Hello fellow 2gnt members. Well the time has come for me to finally get some of you guy’s advice, which I appreciate any opinions provided. I just installed a rebuilt engine with less than 200 miles on it. I currently have an oil pressure problem. When the engine gets warm the oil pressure drops to between 5 and 10psi at idle. Also the oil light flickers. After dropping the oil pan I noticed something strange on the crank as well as metal shavings in the oil pan ... Here is a pic up close:

Here is a pic from further way: (copy and past and remove the space between P and g)http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e368/rkelly00/Engine/Crankwear003.jp g

My question is could this have anything to do with loss of oil pressure and what could cause this type of wear so soon?

Also, the crank doesn't seem to have any play when I try to move it by hand.

Any help is appreciated,

Thanks

Robert

Yikes.. :-(

Looks like a thrust bearing clearance problem, did the pickup tube screen get clogged by those metal shavings (causing the oil pressure drop)?

What parts did you replace, and what parts did you reuse from the original engine build when you did your rebuild?

Agreed, looks like a thrust bearing issue. Was everything checked by a machine shop?? Who assembled the shortblock??

I have seen this before where they grease the backsides of the bearings and it cause the thrust bearing to sit a little uneven and wear down the side portions. Therefore creating blockage in the pickup = low oil pressure. You basically get to take it apart again and get new bearings and have the crank checked again.

Good Luck

Hey fella's thanks for the response. I had a local engine shop rebuild the long block They crank was reused but the piston rods and bearings were new. Well I think I'm just going to rebuild my old engine now (bought used one for rebuild)and reuse the new pistons and rods.

This is the second issue I've had with this rebuilt engine. Lesson learned now I'll be doing it myself.

Thanks for the help :-)

When you bolted up the transmission, was there any pressure up against the crank or flex plate?

I had this happen to me, but it ended up being a flywheel that stuck out too far and put lateral pressure on the crank & transmisson.

If you can unbolt the flywheel/flex plate from the torque converter/clutch and turn it freely by hand, then you should be fine there. If it's ATX, you should have a little play between the torque converter & fly wheel.

Just something to check. At any rate, you'll still need to replace your main bearings (which includes the thrust bearing) and rod bearings.