top dollar for that. My guesstimation is that it probably has something to do with the crank, even though I paid top dollar for that too.

 

And ek_b20_vtec... We stopped the dyno right around vtec engagement because we didn't think it was activating. It would activate for a split second then fall off entirely. I can relate to your problem almost 100%. But it's weird that only mains 2 and mains 3 got destroyed the way they did.

 

its deff a crank issue, ls v? or it gsr? seems to meyou used the wrong bearings, if it was a oil issue youd hear a knock colder weather, looks to me your in need of another re-build.

 

Anytime you line bore a honda block, you are asking for problems. Finding oversize OEM bearings are hard. I know ACL sells oversized bearings, but its all one size. I too think your culprit was the bearing clearances. IMO the only way to go is with OEM bearings. Start off with all Greens and then have it Plastiguaged and buy what bearing is needed.

 

Again truly appreciate all the useful input

 

id say clearances or oiling problem