Tale tale signs of bearing failure

[GoHot229]

For those of you with alot of experiance of running Deuces or multifuels, what are warning signs that you have experianced before you loose a rod or main or forbid....a connecting rod. Did it start getting slugish, noisy, low oil pressure at the guage or anything that warned you that problems were on the horizon? Or did it just blow, out of the blue? rod through block and big oil slick in someones parking lot? I guess we all think of the worst thing to happen to our Deuce's would to be stranded with a blown motor, so those of us with good runners just need some reasureance that stuffs ok.

 

[rmgill]

thumpthumpthumpthump

Engine oil analysis will tell you as well due to the increased bearing metal content in the oil. That SHOULD tell you long before you have noise.

 

[GoHot229]

I have no signs of anything at all amiss on the Deuce other than a bit of tire wear, the usual kind but I want to keep it that way too. The oil annalasis should probably be money well spent for a new Deuce ownership, at least giving you piece of mind. I want to go cross country in the spring, about 1,800 miles, and just trying to gather courage to feel all's well.

 

[Srjeeper]

Another thing you can do that's free is to cut your oil filters open when you change oil and check the filter paper for metal shavings. Let the filter drain for and hour or so then cut the base plate off. Remove the pleated paper and spread it out on a piece of cardboard. If there's metal shavings inside the pleats you can bet something is starting to wear excessively. That's when the oil pan needs to come down.

The old timers say "a diesel always runs best just before it blows".

If you watch your oil and filters you'll never need to test that theory.

 

[BugEyeBear]

thumpthumpthumpthump.....

The oil analysis & oil filter autopsy suggestions are great!

http://www.blackstone-labs.com/free-test-kits.php
http://www.amsoil.com/storefront/oai.aspx
http://www.google.com/products?sour...esult_group&ct=title&resnum=4&ved=0CCQQrQQwAw
(Be sure to check the TOTAL COST, including the price of the kit & the analysis!)

These should help to diagnose many/most early symptoms of ususual wear and bearing failure, but there is always the possibility of catastrophic metal fatigue failure that can occur without warning.

As long as you don't over-rev or abuse your engine (& assume it has been well cared for by prior owners, and put together properly with good parts) you are likely to avoid any fatigue failures.

BUT IF a prior owner has abused the engine or bad parts were used in a rebuild all bets are off.

Murphy Lives.

-Bear-

 

[Keith_J]

Since wear metal analysis was mentioned and most labs charge $20 per test, I was wondering if there would be an opportunity for a discount wear metal analysis program?

How much would you be willing to spend on such an analysis? It would be beneficial to test every few thousand miles to establish a base line, then every 5000 miles.

Why do I ask?

Because I am thinking of getting into this business . The test is very quick to perform.

 

[BugEyeBear]

Since wear metal analysis was mentioned and most labs charge $20 per test, I was wondering if there would be an opportunity for a discount wear metal analysis program?

How much would you be willing to spend on such an analysis? It would be beneficial to test every few thousand miles to establish a base line, then every 5000 miles.

Why do I ask?

Because I am thinking of getting into this business . The test is very quick to perform.

I would probably only do this once every year on my MVs.

BUT I already do this after every race for my race car engines.
(but these engines can cost over $10K to build, so the cost is a very good investment!)

Find a local race track or off-road club & you'll probably get a pretty constat stream of customers. (Assuming someone else hasn't beat you to it!)

-Bear-

 

[Pappa-G]

I had a out of round crank shaft in my Duce. The oil pressure would drop off at idle when warm. The "Oh-S#!#" moment was when I drained the oil and chunks of bearing material came out, not shavings, chunks. Long story short the crank runout was .009 with a limit of .004. found a place in BayCity that streightened it and cut rods and mains -.010 put it back together and back in the truck ran like a champ. Total cost was about $600 and 1 month down time and a wicked fire baptisim on how to remove repair and reinstall a multifuel.
Would never have been able to do it without Steel Soldiers!

 

[2Deuces wild]

Knock, Knock? Who's there? No oil pressure No oil pressure boom.

 

[cranetruck]

Since wear metal analysis was mentioned and most labs charge $20 per test, I was wondering if there would be an opportunity for a discount wear metal analysis program?

How much would you be willing to spend on such an analysis? It would be beneficial to test every few thousand miles to establish a base line, then every 5000 miles.

Why do I ask?

Because I am thinking of getting into this business . The test is very quick to perform.

I have had the analysis done many times and the kit from NAPA is only $14 something. Besides the metal, fuel and coolant content (important!) along with viscosity are included.
My problems with knock and low oil pressure started with fuel in the oil, while a thousand miles away from home. A leaking FDC was my instigator....

Just sent away a sample of my 10KW genset oil.

 

[Keith_J]

Well, I am thinking the other parameters would be something I could add in the future. These are total base number, soot level, viscosity and fuel dilution. Ethylene glycol generally turns oil into a semi-solid gel. While it could happen, it usually is a sudden onset situation. And since most multifuels have the vented head gasket, this is less likely to happen.

The problem with the NAPA kits is time. Blackstone is faster, usually a week turn-around. Both require 2-4 ounces, this is mostly for fuel dilution determination. Viscosity us done first as it is non-destructive.

 

[cessnatwin]

What is an FDC?

 

[cranetruck]

FDC= Fuel Density Compensator, it's part of the injection pump fuel control system and effects the fuel delivery based on its viscosity. Delivery of heavier fuels (diesel) is reduced and lighter fuel delivery is increased to maintain constant power output. Only works for fuels listed for the engine, counteracts the lower BTU contents of biodiesel/veggie oil for example...