Pulled the motor...again

[97GSTspyder]

So I couldn't figure out why my O2 housing was smoking. After replacing my 14b with a new(ish) Frankenstein 16G, along with all new gaskets, my O2 housing was still smoking. (I left the header on while replacing the turbo, wish I would've taken it off)...I couldn't understand it...Until I let me car idle for about 30 minutes. The O2 housing was SOAKED in oil...and it was from the outside. After examiming the oil feed line and having it check out fine, I was stumped. So I decided to pull the header off. The bottom of the header was soaked in oil, also. I looked at the runners on the head and each one was soaked in oil, same with the runners on the header. I come to find out there was a crack on the bottom of the header. A large one.......

So my conclusion was my rings are fried or my valve stem seals are fried.

I couldn't understand how there could be so much oil accumulated in the runners, but the exhaust (from the rear) wasn't smoking much at all. Most of the smoke was from the oil seeping on top of the O2 housing.

So either way I pulled the motor. I just got it on the stand last night and haven't touched it yet. Was probably going to rip into it later today. So far I'm looking into getting: all new gaskets, seals, rings, bearings, belts, water pump, ARP head and main studs.

Anyone ever ran into a problem like this before?

[Blackcrow64]

Originally Posted by 97GSTspyder

Anyone ever ran into a problem like this before?

Yeah... It's called a DSM.


Sounds pretty brutal if you ask me. How many times have you pulled this thing now? Isn't this lucky number 3? lol

[97GSTspyder]

Originally Posted by Blackcrow64

Yeah... It's called a DSM.


Sounds pretty brutal if you ask me. How many times have you pulled this thing now? Isn't this lucky number 3? lol

Lol no this is the second time since I've had the hardtop. I started on the motor work last night. I almost don't even want to touch the main bearings, the crank end play measured a .011 (metric value)! Still within spec, according to my manual (.05 - .18) with a .25 service limit.

The oil pick-up screen had a bunch of shit on the bottom of it, couldn't tell what it is. Looks like it got clogged up with something, which might explain my low oil pressure (~10psi at idle, fully warmed up)?

Another question I have - anyone ever use the MBCAD kit? (Main Bearing Cap Alignment Dowel Kit). Seen here - http://www.machv.com/conracmbcadk.html

I read an article about something similar to this. Some guy on DSMtuner was saying that he come to find out that when torquing down the bearing bridge and the head to the block, it would throw his crank end play out of whack. The theory is that the actual block is weak, and when torque is applied, would flex the bottom end a bit, creating the chance for pre-mature bearing failiure. The guy claims he made his own dowel kit made out of a certain high-heat material and had the holes on the block side specifically drilled for them, and when put together, creates a 100% perfect tight and secure fit.
I e-mail Machv about these and my answer was "we've never had anyone call us and tell us their motor CW'd while using these, other than that I can't tell you for sure if this is the all and mighty cure for CW".
Just curious if anyone has ever used these before.