So my freshly rebuilt 360 Magnum I put in my 91 d150 spun a bearing. I haven't torn it down, but it's making a metallic squeak with a slight knock, I haven't seen any metal on the dipstick. So, if it needs a crank and a rod I'm thinking of going with a 4" stroker kit with Pistons, rods, and crank all balanced ready to go rather than buying a stock stroke (3.58") and having it balanced with my current rods and Pistons. I still have it externally balanced but I read that a new crank needs to balanced with the parts it's getting bolted to. It's already bored .020, most stroker kit have .030 over bore that I can find. I don't really like the idea of having it turned .010 under and using o/s bearings. I'll be replacing the oil pump again as this was new with the rebuild. Current cam is good for 6,000 rpm and I run it pretty hard. Just trying to gather others thoughts I figure either way I'm in for atleast an easy $1G either way I go.

 

A stroker kit for a grand? that would be DIRT cheap.......

Can you drop the pan without pulling the motor? I would be tempted to have a look, and see how bad things are.

 

That's what my machinist quoted me for a stroker kit when I asked last year.

I can drop the pan without pulling the motor, shouldn't be too bad.

 

Finally got around to dumping the oil outta this thing, and I see zero signs of a spun bearing......... Could I have caught it that quick?? Oil is as clean as the day I put it in, which was 2 days before it started making noise. But I'll drop the pan this Saturday seems how I got a reusable pan gasket and take a peek. Noise was loudest at the front (stethoscope) so I'll pull the front 2 rod bearings, and the front 2 crank bearings and look for any scoring/hot spots. Bearings are cheap if I'm lucky enough to have caught it before any major damage, I'll mic. Everything while I have it apart to check for any out-of-roundness with my digital callipers. I haven't cut the oil filter open, it's still on the engine.

Edit: after carefully examining the bottom of the oil drain pan, I did see some metallic shavings in the oil film. Spun bearing it is, stay tuned for the conclusion to this nail biter Saturday 😂😂

 

if the engine is a brand new rebuild i would expect to be metallic shavings in the first couple oil changes as break in material loss which is why i am pretty sure you are suppose to do a couple oil/filter changes not long after initial break in to try and get any of that stuff out. if there was larger chunks of metal in the pan it may be cause for concern but shavings might be normal on a fresh rebuild. i know i found a crap ton of shavings in trans pan of my elcamino and fluid was starting to burn but after a fluid flush and filter change it has been fine. i think someone may have just missed the initial break in oil change on it which was why there was so much stuff in pan when i dropped it.

 

It's the 3rd oil change. I did the first one after about a 30 minute run after the first start to get the coolant topped off, and to dial in the timing, and a little tuning in the carb. Then I changed it after roughly 1 month, instead of 500 miles because it would take me a year to get 500 miles on it, and I just changed it in August after about 5 months on the 2nd oil change, it's got about a 3 month period where it sat when the I blew the trans up on the first drive. Something is making one hell of a high pitched metal on metal squeak, with a slight knock. Stethoscope lead me to the the front of the oil pan where it was loudest, if it isn't a spun bearing it'll be a new one on me 😂😂 funny thing is it gets significantly quieter when given some rpms. But I didn't run it long after I first heard it. I didn't check oil pressure, wish I did but it builds enough to pump up the lifters as they go silent after it cranks. I was gonna change the pump while I was in there again, it was new in the rebuild, the pick up tube is about a 1/2" off the bottom of the pan, I couldn't find a spec for it. Possible it sucked air?? It's not a high volume pump, I didn't feel like paying for an upgraded pump shaft, plus it's not a high rpm engine.

 

i don't know how important the oil change intervals are. i know this article says "On freshly built engines, you’ll need to change your oil and filter much more frequently. After using a break-in oil, you should change your oil at 50 miles, 500 miles, and 1,500 miles. Again, at 4,000 miles or so, it’s fine to switch to a synthetic oil if you choose." maybe it might be worth trying to go out of your way to put miles on the engine to put at least the first 500 miles on it and break it in properly. it is not like 500 is really that many.
https://www.onallcylinders.com/2014/...-break-engine/

 

Well I dropped the pan, and the pick up tube screen was stopped up with what looked like rag lint. I pulled the #1, #2 rod caps and the bearings looked new. So I cleaned the pick up tube, put it all back together new filter, fresh oil. Primed the engine for a good solid minute, hooked up the ignition, and fuel pump fired it up. The knocking noise is gone, but the squeak is still there, and very loud. I can hear it over the 3 inch duel exhaust at idle. Rev it up to I'm guessing about 2,500-3,000 rpm and it goes away. Could the oil pump have gone bad from the pick up tube being blocked?? I didn't pull a main bearing, seems like a rod bearing would go first from oil loss. I pulled the v belts so it's not water pump, alt. Or p/s pump. I'm running shell rotella 15w40 for the added zinc, and the wear and tear, I essentially run it wide open, I don't drive it like a normal truck, I didn't build it for that, that's why I kept the cam to a 6,000 rpm Max, it's all for the bottom end torque, a tire burner, red light to red light.

Edit: there was no movement in any of the rod bearings so I don't believe it spun a bearing unless it's a cam bearing that spun but I didn't see anything in the oil/oil pan that would suggest otherwise. Could a harmonic balancer make a squeaking noise?? It's in the very front of the engine.

 

Number one main bearing usually dies first, it's furthest from the source of oil. Is you squeak cyclical??

 

It's constant, I don't notice a change during the firing order. Just really weird, when I pulled the rod caps there was plenty of oil between the bearing and the crank.
Bearings are cheap, so I guess I'll get new main bearings and rod bearings and give it another shot, with a new oil pump. Last time I used those red shop rags to wipe off parts on an engine build. Lesson learned, lint free rags from now on.