LUVTruck.com

John, Am so sorry that happened. But I feel you spun a bearing. A long time ago I moving up here to spokane, I was driving a 70 Cougar, 351 cleveland, was going up Castaic Hill on the freeway when the same thing you describe happening to your engine happened to my cougar, cost me 250 dollars to get a used engine. Because I had to get to Spokane for a new job, and my wife and kid were already there waiting for me. Don't know if you'll need a new engine, but I'm sure the bearings are part of your problem. Believe me, we are all saddened by this and I agree with everybody, it's a blow to stomach, but we all feel that you will get up and figure this out and get that LUV running again, It has to, after all the LUV you gave it, it will work, WE ARE WITH YOU our friend!

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1980 Chevy Luv 4x4 Mikado
the "Ole Man from Spokane"

You were laughing about how neat it was to run with the flow. This CAN be a normal aspect of your truck. OK, sure, you hit a major hurdle. Unfortunately stuff like this can happen but you actually seen what your truck is capable of doing! You were laughing because it ran great!
And great is what your truck will be. That's what we all see with our own trucks and what we believe you seen in yours.

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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.

I'm thinking oil starvation, which led to the knocking. Maybe the tube/screen fell off or something. I'll put my bet on oil starvation.

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OK, I'm over it. Where's the beer?

I agree with rondog. Oil pickup fell off or something.

So if this happens, does it ruin the new bearings? Will Fullaluv be able to get by with just new bearings or can the damage go further?

Eric Q.

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'75 body with '82 diesel running gear
My build thread.

From the sounds of it you might as well pull the motor out and put it on a cheap engine stand because you will prob. find a spun bearing meaning at least 1 new rod and a crank job.I hat being the bearer of bad news but this what it sounds like and because of the run time i would say a complete cleanup is called for. Depending on your budget i would find another rod and have them resized,the crank ground,and the balance the system,new oil pump ,surface the head, put it together and you will have a motor that should out last the truck and have more power to boot. But then again this is my opinion and not my wallet.I am sorry about your loss though.

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1978 pro street step/side 455Buick, 4sp,4.11s, 31/18.5s

I'm very sure it won't be the oil pickup tube as I distinctly recall tightening the bolt that holds it up next to the #3 main bearing cap. A spun bearing as DBest described is a possibility. I wonder if I missed tightening a rod cap. I will say that there was a time during the engine failure that I noticed the wire had came off the oil pressure sensor and when I reconnected it the oil light was on but would go off when I increased RPM. The engine was knocking at the time too.

The snow is falling, and the storm has arrived here. We are hunkered down and not going anywhere. I will wait for a better day...

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'78 1.8L 4-speed Fleetside

The only thing more beautiful than a sunset is a sunrise.

man that sucks. a loss in oil pressure would mean that somethings tolerances were too big.

my guess is a rod bearing went by the way you decribe the knock. main bearings dont really knock, but clunk. ive had a rod let loose in my old g180/200 motor that was in the pup. it knocked like crazy and had hardly any oil pressure towards the end.

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"but its that gut feeling of you're drawn to what feels right for yourself and what you're passionate about..."

Thanks Gs11x, DBest, TJWhite, and Farmer Joe as all the others who expressed an understanding of this catastrophe. Unfortunately it is too cold to be out laying on the concrete, and I'm taking some time off to think about this so it's going to be a few days before I open it up again. Makes me mad, cuz you should've seen the care with which I replaced the oil pan the last time. Having spent all that time around the underside, I had it cleaned even better than I did the first time. I was very careful this time, and maybe that will benefit me too, as I might reuse the gasket this time by not having overtightened it. That synthetic oil was six dollars a quart though. How do you like dumping out four quarts of fresh synthetic and a new filter which was $7 more? I looked for some crankshafts, and found some for as low as $50. I dunno what I'll need yet. With all you guys in my corner I'm apt to go ahead an check it out, just to have a right answer. Maybe I'll look at it sooner than next week.

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'78 1.8L 4-speed Fleetside

The only thing more beautiful than a sunset is a sunrise.

you used full synthetic on a fresh rebuilt? like to break it in and that stuff? that might jave been your problem righ there. i was always told to use a cheap mid wieght oil to break in a motor. the cheap oil will break down pretty quick, but it helps the motor breakin better.

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"but its that gut feeling of you're drawn to what feels right for yourself and what you're passionate about..."

Did you give the engine enough time to break in before you went 65 on the freeway? Sorry to hear that, hope you get it back on the road soon.

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1975 V8 Luv
1980 Bagged Luv

I ran it for about 15 minutes at 2000 RPM. then changed the oil. Maybe it was more like 1500 RPM and ten minutes. Probably not enough. Anyway it's driving me nuts sitting here with all the inquiries!! I got to find out!!!!

No, not today. Thanks for the point, Dan.

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'78 1.8L 4-speed Fleetside

The only thing more beautiful than a sunset is a sunrise.

I'm with Farmer on the oil. I use parts house brand oil for break in. You're basicly flushing the engine clean after a rebuild so simple motor oil will handle the task. Plus if there's an oil leak somewhere, you're not pumping quality stuff on the garage floor.
All the high dollar lube in the world isn't worth crap if it's dirty. Clean oil is the best oil to run regardless of how high tech it is.

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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.

Sorry to hear about your truck...I feel for ya.

Been there...done that.

But anytime you take your skills, tools, and a pile of stuff from the parts store and apply them to any vehicle...doo-doo can occur.

It's just the way things involving humans go sometimes.

The best professional technical skill and expensive parts that money can buy still goes Ka-Blooey!!! every once in a while...on live TV while millions of fans watch...at the race track or the drag strip, or even at a tracker pull or monster truck show....so you shouldn't let it get you down.

Vehicles can be fixed, money can be replaced, and we all (hopefully) learn from our mistakes, move forward, and put the past behind us.

It's just too bad your other half was along for the ride....that must be hard on your stress level...for sure.

My engine builder told me to run the first 500 miles on non- detergent 30wt.

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OK, I'm over it. Where's the beer?

Ding Ding Ding We have a winner. This oil helps seat in the rings. Our race engine builder Gertae makes us do this and he is the top sprint car engine builder in the States. I also was told to do this when I worked at a Porsche dealer.

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Certified pilots, looking down on people since 1903.

That's a fact about the 30W. I thought I'd ignore that and just go ahead with a small breakin. BlackLuv said that too, in other words. Well what is broken now you think? I am covered in snow today, and staying inside. No working on the LUV today either.
Next time around I'll do the 30W thing.

My hose meets BlackLuv's hose. I put it on before the trip. Speaking of stress levels, you should've seen her face when I brought the Kung Pao Chicken lunch! It was okay then, and thanks TumwaterTaz & Luvrv8. We'll figure it out.

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'78 1.8L 4-speed Fleetside

The only thing more beautiful than a sunset is a sunrise.

I agree with a lot that has done already been said.

The results sound like it was probably a spun rod bearing. The culprit would most likely be to either oil starvation, improper break in, or you said they may be a slight doubt in properly bearing torqued down. What dose the engine sound like, just a knocking, a rattle, or a screeching sound?

If the torque specs wasn't followed correctly then this alone is enough to cause a major malfunction.

Maybe a conflict with the parts you used? The engine may have been built before and had oversized bearings in it, this would lead to easily spinning a bearing and egg shaping a rod. Did you check the clearances on the rings the cylinders may have been warn enough that you may should have punched it over. Maybe the reverse effect maybe the wrist pins where warn and the added compression allowed them to kick the bucket?

Far as oil starvation this could have been caused by a number of things as well maybe a clogged oil passageway in the block that wasn't clean, maybe trash in the block that blocked off one of these passageways, maybe a oil leak that went unnoticed, I am guessing you used a new oil pump and pick up screen correct?

Do you have a tach in your truck? I normally try to keep the rpms between 1500-3000 on a constant pull just normal driving. If you was exceeding this specially on a fresh engine you may have been putting it in enough strain to build heat and break down the oil.

Far as break in let me tell you my method first because they are a million ways to do it and they may all work just as well, who is to say who's wrong or right correct? I normally run a 30 weight in a cheaper oil normally Havoline. (This is if the cam has already been broken in) I then normally alow the engine to sit and run for roughly 15-30 minutes at 2500 rpm before doing anything. I then road it at a low rpm for 500 miles down the highway keeping the rpm range between 1500-3000.

After the 500 miles I normally change the oil but in some cases (rarely) just skip this and go on to step two. After allowing the engine to warm up again it's back to the highway I then will drive it a additional 500 miles often climbing in the rpms then allowing the engine to slow it's self down building back pressure. At or near the end of this 500 miles I normally run it pretty hard at least one time (not extremely hard or anything) But once you have reached this point its time to change the oil again, this is when you move up to the good oil I normally run Valvoline or Mobile depending on the application.

Normally by this time the engine is broke in well enough you can drive it like you want plus you know roughly how the engine is going to do as far as oil pressure and temp.

It is hard to say what went wrong when your on the other side of our country and just guessing on everything, I hope the news of your findings isn't major and can be repaired without replacing the engine itself. Good luck John in your findings I wish you the best of luck.

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blackluv 80 has some good points as to different ways to break a motor in and his is good,i do mine different.I will let the motor run 2500-3000 for 20 min. then idle down , shut it off and change the oil and filter.then start it run for 5 minn at 1500,idle down do my adjustments ,shut down change the oil and filter,by this time anything that needs to be broke in is. I will usually change the oil and filter no less then 3 times before it go's out the door. Then i will change it again after 100 miles. Sound excessive? maybe but i drive out the door and run it the way it was built for and have not blowed one up yet. This includes a big block chev i built for a jet boat and it held 14 qts. of oil. If you think this is to much the try using a clean drain pan when you do your next oil change and tell me about the metal you find in the oil(good for bearings huh) Again Blackluv is right everybody has there way of doing there thing. I wonder how that metal in the oil is doing in 500 miles though. "Just remember oil is cheap motors are not"

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1978 pro street step/side 455Buick, 4sp,4.11s, 31/18.5s

All the parts were standard. I replaced them all with standard. I reckon I didn't break it in enough, but what would have gone wrong? Oh well, lets not speculate any more but just hold on until I get under there and remove the oil pan again. I don't have a tach on the truck, just a portable tach. I didn't use it, and I got into a hurry trying to meet the deadline, plus I was running on empty so I didn't want to run out of gas by running too long. The knocking sound was evident even to me, but any more specific than that I can't discern. It's 19° out there right now, and I'm not doing it today either. It's good to have guys like all y'all even if yer in states across this great country of ours. I appreciate all the advice.

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'78 1.8L 4-speed Fleetside

The only thing more beautiful than a sunset is a sunrise.

hey there Fullaluv. My condolences from the other Washington (DC). That totally sucks. She'll be on the road again! A fresh new year for it!