BlackDSMthingy
Proven Member
- 96
- 17
- Aug 16, 2014
-
Leominster,
Massachusetts
A Friend of mine recently purchased a 98 GSX from a younger kid with expectations of modifying it with his son, but the "freshly rebuilt" 7 Bolt started making a "ticking" noise. When I finally got a chance to see the car in person, it became evident that this thing was not just sticking lifters. It basically sounded like rocks in a garbage disposal.
Well out it came and the teardown was begun.
A lot of E-Bizzle and aisle 5 from Autozone on this one...
Maaaaaaybe a little boost leak...
Not a good sign. Something definitely made the oil pressure not get here. This is babbit material embedded in the cam lobe. Loud noises, 5lbs oil pressure, and still running 10W (?) break-in oil with less than 500 miles on this performance build. No idea who machined or assembled it. Should be interesting...
I actually chipped my thumbnail on the cylinder walls.
Three different balancer bolts. Vibration? Come at me, bro....
That! That right there! What could it be in the piston skirt?
Looks familiar, but I thought it went....
Oh, waaaaaaait a tick. That's not right... Looks like the balance shaft behind the oil pump snapped and the bearing played tonsil hockey with the reciprocating assembly. You see kids? This is why we can't have nice things...
Upon further inspection though, and a little thought, I am now wondering if when they installed the front case they caught the edge of the rear balance shaft bearing with the shaft itself and pushed it out of the bore. Without the support of the bearing, the shaft snapped. From the way it ate into the block I'm assuming it ran a few miles before it finally gave up the ghost.
As far as the loss in oil pressure, the balance shaft being broken absolutely destroyed the oil pump by making the oil pump drive gear eat right into the front case. This thing had more scoring than Ron Jeremy...
This was the best rod bearing of them all...
And the pistons had almost all the teflon sanded off the skirts.
A shot of the number 2 piston and rod. Reminds me of my old Chinese friend, Sum Ting Wong....
They also reused the original timing components and just threw a kevlar main belt at it. Looks like the original balance belt was put back on, but there's not much left to tell.
This engine had me quite vexed. Why would someone blow $800 on the reciprocating assembly and reuse the timing components? I mean, there's some really good stuff in this car, but it's literally mixed with used, Chinese and Ebay stuff. It's all sideways. It had a cracked Chinese flywheel with an Exedy six puck sprung hub clutch kit (cracks due to there only being five out of six pressure plate bolts, and the five that were there didn't match, and none of this helped the engine) and a bolt for the rear carrier bearing JB Welded into the crossmember. Also, it was running stock 450cc injectors, non-recirculated BOV with the stock MAF, stock ECU with no tune or fuel controller at all, no wideband, a Mitsu TD05H cold side with a 20G wheel, Injen snorkel with the BOV hole duct taped over, and catless exhaust big enough to pass a grapefruit through. People say our cars are princesses, but I've never seen a car like this run at all. Says something about the malleability of the DSM. I'm still in awe... If anyone can chime in with some ideas as to what may have happened, feel free. I'm thinking my theory is right or at least was a part of it, but just seeing if anyone has run across this before. I already told my buddy the entire engine is a write off and he's on the fence as to do a 6-bolt swap or rebuild my 7-bolt from my Talon, but I always try to learn as much as I can from a failure such as this so when I build my engines it is less likely to happen. This post also serves to remind us all of the importance of not only quality part sourcing, but quality machine work from a reputable shop and proper, clean component installation and integration to achieve a complete, well-rounded package that works together as a whole to better our cars' performance and reliability. Don't take short cuts, and take your time. Plan the car as a system, not as a big turbo with wheels. It's like an ecosystem all its own. And whatever you think it will cost? Double it. Looking forward to hearing from you guys and thanks for taking the time to read this post. Hope it answers some cool questions for all involved....
Well out it came and the teardown was begun.
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A lot of E-Bizzle and aisle 5 from Autozone on this one...
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
Maaaaaaybe a little boost leak...
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
Not a good sign. Something definitely made the oil pressure not get here. This is babbit material embedded in the cam lobe. Loud noises, 5lbs oil pressure, and still running 10W (?) break-in oil with less than 500 miles on this performance build. No idea who machined or assembled it. Should be interesting...
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
I actually chipped my thumbnail on the cylinder walls.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
Three different balancer bolts. Vibration? Come at me, bro....
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
That! That right there! What could it be in the piston skirt?
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
Looks familiar, but I thought it went....
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
Oh, waaaaaaait a tick. That's not right... Looks like the balance shaft behind the oil pump snapped and the bearing played tonsil hockey with the reciprocating assembly. You see kids? This is why we can't have nice things...
Upon further inspection though, and a little thought, I am now wondering if when they installed the front case they caught the edge of the rear balance shaft bearing with the shaft itself and pushed it out of the bore. Without the support of the bearing, the shaft snapped. From the way it ate into the block I'm assuming it ran a few miles before it finally gave up the ghost.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
As far as the loss in oil pressure, the balance shaft being broken absolutely destroyed the oil pump by making the oil pump drive gear eat right into the front case. This thing had more scoring than Ron Jeremy...
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
This was the best rod bearing of them all...
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
And the pistons had almost all the teflon sanded off the skirts.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
A shot of the number 2 piston and rod. Reminds me of my old Chinese friend, Sum Ting Wong....
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
They also reused the original timing components and just threw a kevlar main belt at it. Looks like the original balance belt was put back on, but there's not much left to tell.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
This engine had me quite vexed. Why would someone blow $800 on the reciprocating assembly and reuse the timing components? I mean, there's some really good stuff in this car, but it's literally mixed with used, Chinese and Ebay stuff. It's all sideways. It had a cracked Chinese flywheel with an Exedy six puck sprung hub clutch kit (cracks due to there only being five out of six pressure plate bolts, and the five that were there didn't match, and none of this helped the engine) and a bolt for the rear carrier bearing JB Welded into the crossmember. Also, it was running stock 450cc injectors, non-recirculated BOV with the stock MAF, stock ECU with no tune or fuel controller at all, no wideband, a Mitsu TD05H cold side with a 20G wheel, Injen snorkel with the BOV hole duct taped over, and catless exhaust big enough to pass a grapefruit through. People say our cars are princesses, but I've never seen a car like this run at all. Says something about the malleability of the DSM. I'm still in awe... If anyone can chime in with some ideas as to what may have happened, feel free. I'm thinking my theory is right or at least was a part of it, but just seeing if anyone has run across this before. I already told my buddy the entire engine is a write off and he's on the fence as to do a 6-bolt swap or rebuild my 7-bolt from my Talon, but I always try to learn as much as I can from a failure such as this so when I build my engines it is less likely to happen. This post also serves to remind us all of the importance of not only quality part sourcing, but quality machine work from a reputable shop and proper, clean component installation and integration to achieve a complete, well-rounded package that works together as a whole to better our cars' performance and reliability. Don't take short cuts, and take your time. Plan the car as a system, not as a big turbo with wheels. It's like an ecosystem all its own. And whatever you think it will cost? Double it. Looking forward to hearing from you guys and thanks for taking the time to read this post. Hope it answers some cool questions for all involved....