Trap Star

Just dropped my oil pan to fix a leak and found a bunch of copper shards in it. Anyone have any idea where they may have come from or how screwed my engine is?

deeliciousqueen

Not the same car but it tells you in general what copper in your oil means

dcains

iTrader: (15)

If you're seeing actual pieces of copper, there's terminal bearing damage.

Trap Star

Damn. That's what I was afraid of. Any recommendations on what my next step should be? I'm assuming I'll be pulling the engine to get to the bearings but what else should I look for in the way of damage? Also recommendations on what bearings to get would be appreciated.

I do have a spare engine but I'm unsure of its condition so if anyone has tips for inspecting it that would be awesome.

dcains

iTrader: (15)

No guesses. Probably rod bearings, but you'll never know until you have the engine apart.

Trap Star

Word. Guess it's time to figure out what the future of this thing will be. Wish I could raise enough funds selling all my vq stuff to go LSX but I doubt I can haha.

midz350

iTrader: (4)

Is there any knocking sound?

Trap Star

Not that I remember hearing

travlee

iTrader: (8)

https://www.summitracing.com/int/par...4098/overview/


/thread. haha. ls swaps aren't as cheap as you think, just be prepared if you go that route

travlee

iTrader: (8)

i wonder if anyone has slammed an ls7 in one yet, doubt it because of price

venture210

If you haven't pulled your engine and replaced parts yet, I suggest getting a full set of oem bearings: mains, rods, thrust washers. Get the lowest grade bearing also. The color code should be "black." The thinnest oem bearing will still give you oil clearances well within stock specs so don;t worry about having too much clearance. Replace the main bolts with new ones as well as the rod bolts. Lastly, seals. You'll need the two half circle rubber seals. New main seals wouldn't hurt either. New oil pan to block o-rings. The beauty of this is that you can do everything I mentioned with only removing the oil pan. Good luck

dcains

iTrader: (15)

How do yu get the upper main bearing shells changed? Also, if a bearing was spun, there's likely damage on that crank journal, and that will just trash the new bearing.

venture210

dcains,
with the main caps and rod caps all out, you should be able to pull the crank out lol However, if anyone plans to do my half *** bearing replacement procedure, install all of the rod bearings first. That way, you can just pull the crank up a bit to rotate the upper bearings out. The rods should suspend the weight of the crank easily. Then its just replacing one bearing at a time so if the crank falls back in, it falls on the bearing and not the block

dcains

iTrader: (15)

Maybe if you pull the gearbox. Otherwise, you'll damage the bushing at the back end of the crank.

SikkyMFG

iTrader: (2)

Don't forget to add this to the order!
http://www.sikky.com/product/350z-ls...ete-mount-kit/


Also it does infact sound like your catching the signs of engine damage. I would suggest getting a plan together for repair.
While it's possible to just replace the bearings. I would be prepared to remove the engine entirely, there may be damage to the rods or crankshaft surfaces

travlee

iTrader: (8)

seen this kit first hand when i helped a buddy put an ls2 in his G.... excellent craftsmanship

Trap Star

Waka waka.

Alright so I've got an update. I've since moved and after having the car towed up to my new location I got to work taking things apart. My original plan had been to get everything fixed over thanksgiving while my uncles (the 2 of them have 60+ years of experience between them) were in town. This didn't exactly go as planned but we were able to get the motor out and the oil pan removed. At first glance everything was perfect and by perfect I mean everything looked brand new. No shavings anywhere other than the pan, no signs of wear, no signs of failure, nothing. I made the decision to go ahead and remove the main caps anyway just to be sure and thats when I found #3 was toast. Unfortunately I haven't gotten any further because I fell and broke my wrist (I may need to get life alert) which has made it difficult to turn a wrench.

Anyway, onto the pictures. Please feel free to chime in with advice because so far everyone's been very helpful. Barring massive machine work or yet undiscovered damage I've decided to just fix this motor and focus on my 5.0 swap in my 97 240sx for fun.





As you can see there is some slight gooving on the crank. This can only be felt when I run a fingernail across it. All the other main bearings are fine. This pair had spun about halfway but there was no fusing or anything like that. There are also grooves that are more pronounced on the main cap and I'm assuming to the block itself. I've decided to go with all new bearings just to be safe but don't really know what to go with. OEM and ACL seem to be close enough in price to justify the upgraded bearings. As far as gaskets go, anything I've touched will be replaced so I can hopefully avoid future issues. If there are others I should go ahead and do please let me know.

Trap Star

double post fail.

dkmura

iTrader: (64)

Congrats on pulling the engine properly and NOT HALF ASSING the disassembly. The first thing you should do is find a machine shop that specializes in crankshafts. Take your crank in and have them assess the damage to the journals. They will regrind if possible, and give you an idea of how much material was taken off and what bearings to purchase if oversize is needed. Have the shop microfinish the bearing journals before they return it to you, and you have a good chance of rebuilding this VQ the RIGHT WAY.

Cost of crank work? Not sure of Atlanta pricing, but here in Denver, it's right around $120-150 for all that, plus magnafluxing and inspecting the crank to ensure there's no cracks or bends. Money well-spent.

Trap Star

Thanks, I'm trying to do this car right since its much nicer than my 240's or my honda and I want it to be a reliable daily. I'm up in Sylva, North Carolina now so if anyone in western NC knows of a good machine shop let me know. I'm definitely willing to drive 2-3hrs to get it done right so ATL is still an option.

So I'll need to deliver the block and crank to the machine shop right? Should I go past removing the crank before taking everything there? Like removing the heads, front cover, pistons/rods, etc? I'd really like to avoid doing any of this again so the extra work is fine by me. One of my uncles that I mentioned before will be helping me with assembly once I get everything back since he has far more experience with that than I do.

Another thing I'd like to ask about. I was reading an article about the GT300 Z that guy in Norway purchased and noticed they mentioned the crank had 4 oil outlets instead of 2 for delivering oil to the main bearings. I was wondering if this is something a machine shop can do and if its worth the extra money. I'm not planning on turning this into a race car right now but I'll probably get the urge to start running it at the track and up here in the mountains there are a lot of kick *** roads (I'm only an hour from the Dragon).

If you haven't read this yet, do it. Amazing piece of machinery.
Link to the article: http://www.speedhunters.com/2015/08/...-gt-in-norway/