mrsupermexican

Sorry guys, I tried searching but didn't encounter my problem in any of the threads I read. I've been a ghost on the site forever, only commented once on something (mostly because everyone on here is exponentially more knowledgeable than me on these cars), now I need help. I did an engine swap a couple months ago to a 355 with a carb, and about a week ago it started running terribly. I was driving about 7 miles home from work, and at a stop sign I pushed it just a little hard, still only to about 3.5k and it started smoking from what I eventually figured out where the valve covers. I limped it home, and let it cool down. The next day I checked it out, and saw my oil was about a quart low. I refilled and tried a start. It made a horrible metal on metal screech. I gave it some gas and it stopped, but it continues to smoke while running and sounds very harsh a idle, even over the rough idle cam in it, like it's missing a cylinder. My question is did I bend a valve possibly, or ruin a piston ring? Is there no easier way to find out other than pulling the head? I'd appreciate all the help anyone has to offer, or if anyone has a link to a thread with answers that I missed. This is my daily but I'd like it to be nice someday.

bradley23150

iTrader: (10)

Not 100% sure on an answer, but maybe if you took a video of the sound it may be easier for us to pin-point the problem. Have you had someone else start the engine with you under the hood listening?

mrsupermexican

I haven't, but I can take a video in the morning before work and try posting it when I get home. I love my car and I wouldn't trade it for anything, so I don't want to ruin the new engine.

mrsupermexican

I took a video this morning, but YouTube is all messed up from google's recent take over and I'm having a hard time getting into my account and uploading it. I took my passenger side valve cover off and it got me very worried. There is a lot of soot-like deposit underneath the oil, and it sparkles metallic dust in sunlight. I'm going to try YouTube again and I'll have a link up when I can.

bradley23150

iTrader: (10)

I wasn't worried until you said metallic dust in the oil. Is that same metallic dust on the dipstick when you check the oil level?

Take some pictures and post them if you can, that will help. Do you have a photobucket account? You can upload videos there and post them too if youtube isn't working.

mrsupermexican

Okay I opened a photobucket and it worked great. The link to the album is here

http://s1095.photobucket.com/albums/...erMexicansZ28/

I put a video of the car running before this happened (I'm the goon squinting out the window) for reference of what it sounded like before, and the last item in the album was starting the car this morning. I didn't take pictures of the metallic dust but I will tomorrow, the other pictures in the album are a couple of my car before and after my swap and a new hood. The old hood's latch malfunctioned and flipped up, bounced off my windshield and I picked up a daytona hood for $100.

bradley23150

iTrader: (10)

If those 2-3 clanks that I hear when you first start it up are in the engine, theres a real problem. I would venture a guess and say 1 or 2 bearings got eaten somehow. If you take another video see if you can get someone to start the car with you holding the camera under the hood, and just let it idle and move around to where the noise is most prevelant.

But like I said if those clanks are internal, unfortunately it may be time for a rebuild before it throws a rod or eats the crank. But lets not get too hastey and pull the engine just yet. There is only so much I can hear from a camera.

mrsupermexican

I can do that. Just curious what would cause the burning and thusly smoke coming through the valve cover breathers if bearings were gone? Do bearings begin burning oil when they're worn? Also the screeching only happens at start up? I want to pull the heads and check the valves and piston rings but if I have to get into the underside to fix the crank bearings, I don't know if I should bother. I'll start with another video and pictures of the sediment. Thanks for the help, this is bumming me out pretty badly.

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

If there's glitter in the oil, the motor is toast.

Continuing to run it, if that's the case, will just tear up whatever is ruined (most likely rod bearings) worse than it already is. Maybe ruin the rod as well, where it might not be ruined yet; might still be possible to crank-kit it and it survive, but if the rod gets smoked too, it's tear-down time.

Take a few drops of the oil and put it on a piece of white copy paper; let it sit there for about a half hour, until the oil has soaked in and left whatever residue behind; and take a close-up ("macro") pic of that. That'll tell RIGHT AWAY if there's metal in it.

Don't outsmart yourself over the smoke from the breathers. That may or may not be connected. The metal in the oil is positive proof of a destroyed motor, if it's there.

If it's a 305, then no, you shouldn't bother. Go get a 350 short block and spend your money on that instead, if it needs it. Think of inches as being like an amplifier for your money: the more inches you have, the more you get out of your money.

mrsupermexican

Yeah, there's a lot of metal in the oil. It was a 355, and I guess I'm screwed again haha. I love my car though, and I have a paycheck saved so I guess next week I'm saving another and getting myself into more trouble with this car. I have a toasted 305, and now a toasted 355 by the looks of it. If I were to try to salvage my 355 block, what could I do? Or do eaten bearings mean game over entirely?

Project 3.4 Camaro

What you can salvage depends on entirely what got damaged, and how damaged it got, I would advise against running the motor till you pull it apart if at all possible, cause like the other guy said, if you do, you risk ruining things that might have been salvageable. Problem is probably a crank or rod bearing, or piston ring, there is really no knowing for sure until you pull it apart, its not valvetrain though, not if you have metal powder or shavings in the oil, a bent valve or broken spring wouldn't do that.