Inspection after coolant contamination

Pictures: click

Edit: I cant find another picture online with this brown color to it.

$60 bucks for new ACL race rod bearings, another $60 for mains is probably the best money spent. Honestly, I would do it. They don't look horrible, but I see some scoring. I would not trust them on a fresh build. Do it now or regret it later.

I used ACL race bearings on the last round, used the extra oil clearance bearings and Rotella 15w-40 with great success.

So pull the engine and have it decked and honed? I can't do the main baeings in the car right?

You can do them in the car. I am pretty positive you will have to pull the tranny to do it though, and then there will be oil dripping on top of you the whole time.

You need to pull the trans to do in car. You already have the head off anyway, so I would pull the engine out to have a better access. Also with an engine your wanting to make power with, you really should clean all the passages out and remove any traces of the coolant contaminated oil. If it were a stock honda motor, that's different.

It sucks, but your far better off doing it right and not having to question yourself and the engine down the road.

I have to figure out who has my engine hoist.

In the mean time I added pictures of the piston and cylinder. This cylinder is just too tight for this Piston or is it a ring issue? I guess it could just be contamination but I have been very meticulous. What do you think?

Oh, thank you for the help by the way.

How much power are you making, and what is the ptw clearance?

I would assume about 320hp with 21Lb on a small 16g.

I figured out whats going on with the cylinder walls. Manley changed their installation instructions! The guy I paid to build the engine did it to spec based on what was available at the time. The new spec is significantly different!

I have the instructions he used. It came with my receipt for the machine work and assembly. I can't measure the ptcw clearance because i dont have a bore gauge. but i did measure the ring gap. the top ring was .018" and the work sheet says that's what it should be. so I'm going to assume that my piston to cylinder wall clearance is .0035" because that's what the work sheet he included says.

Fact is nobody sets it at that and the current work sheet from Manley reflects that fact. The new work sheet would put the ring gaps at .0236" and the ptwc at .0045".

Now My motor is fuked because Manley supplied bullshit numbers in 2012!? It needs to be re-honed, all new rings, and the debris in the oil is probably the crosshatching that's missing, so I'm going to attribute the bearing wear to this also. I'm not happy.

that sucks, confirm the ptw clearance before you confirm thats the problem

I feel your pain. My build wasn't as bad in the end, but I used Wiseco pistons. When I ordered them Wiseco never mentioned a change in the alloy. So I throw it all together and end up with this hollow knocking noise in the bottom end. Pull it apart, no issues found. Put it together, still noisy. Beat my head against the wall for weeks. Do some searching and call Wiseco to confirm, but turns out the alloy change is the reason. So once the engine is warm I have a light knocking at idle. Not horrible, but pretty pissed I have to live with it.

Makes it hard to trust piston companies.

^^ This is the more likely scenario above ( piston alloy change ).

Cliff Note version, there are two primary alloys used: 4032 and 2618. Wiki it for more info.

On that note, each alloy has different specs for the PTW clearance.

Just checked with Manley and they said the haven't changed any alloys in the last few years. 2618 is still used. They told me to call total seal.

Total seal said to use .020" top and second ring gaps.

This is there current spec sheet as of 3/12/14:
APPLICATION FUEL TOP RING SECOND RING OIL RING RAIL
Street, Strip, Circle Gas, Alky, E85 Bore x .0045” Bore x .0045” Min. .015”
Nitrous up to 150HP Gas, Alky, E85 Bore x .0055” Bore x .0055” Min. .015”
Nitrous 150-350HP Gas, Alky, E85 Bore x .0065” Bore x .0065” Min. .015”
Nitrous 350HP+ Gas, Alky, E85 Bore x .008” Bore x .008” Min. .015”
Mild Boost up to 15lb Gas, Alky, E85 Bore x .0055” Bore x .0055” Min. .015”
Medium Boost 15-30lb Gas, Alky, E85 Bore x .007” Bore x .007” Min. .015”
High Boost 30lb+ Gas, Alky, E85 Bore x .008” Bore x .008” Min. .015”

As of 4/16/12:
Blown Gas bore x .0055" bore x .0035 min .015"

Just measured again. My top ring is .018" the second ring is .022". so

Do you still have the Manley rings that came with the Pistons? I've never tried Total Seal with a turbo before. Curious how well they work in the 4G.

I still have them. There not working out for me well so far.

Can I make the gap bigger and put them back in after honing?

edit: On second thought This might be whats going on with the cylinder walls. It doesn't seem to be the gaps. I might just pick up a set of npr rings after I re-hone.

You should be able to use the Manley rings. Do the pistons have the moly coated skirts? Is there any wear on the skirts?

theirs a line or two on the skirts and a few scratches above top ring. Manley uses total seal to provide all their rings. I looked up "total seal dsm" and didn't see any positive input.

Found where the copper flakes I found came from. Main under cylinder 4. Why do mains bearings go bad?

are you using arp mains, if so was the mains linehoned

Stock mains aftermarket eagle crank no line hone.