Spun bearing

[Astatenate]

Apparently a common issue in the LSA world. But it’s part of the game I guess. Currently sitting at 703 whp. bolt on +e85 car. No cam, heads or internal work. Hopefully I can salvage block. I’m sure crank and bearings of course will need to be replaced. Any suggestions on upgraded bearings? Buddy of mine uses “king” brand bearings I believe. If block, crank and bearing are all trash. I’ll prob be in the market for a new short block or stroker. Any advice is welcomed!

I’ll be letting an engine shop put it all back together. And I’ll throw motor back in. I’ll also be upgrading to the melling 10355 HV oil pump, SS3 GPI cam while it’s out. I was using 5w30 oil at the time of it spinning. I’ll be upgrading to 20-50 VR1 oil as well. Once motor is back in the car. Will I need HV oil pump if I switch to VR1? I got a few LSA buddies running factory pumps with 850+ . Any other suggestions?

[Triple5even813]

Dang, that sucks! You'll be back stronger than ever though! Mine is making quite a bit more power than that on the stock oil pump and stock bottom end, and the oil pressure is holding steady at 30psi hot with Mobil 1 5w30... But who knows for how long?

[mlee]

Ughhh... hate to see this but hopefully you caught it quick.

[rednecks70]

How did you catch it? Low oil pressure? Just want to know what to look for.

[hammdo]

My LSA build worked out great! GPI and I discussed it and I’m beyond pleased. Talk to Aaron — he’ll help you spec a good one...

-Don

[Astatenate]

Originally Posted by Triple5even813

Dang, that sucks! You'll be back stronger than ever though! Mine is making quite a bit more power than that on the stock oil pump and stock bottom end, and the oil pressure is holding steady at 30psi hot with Mobil 1 5w30... But who knows for how long?

Yeah I was debating upgrading. I figured for $200 why not get a Melling 10355 HV that supposedly put around 10-20psi more oil pressure out. I think it will help with the thicker oil 20w50 VR1 everyone has been telling me to run.

Originally Posted by mlee

Ughhh... hate to see this but hopefully you caught it quick.

Fingers crossed. Part of the game tho. Luckily I got a daily to drive. And it’s winter when it broke. Not mid summer. Looking for the bright side lol

Originally Posted by rednecks70

How did you catch it? Low oil pressure? Just want to know what to look for.

Did a very small pull to pass someone. And just happened to look at my oil temp gauge and it was at like 240° on a cold night. Then looked at oil press and it was sitting at like 10-15 psi cruising. And only like 6-8 psi at idle and heard it lightly knocking. Luckily I was 1/4 mile from my house. Got it on my street and shut it off. Coasted into my garage. Where it’s been the last couple weeks. Til I can pull motor.

Originally Posted by hammdo

My LSA build worked out great! GPI and I discussed it and I’m beyond pleased. Talk to Aaron — he’ll help you spec a good one...

-Don

Yeah GPI is literally 2 miles from my house. I been in touch with Ryan & Ben. I’ve had people tell me it could be a number of things (in the tune, too much dome pressure, or failing oil pump, the fact I was using 5w30 M1 with my power level, just normal LSA issues, and blocked pickup tube) guess we will find out.

[RyangAsh]

Originally Posted by Astatenate

Yeah I was debating upgrading. I figured for $200 why not get a Melling 10355 HV that supposedly put around 10-20psi more oil pressure out. I think it will help with the thicker oil 20w50 VR1 everyone has been telling me to run.



Fingers crossed. Part of the game tho. Luckily I got a daily to drive. And it’s winter when it broke. Not mid summer. Looking for the bright side lol



Did a very small pull to pass someone. And just happened to look at my oil temp gauge and it was at like 240° on a cold night. Then looked at oil press and it was sitting at like 10-15 psi cruising. And only like 6-8 psi at idle and heard it lightly knocking. Luckily I was 1/4 mile from my house. Got it on my street and shut it off. Coasted into my garage. Where it’s been the last couple weeks. Til I can pull motor.


Yeah GPI is literally 2 miles from my house. I been in touch with Ryan & Ben. I’ve had people tell me it could be a number of things (in the tune, too much dome pressure, or failing oil pump, the fact I was using 5w30 M1 with my power level, just normal LSA issues, and blocked pickup tube) guess we will find out.

Brah, these motors are not at all spec'd for 20-50w........ might want to do some studying on clearances before "listening to everyone". The hotrod world is pretty sad these days. No one wants to learn..and if they do they do it the hard way several times.

One of the best tech sites in the world is dead as ****. LS1tech...there was infinite info and data there. Maybe a good place to start reading.

[BLK95-Z]

The factory oil pans aren't the greatest for hard acceleration. We suspect it as being a factor in our last failure.

[RobZL1]

Man, that just sucks. Sorry to hear it! Hopefully it's not too much carnage and most stuff will be salvageable with any luck. In any case, good excuse to build it back stronger.

Best wishes, dude!

[Bigdumogre]

Originally Posted by BLK95-Z

The factory oil pans aren't the greatest for hard acceleration. We suspect it as being a factor in our last failure.

I was just watching a video of a guy explaining how ls blocks should have a larger oil pan especially with a higher volume oil pump.

[Astatenate]

Originally Posted by RyangAsh

Brah, these motors are not at all spec'd for 20-50w........ might want to do some studying on clearances before "listening to everyone". The hotrod world is pretty sad these days. No one wants to learn..and if they do they do it the hard way several times.

One of the best tech sites in the world is dead as ****. LS1tech...there was infinite info and data there. Maybe a good place to start reading.

Man that’s crazy. Every LSA guy Z or V around here is running that 20w50 VR1 and I was the only one running 5w30 and I somehow spun a bearing. Both my tuners at GPI recommended the VR1 as well. As it’s not daily driven. I guess I’ll do some more research.

Originally Posted by BLK95-Z

The factory oil pans aren't the greatest for hard acceleration. We suspect it as being a factor in our last failure.

Yeah I could see that. Do we have an aftermarket option that would work well? Haven’t done much research on the pan.

Originally Posted by RobZL1

Man, that just sucks. Sorry to hear it! Hopefully it's not too much carnage and most stuff will be salvageable with any luck. In any case, good excuse to build it back stronger.

Best wishes, dude!

Yeah for sure. Upgrading bearings and oil pump, with big cam for sure while it’s out. I don’t have the power goal of 1,xxx so I think I’ll be fine just with OE parts (crank, etc) if destroyed. But we shall see.

Originally Posted by Bigdumogre

I was just watching a video of a guy explaining how ls blocks should have a larger oil pan especially with a higher volume oil pump.

Care to explain why? I never really understood pan volume in comparison to a HV oil pump. If the pump is flowing more sufficiently then what’s the need for a bigger pan? Just curious.

[Shodown]

I've heard of guys cracking the block going over 1000 hp, supercharger rattle, burned up piston from too much boost, collapsed bricks and rocker/trunion issues but this is the first spun bearing I've read about. I wouldnt say it's common. Lots of guys run 5w-30 with zero issues so I'm wondering if you had a one-off bad oil pump or something.

[LevonH]

Care to explain why? I never really understood pan volume in comparison to a HV oil pump. If the pump is flowing more sufficiently then what’s the need for a bigger pan? Just curious.[/QUOTE]

It's not about the pump. More about returning oil to the pan. Gravity can only do so much. There's also a difference between high pressure and high volume pumps.You need to ensure that theres enough oil in the pan to pump baseed onthe flow from the pump and return to the pan.
During higher RPM operation theres lots of oil up top from pumping and windage.

[Astatenate]

Originally Posted by Shodown

I've heard of guys cracking the block going over 1000 hp, supercharger rattle, burned up piston from too much boost, collapsed bricks and rocker/trunion issues but this is the first spun bearing I've read about. I wouldnt say it's common. Lots of guys run 5w-30 with zero issues so I'm wondering if you had a one-off bad oil pump or something.

It’s apparently very common in the LSA world on the V side. There’s so many posts about spun bearings. It’s not even funny. I reinforced brick. Did solid isolator. Vented crankcase. I did everything I thought would be good enough. I read horror stories about M1 5w30 which is what I was told to run. Now all my racing buddies and tuner are telling me I shoulda been running VR1 5-20. So idk. I trust their word. And yeah I can’t wait to get it out and see the damage.