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....That sinking feeling when you see silver shimmer in the drain oil!

Kern Dog

Life is full of turns. Build your car to handle.
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I pulled the pan to fix a dent and replace the leaky molded windage tray and it looked dirty but okay otherwise.
With the pan off, I turned it upside down and drained the rest. The oil had a real faint silver shimmer to it. The magnetic drain plug had about half a corn kernel of goo stuck to it. The bottom of the pan had no metallic paste like I have seen other times when a cam or bearings have gone bad.
The engine is a 440 based 493. I last had it out in 2011 to refresh it with a cylinder deglaze, new rings and bearings in standard size. The cam is a MP 528 solid with Howards EDM direct oiling lifters. I use 10w30 oil with the Comp Cams break in supplement.
I pulled the #3 and #4 main bearing caps. Both look excellent. There was some slight wear but perfectly fine otherwise. # 8 rod bearing looked fine too. All the rods feel tight but do have some side to side movement as they always have. The oil pressure has always been excellent. 75-80 psi cold and rarely ever getting below 25 even at hot idle in 100+ degree days.
I looked up to the underside of the cam and lifters and didn't see anything unusual.
I pulled the intake to get a look. Again, everything looked fine.
 
I cut open the oil filter and couldn't find any obvious debris. I put it in a 5 gallon bucket with gasoline to wash out the oil, then took a magnet and ran it across the bottom of the bucket. There were a few small fine shavings but not alot.

With the intake off, all looks normal to me.


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I pulled the left valve cover and rocker shafts.....

So far, nothing. The lifters all looked great and all spun easily in the bores.
Next up, the 2-4-6-8 side. The lobes that I can see look great though.

I have wondered if the shavings could just be piston ring or cylinder wall from normal wear, distributor drive gear to camshaft wear, timing chain and sprocket wear or a little of each.
Again, the oil pressure is great. The engine runs the same. There are no knocks or rattles that I have noticed. If I find nothing when I pull the RH rocker arms, I'm going to screw it all back together and just run it.
 
I hope it all turns out well for you kern dog sometimes I wonder if I need to rip my 440 apart iust to make sure its all good.
 
There is also the possibility of the fuel pump pushrod going bad. I've read of that happening.
 
That's exactly what I saw. Are the rocker spacers rubbing? Are they roller bearing or bushed? That would be the first place I'd look.
 
I looked at the wheels. The rockers all move freely with no slop. The oil collected in the LH head looked fine. I swiped it and smeared it and it looked fine with no pasty substance. The rockers are bushed, no bearings. They were from Mancini Racing and billed as a Harland Sharp product though they came in an unmarked box with absolutely no instructions on how to wet them up and assemble them.
 
HS will always be marked HS. And usually gold in color.
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How well did you clean the engine up after it was machined when you rebuilt it?

Are you still running the comp break in additive every time? I’ve noticed that has a ‘look’ to it when drained. I guess it has a lot of moly in it or something. Your probably fine. Run it, use a magnet when you drain the next time and cut the filter like you did this time. If you’re still using additive I would stop that habit and get the right oil.
 
FWIW, Sounds like normal wear to me. Like you said, KD, rings and bore wear etc. RUFFCUT
 
Its common to have some wear of the head from the valve springs. Check if you have hardened cups /locators. Whenever theres shiny.... first thing to look for.
 
Hey Greg, is this the first oil change since the build? Fine metal will be normal.

On my build, I did the initial 20 min cam break in and drained the break in oil and filter. (Call me ****) Cut the oil filter apart and inspected the material for specks. Had some but that's normal. I also removed the valve covers and spark plugs, hooked up a remote control and spun the engine watching each pushrod and lifter for rotation. Every one spun like they were supposed to. That's one thing that can wipe a lobe quickly if there's one that's not rotating.
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500 miles later I drained the break in oil again and inspected the filter. No flakes at all.

Then over 1,000 miles later I decided to change to a different oil pan and the old pan still had some cam lube in the bottom. That's some thick stuff that apparently doesn't dissolve very quick.

You mentioned the fuel pump push rod. If it's an aftermarket one it's worth checking. I had installed the Howards and I'm glad I checked it. I found a used factory one (not the one in the picture) that still measured 3.220 and replaced.
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I do still use the Comp Cams supplement. Maybe I will just buy the better oil instead and use that.
 
If it's any reassurance, my dad's 340 oil looked the same way a couple years ago. Feared the worst, checked some stuff, but no visible problems and runs fine. The oil was mighty ugly and thought for sure it was a flat tappet failure. Changed oil and checked it from time to time, but no bad results!
 
I cut open the oil filter and couldn't find any obvious debris. I put it in a 5 gallon bucket with gasoline to wash out the oil, then took a magnet and ran it across the bottom of the bucket. There were a few small fine shavings but not alot.

With the intake off, all looks normal to me.


View attachment 1068397

View attachment 1068400


I pulled the left valve cover and rocker shafts.....

So far, nothing. The lifters all looked great and all spun easily in the bores.
Next up, the 2-4-6-8 side. The lobes that I can see look great though.

I have wondered if the shavings could just be piston ring or cylinder wall from normal wear, distributor drive gear to camshaft wear, timing chain and sprocket wear or a little of each.
Again, the oil pressure is great. The engine runs the same. There are no knocks or rattles that I have noticed. If I find nothing when I pull the RH rocker arms, I'm going to screw it all back together and just run it.

Reminds me of when i was playing with a new lighted scopes in the plug hole to check it out on my race motor and swore I saw a crack.....pulled the head off and found out it was a reflection. I didn't do that again and still laugh to myself but know the feeling.
 
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