- Dec 19, 2010
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Fox Coast High Performance 408 Throws A Bearing After 10 Months, 900 Miles... How To Proceed...
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If it was a rod bearing that failed you can push them side to side and see if one moves. It will be noticeable. If it is a main bearing or a cam bearing then it will need to come apart and inspected. Do it slow and notate everything as you go.
we'll have to pull it, don't really see any way around it. i did check the rods and none seemed to move.
i'll have to make it up to my parents again to pull it, which won't be for a few weeks.
It really doesn't though. I knew as soon as I dropped the oil that a bearing failed. ie.. the engines dead. Period. There is no philosophical question here.
Their idiot customer service has spent 2 months either ignoring me or trying to tell me "some metal flakes are normal during break-in, dahur" and "why dont you try to start it again, daheehur". There is no question whether its "living or dead". Its dead. We dropped the pan and saw 10 times the same bearing debris, but I didn't even need to see that. Why the bearing failed is up in the air, which bearing failed is up in the air. But then it all comes back to "it shouldn't have failing bearings" at 900 miles regardless, and before that the engine was a complete disaster of a 'professional' build, and something i have zero faith in at any level.
so no, shrodinger's cat does not apply. its quite dead.
on the pulling, journal polishing and lots of pictures fronts you're correct, I'll grant.
i'll have to make it up to my parents again to pull it, which won't be for a few weeks.
It really doesn't though. I knew as soon as I dropped the oil that a bearing failed. ie.. the engines dead. Period. There is no philosophical question here.
Their idiot customer service has spent 2 months either ignoring me or trying to tell me "some metal flakes are normal during break-in, dahur" and "why dont you try to start it again, daheehur". There is no question whether its "living or dead". Its dead. We dropped the pan and saw 10 times the same bearing debris, but I didn't even need to see that. Why the bearing failed is up in the air, which bearing failed is up in the air. But then it all comes back to "it shouldn't have failing bearings" at 900 miles regardless, and before that the engine was a complete disaster of a 'professional' build, and something i have zero faith in at any level.
so no, shrodinger's cat does not apply. its quite dead.
on the pulling, journal polishing and lots of pictures fronts you're correct, I'll grant.
My money is on an improperly set thrust bearing. Please update when you find out what went south.
5w20 as they required. conventional. i had the break-in additive for the first oil change as well, the part number i can get from summit
edit: pennzoil. probably have the receipt around here somewhere too
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- Dec 19, 2010
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5w20 is probably what killed it. These engines aren't designed to run on that, the clearances are too wide. I built a 302 for a friend of mine a few weeks ago and tried priming the lifters with the engine on the stand. All I had laying around was 5w20, so I poured it in to prime with. That chit was SO THIN, those hydraulic lifters bled off and refused to prime. Dumped it, went and bought 10w30, and they pressured right up. Crazy. Don't run 5w20 in a push rod motor..
- Dec 19, 2010
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Well, these new engines are built with tighter clearances. That's why they run so long.. That and advances in metallurgy. But- the tighter the clearance you start with, the more wear you get before it's used up. That's why newer engines run 5w20 as opposed to the old 10w30. They require a narrower oil wedge between the crank and the bearings.. And, the older they get, the thicker wedge oil you can run. Sbf engines should have 10w30 at a minimum. If the builder tells you otherwise tell him to pound sand.
I did actually ask CHP about why they suggest 5w20... I've always used 10w40 in SBFs and other old cars (and basically everything except my newer focus). They were adamant 5w20 conventional was the way to go, which is what it got.
Definitely surprised me too. My new focus uses 5w20, but that duratech is definitely a few decades beyond this 408 in terms of tolerances.
But.. them recommending the wrong oil would fit reasonably well into the pattern we've seen elsewhere, sadly.
On your first few pictures of when you took your distributor out and you took one of inside the hole, the metal above the cam was chipped and I'm wondering if this is a problem? I have a 302 I acquired and it's a project but it's not bad except for my metal above the cam is also chipped like that and Im wondering if it matters or not, and what it's for, if anything?
I've included a picture of mine
I've included a picture of mine
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Well, if for nothing else other than to find out what happened to the OP's engine,..(cause I assume that he's pulled it by now)
The factory casting process leaves all kinds of divots, slag, and rough finishes everywhere. If there was no need to machine a part of the block after it was cast, it's left alone. Areas of slag may have been "chipped" off at the factory for the sake of needed clearance. The fact that your engine and this one look similar is a testament to that "necessary clearancing".
I had a buddy say that it could be to hold in the distributor when it's running harder at high rpms and I personally do not think that's what it's for, but what do you think? Will my distributor be held in just fine or not?
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Dafuq
The distributor is held in by the hold down....... it has a bolt....
Wait a second...
just a bolt eh?
