best of luck man.

 

I removed the oil cooler this afternoon. Tomorrow I will stick it in the solvent tank and just let it flow for hours. I will then drain the solvent thru a coffee filter and see if any metal is still present.

I may get lucky and have a clean oil cooler as when the car went boom, it ran for only around 30-45 seconds. I hope that the metal stayed in the pan. I cleaned the pickup tube and screen this morning as well as the oil filter housing. I also flushed the supply and return oil lines.

If I remember I will take the camera to the hangar tomorrow to snap a few pics of parts in the solvent tanks so everyone can see the process.

(I also added more pics just now on the first page. I will try to load them all there as I go.)

 

I like how you use the whole garage to neatly lay out your parts instead of cramming everyhting onto one bench.

 

Its all I could do. I dont have a bench to clutter up! Most of that stuff will just go right back into the stock block eventually to save space. I will have to save up money again to rebuild it. If I didnt lay it all out though....I would forget where it goes.

This is my first car engine build. I never pulled a motor or tranny out before.

 

Does anyone know the oil flow direction?

cooler --> filter --> engine

or

filter-->cooler-->engine

Either way, if the oil is filtered before the cooler then the filter trapped the metal before making its way back into the cooler.

If the cooler does still have metal trapped in it and it goes thru the filter prior to the engine, then the filter will hold it.

I cleaned the crap out of it in the solvent tanks for around two hours this morning. Then I filled it with iso alcohol and blew shop air thru it till nothing came out (as far as liquid.) When I initially drained the solvent in the cooler thru coffee filters, it came out with no metal.

I think I am safe on this one. Any opinions from those more educated?

 

gotta give props to the true DIYer, just curious are you putting the balance shaft back in? i would just eliminate it so you can rev higher and not worry about that thing comming thru the block lol

 

dont do it, its not worth the risk. the only way ive seen to truely clean an oil cooler is to have it ultrasonically cleaned at an aircraft shop which will bring it up to FAA standards. that service costs ~150-200

 

That was part of the benefit of the AMS shortblock is that it comes with their race elim kit installed. It a turned down machined shaft with less weight on the oil pump side. Nifty.

http://http://www.amsperformance.com...oducts_id=1550

I agree with less parts, less chance of breakage.

 

That thought crossed my mind with the ultrasonic cleaning. (I am a Gulfstream Tech and fully licensed A&P)

I figured the solvent would dissolve all oil and loosen deposits. Then the iso alc with shop air would rapidly dry and dislodge all particles. I poured it all out thru a coffee filter. There was no metal debris. As much as I would love the AMS oil cooler, it is damn expensive.

Course its cheap compared to a damaged engine....

 

i remember building my 95 eclipse gst engine took almost 1.5 years..
hard to do when your on a buget and going to school

but it paid off in the end

 

looks like fun... good luck...

 

sweet bro, rev to 9k gotta love that

 

I emailed a FAA certified repair station in Cali to see if they can do the cleaning.

Will let you guys know the cost as soon as I find out.

 

fwiw - I was in a similar situation when i did my re-build as the prev owner spun a balance shaft bearing.

I was on a tight budget back then and did exactly as you did w/ yours as far as cleaning goes.

I trust Ivan from AMS as i'm sure they have seen all sorts of cases if not i'm sure he wouldn't rec'd it but i couldn't cough up the extra cash as it needed to go elsewhere in the build.

So far so good :knocks on wood: but i'm prepared for the consequences if indeed something does happen.

Good luck with your build

 

Totally. I am glad Ivan said something cause it most likely would've slipped my mind due to such a long time passing since the engine broke.

Its good that you did the same thing. It means I wasnt completely headed in the wrong direction. I will see how much the oil cooler cleaners want. If its only $100-$200 thats not too bad. I know the Porsche guys use aviation repair stations for their coolers when the engines crap the bed.

You gotta figure the engine is going to make metal at first anyways. Plus I didnt spin a bearing. The piston popped and the engine quit and never ran again unlike a spun bearing which will run until it seizes or the knock throws a rod. And yes, I have had both occur, just not with an evo.