History, fresh 1995 Camaro 3.4 swap 28,000 miles on engine. about 130 miles after the swap and maybe 2 hours of idle time. I replaced rear main seal, timing chain, timing chain damper, timing chain seal, head gaskets, head gasket bolts, valve seals, water pump.
Ive been having low oil pressure when oil is hot so low the light comes on. when cold it around 60. I know this is a common problem. The engine runs smooth no grinding sounds or pinging. I can see smooth oil flow under the oil fill cap. I did not replace the oil pump which was dumb. I drained the oil and it has a silver sheen. no flakes at all just a silver sheen. when you run your finger through the oil it makes a silver/grey trail. I'm wondering if I have done damage to my bearings? or maybe timing chain breaking in causing the silver? I am ordering a new pump tonight. maybe a high volume. I'm a little against that I hear a high volume can wear the dis gear faster. Your guys thoughts.
Did you use assembly lube on anything? I think it can make the oil look funny. It can also plug the oil filter in pretty short order, and make it "bypass", I think. Other than that, the silver doesn't sound like a good thing. Good luck.
Yes I did use lube on the pushrods and a little on the cam lobes. I'm going to change the pump today or tomorrow, also flush and change the oil and filter. I'm hoping that with only 130 miles on the swap if I did do damage its not to severe . I'm thinking of also checking the bearing gap clearances... What other areas should I check while I have the pan and pump off? Maybe there is something clogged somewhere.
A visual inspection of the main and rod bearings would be a good idea. It would also be a good idea to check the camshaft and lifters. But that would require removal of the intake manifold.
Originally posted by Monkeyman: Don't worry about it. You just used an inferior oil. The "good" oil would have left a gold sheen. At least you didn't use the "bronze sheen" oil.
The best oil for winning gives you a Charlie Sheen.
Done with the wisecracks? The question about what oil is used is important. The wrong oil can provide poor protection and result in more metal contact, and thus metallic content in the oil. Certain additives could also cause the oil to appear different color. When asking questions about why your oil looks a certain way, it's generally courteous and a good idea, to actually specify what oil you're using, and what additives if any, including amount added. It helps to find the problem, and in the case the oil or additives are at fault, inform others about the problems with that oil or additives.
I'd be a bit more worried about cam lobes than bearings though. But I'd not start the car before getting the oil analysis, and checking at least the rod bearings, at this point. If you have any of the oil and STP left, I'd also mix both a bit in a clean container, and also send that off for analysis, to compare against what came out of the car, as well.
I built a 406 sbc for my trans am, everything was brand new to a freshly machined block. I broke the engine in with Brad penn break-in oil (thick as -expletive-!) And my first oil change scared me, that silvery film. Turned out to be the assembly lube. Next few oil changes improved. May consider 20-50w oil, I use it for most of my cars. Slightly better gauge reading so it isn't irking me every time I drive. Perhaps an oil cooler (the kind that L98 vettes got) would improve viscosity at operating temps. Lastly, you could always get an accurate reading with a trusted gauge at the block. My mechanic wants to smack me any time I worry over what readings I see in our horribly innacurate factory gauges.
I don't think I will do the analysis Whatever has been done has been done. The engine still sounds and runs awesome with great compression. I have the Melling M134HV oil pump I am waiting for the pickup tube should be here this Wednesday. I am also using Valvoline Max Life Full Synthetic this time with Lucas oil TB Zinc-Plus. The pickup tube is going to be a problem because all I have to weld it to the pump is a arc welder with 7018 rod. I've been told I could use red thread lock. ??? I don't know about that but the 2.8 had nothing keeping it pressed in, the pump seemed to be rock solid after 103k. I'll keep you all updated. thanks guys for your input.
OK forgive my lack of knowledge pertaining to the 2.8 as most of my roots are in SBC's, but for bypassing the tack weld for oil pump pickups, pioneer products makes a clamp to hold it in place for small blocks. I would hope this clamp could work for a v6, or that the v6 has its' own version, but I have yet to look at a v6 oil pickup. Might be worth looking into.
OK guys here is a video of what I have been talking about. What I have done since my last post is I have changed out the oil pump to a Mellings HV oil pump. After oil warms up I'm getting 20 to 25 on the car oil gage. which I think is low do to the fact I have a hv pump.
After playing back the video I have noticed a metal on metal sound coming from the front of the engine. kinda like brake pad to rotor metal on metal. Not sure if I'm hearing things. Maybe something in the timing chain area Hmmm? but still low oil pressure after a new hv pump seems odd.
OK guys here is a video of what I have been talking about. What I have done since my last post is I have changed out the oil pump to a Mellings HV oil pump. After oil warms up I'm getting 20 to 25 on the car oil gage. which I think is low do to the fact I have a hv pump.
After playing back the video I have noticed a metal on metal sound coming from the front of the engine. kinda like brake pad to rotor metal on metal. Not sure if I'm hearing things. Maybe something in the timing chain area Hmmm? but still low oil pressure after a new hv pump seems odd.
20 to 25 at idle on a warmed up engine is normal. HV is just volume, not pressure. It pumps more volume at roughly the same pressures as stock.
I don't hear the metal sound from the front of the engine that you're mentioning, but it could be the water pump, or just alternator whine.
As for the metallic look in the oil, to me it looks like it's a bit cloudy when you stir it with your finger, so more than likely this is just the assembly lube/zddp additive being stirred up and making the oil look cloudy.
Your oil pressure is fine. And the engine seems to be running well.
Keep in mind that break-in lube has a mild abrasive in it. It helps to polish the cam lobes, lifter faces, etc to a mirror-like finish. Of course, that polishing action does remove some small amounts of material. So your break-in oil will have a metallic sheen. That's perfectly normal.
After you change out the break-in oil for normal engine oil, there shouldn't be any more metallic sheen in the oil.
