Before I changed the oil last monday it smelled of gas which, it was running so rich when the engine was cold I guess it was "washing" the cylinders. Im not sure what this means but even though Ive had new oil in for a little under a week its already black. Not sure what that means but it goes from gold to black almost within 20 miles. Im going to remove the fuel pump and just plug the hole with something and run the engine to see if the knock is still there. If I could get a hold of a sethoscope could it pretty much pin point the knock?

What do you mean by a single heavy oil? like just straight 30w? I keep the rpms under 5000 wont ever go over it. Before the rebuild I kept the rev limiter set at 5k. That I guess is a pretty high number for a small block but ive seen some stockers do 6000. I have a hunch that before the dist swap it was thinning the oil while driving cause, My TFI ignition i didnt notice was not advancing. I was at 12degrees all day long. Now after the swap I have 34degrees at 3000. But thats when my knock started.

The knock sounds just like its at the fuel pump level. It cant be heard on either side of the motor only in front of the engine.

 

I had a harmonic balancer go bad and it caused a knock like you described.

 

I probably shouldnt try running the engine without that should I? What should I try to do to it, to see if thats my knock?

 

Ok guys I tried the screw driver in the ear methode. I tried the block and oil pan, very faint knock. Stuck it on the water pump Loud knock here! I realized in my ignorance that the new dist is slightly shorter than the old dist. Could my oil pump shaft be chattering up an down in between the dist and oil pump?

 

Never heard of oil turning black that fast!!!!! That's ridiculous for a new engine!!!!! You've got either major dirt or major wear going into that oil, IMHO.

It's entirely possible your fuel pump is leaking/pumping past the diaphram right into the oil pan, besides or along with some washing from running too rich. Try a different fuel pump. What do your exhaust pipes look like on the end? Black? Gray?

Yes.. try running a single weight oil and see what it does. No less than 30 wt for now, until break in is done. NO heavier. Then either stick with 30 for the duration if it doesn't go thin. 40 wt would be too heavy for a new engine, but once it's well broken in, would/should be great during the summer months.

Breaking in an engine DOES cause a tad more wear at the beginning.. but I've never seen or heard of anything wearing fast enough to turn the oil black that fast.

No idea about the oil pump shaft. Can't see it making a knock, even if it chatters a little.

Black oil in HOW many miles??? I'm falling outta my chair here! You gotta be twisting my crank.

 

That was before the rebuild. I have gone about 150 miles before it started to turn black. STAY IN THE CHAIR! Ok I pulled my dist out. I think i found my issue.

I think it is the dist. shaft. Even when its in the motor I can move the shaft up and down. It sounds just like the knock I hear. So I pulled the shaft out and looked at the gear tooth pattern on the new gear. I have contact on the gear and the VERY edge of the teeth. And one of the teeth has a small knick in it. I think this may be the source of my knock. So I smothered it in break in lube and the knock was very tiny. But audible.

Correct me if im wrong here but doesnt the pattern where differently because when the oil pump starts to push oil, that side of the gear has a deeper wear pattern. When I put the new symetrical gear in it I think its rocking back and forth and kicking the shaft up. Does this sounds likely?

 

Didn't sound like "before the rebuild" to me.

I'm just gonna kick back and wait until you put the dist in and run it. Or change the fuel pump out. I may be getting older and more easily confused, but after re-reading this entire thread three times.... well.. as I said..I'm out ...but I'll be watching.

And I'll fall outta my chair if'n I wanna, when someone's complaining of low oil pressure and a knock on a new rebuild and black oil after 20 miles. 19 pounds idle with a HV pump ain't right. My half worn out 223 ran more pressure than that with a stock pump and hot oil. And I can't imagine the distributor shaft or the oil pump shaft causing a "knock". But, then again... I was wrong once before.... think it was back in 1965.

 

sorry didnt mean to offend you. Im trying to excercise any other possible means of a knocking source. I am really trying not to think its a rod this early in the get go. Your right I mis wrote that response my bad, you were right. Im wondering what could cam walk do? Your right doesnt sound right my oil is that low.

heres what im gunna do:
dump the oil and dig for shavings, check to see if cam has possibly moved foward, run engine with fuel pump out to see if knock exists. Im going to blow my oil pressure line out with air to see if anything has possibly plugged my line giving a possible bad reading. Sound good?

Anything else I should try before I take the pan off and dig around in the bearings?

 

Not offended... just confused is all. Let us know what you find.

 

Instead of "digging around for shavings" you might want to try a used oil analysis.

I still think the harmonic ballancer should be looked at as well as the fuel pump. When the fuel pump is out reach in and feel if the eccentric is loose on the camshaft.

 

What Am I looking at on the balancer? Im pulling the pump out tomorow so Ill let you guys know then.

 

haha this sucks! I found my knock. Turns out it was my fuel pump! The lever wasnt staying on the ecentric so when it went to the base circle of the excentric the lever would stay up and would hit the ecentric on the way around. O well Ill run the pump till it stops working.

For my low oil pressure turns out also that my oil is "foaming" up causing low oil pressure. Castrol GTX 10-30w doest work good. A local speed shop said to try valvoline SAE 50. Not to sure whats so special about it, but apperantly it has a high level of zinc in it.

What good heavy duty oils work? meaning doesnt thin out when its hot. Also provides good protection, keeps the pressure up, and doesnt foam.

 

How much oil are you putting in the engine? Too much and the crankshaft will whip it up. Some 351w's seem to take 6 quarts, when mine and a couple of others on hear only take 5 with the filter.

 

yup mine only takes 5 with a filter. Im just below the full line when the engine is fully hot. Not sure why but it really wicks that stuff up. When I pulled the dip stick out it was covered from top to bottom in air bubbles. So out with the week old castrol GTX crap and in with valvoline.

 

You might be experiencing the same pain I am going though with a Buick engine I just rebuilt.

I just had it bored .030, and put everything new in it. Most of the engines I rebuild smoke a little bit, and use a little bit of oil for about 1 or 2 weeks of driving. They will improve the more I drive them, so much so I usually have to re-adjust the idle speed and mixture screws. Most of them were re-ring jobs, with moly rings taking a different amount of time than cast rings.

The 3.8 Buick I just re-built did the normal smoking, but it did not go away like the others. It had terrible blow-by, so much so, I had to run a hose down underneath the car to get rid of it. Had a lot of brown foam in the oil, and a lot of smoke at start-up. I thought something was assembled wrong. I looked up and asked a lot of stuff on this engine, and learned a lot about ring seating. I decided to keep driving it anyway, though it was a little embarassing it smoked so much at start up. But believe it or not, it started to finally get better. I could see an improvement everytime I ran it on the interstate, since most of my driving is local. It has finally straightened out enough to where I have the PCV system hooked up correctly, and the only smoke I see is a little bit on start-up in the morning.

I chalk this up to the guy who bored it for me did not put the right finish on the cylinder bores for the rings I was using. Thing of it is, he didn't ask what rings I was using, so he didn't care or didn't know. I found out moly rings are most tolerant for the wrong bore finish, not needed much roughness to seat. Of course I was using cast top rings with chrome oil rings, which I found out later take a very rough stone finish, and a longer time to seat.

Maybe this is your problem with the engine?