Unwelcome Sump Contents.

[Longboarder]

Flowed, ported and skimmed head is back on 'new' engine. Cams all timed up with new belt and pulleys. VVT deleted and inlet timed up fixed to 24 cam degrees advance of neutral position. Exhaust has a vernier so 6cam degree retard was easy. Vernier base dowelled to front of exhaust cam.

 

Invert engine on stand to remove sump so I can add the ARP big-end bolts, shimmed main bolts for oil scraper and raceline sump.

 

Remove old sump and find these scraps of non magnetic metal in the bottom of the sump.

'Deary deary me.' I said calmly and came inside for a cuppa and some extra madness pills.

 

Haven't yet looked to find where they came from but it's not the cams. They're non magnetic so it's not the oil pump. So it looks like big-ends or mains.

 

Deary deary me and whoopsy daisy.

 

Nigel

 

ps the 5p is for scale. It wasn't in the sump!

[Dave R]

bugger ;-(

[Tazzzzman1]

At least with the engine out and on a stand you should be able to check and get to the big ends easy enough...would have been a bigger sod if you had found these after fitting the engine.. Still a bugger though!!

Hopefully nothing you can't sort without too much heartache...

 

Good luck..

[Peter Bell]

They look a bit like swarf from a machining operation, could they have been in the engine from new and have just decided to show themselves to get you worried?

[Grim]

I agree with peter, definitely machining swarf, presumably from the head skim, and got caught in the oil return from head.

[Guest paulrrh2b]

Yep, I would say milling swarf

[Longboarder]

The milling swarfers are right I think. Sample big and mains below. Mains look perfect and the big ends are only slightly discoloured and not worn.

The head was skimmed, dumped in a hot cleaning bath, blown through with an air line. I then did some porting which only produced ally dust. Washed out with fairy liquid, pressure washer hose, then dried with airline. Then inspected. How did milling swarf hang around in it?

And how did it get into the sump? The only oil it has had in was the run off from fitting and timing up the cams. No more than 100ml. Hardly enough to flush the swarf out of its hiding places. Head still looks spotless on inspection. I wonder if they have been there from the factory?

 

Nigel

[Guest peter2b2002]

you say not magnetic, are they plastic or ally? try holding a piece over a flame that will tell you if they are plastic or ally, might point you in the right direction

peter2b

[Longboarder]

Definitely ally/white metal. So the only sources in the bottom end of the engine would be bearings and that would have to be a major melt down but they're fine or pistons. Nothing visible in the bores either from above when I had the head off or below now. I would have thought a piston breaking up, scuffing, broken ring or whatever would have left damage to the bore that would be obvious.

I'm a bit lost here as I don't have any engineering background and I can't recall ever seeing the results of an engine that has run a bearing.

I think it is machining swarf. When the head was skimmed I watched but not closely but the swarf was, I think, much finer. Like 'tiny silver lawn cuttings' not 'pencil sharpenings' like these.

 

Nigel