LUVTruck.com

I got my other 3.8 in yesterday, checked everything over, had good oil pressure, the works.

Took it to the local bog, and was idling around in 4lo, not even touching the gas, and the engine started hammering. I cant figure out why these damn 3.8's keep spinning rods, unless its becuase the oil pump is on the outside of the engine and when its getting wet its lossing suction or something. I'm going to give the 3.8's one more shot but this time i'm going to rebuilt one first. i'll keep you all updated.

Any of you had this problem with the 3.8's?

the 3.8 i got had a spun bearing, word of warning man, the rebuild kit aint cheap. cheapest place i could find is PAW.

_________________
I like my steak like I like my women, young, tender and bloody.

All I need is my weed, women, and wine. -Edge City Outlaws

I did some research and here is what I found. I have spun both bearings while idling in 4lo....this explains it

Jack Merkel Performance Engines performs many mods for the unique needs of the Buick turbo V6 engine. Due to its rather unorthodox oiling system, the engine has some unique bearing clearance needs. "Common small-block Chevy thinking manifests itself by allowing too much bearing clearance. This works fine for the SBCs, which commonly spin 6-, 7-, or even 8-thousand rpm. But the Buick motors usually spin 5200-5600 rpm max. They have very high cylinder pressures at low rpm and can produce in excess of 600 lb.-ft. of torque under 3000 rpm. If the main bearings are hemorrhaging oil pressure at low rpm, the rods are going to be in an oil starvation situation. They will overheat and this will cause a spun bearing," explains Merkel.


How much did your kit cost? I am going to ahve the next engine balanced, get the rebuild kit, and buy a hi volume oil pump, to try and solve the problem

i had to look it up

deluxe master rebuild kit: includes
pistons, rings, rod and main bearings, gasket set, timing chain and gears, oil pump, cam and lifters. $296.00.....does NOT include a valley pan which i think was about $20

_________________
I like my steak like I like my women, young, tender and bloody.

All I need is my weed, women, and wine. -Edge City Outlaws

i'm just going for new bearings, seal, and stuff for now, dotn need pistons and all that.. maybe I'll do all that to my other engine... to get mroe horsepower, but right now stock si fine, with a rebuild

i didnt think i was gonna need pistons either, till i got it tore down and found this HUGE ass ridge in the cyl walls had to have it bored .030

_________________
I like my steak like I like my women, young, tender and bloody.

All I need is my weed, women, and wine. -Edge City Outlaws

I've got 4 blocks, one of them is sure to have good walls in it, and all 4 sets of heads are good, 2 of the engines run and 2 have spun bearings, I'll take 4 and make one good one, and then do a total rebuild from one of the good blocks.

somehow this dont suprise me with you

_________________
I like my steak like I like my women, young, tender and bloody.

All I need is my weed, women, and wine. -Edge City Outlaws

I didn't ever have a problem with the buick V6 I had in my truck.
just lettin ya know.

_________________
03Cobra

A standard modification thats done to a stock Buick V-6 is to add a high volume oil pump kit with a thrust plate. This will help insure that the motor will get sufficient oil pressure at low RPM's. And with a hotter than normal engine temps. The Buick motor is inherantly hot running. If your running a gage, you might consider adding an idiot light to let you know if you oil pressure is dangerously low. If you have an early motor, you also might want to have the oil passage thru the block opened up to the later sized passage. The Buick motor oil design has alot of bends and turns that creates to much back pressure. The HV oil pump kit moves the filter downward slightly but not enough to cause any problems. The thrust plate will provide a new surface for the gears to run on. The stock oil pump filter housing is chewed up by the gears and will bleed off pressure at low RPM's. The circular scouring on the surface may look minute, but it doesn't take much to cause the problem.

_________________
Previous setup: 4.1 Buick V-6/TH 350
Current setup: 400 Small Block Chevy V-8/TH 350
9" ford rear end/short bed/blue
What do Water, Electricity and Humans have in common... They all travel the path of least resistance.