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Thread: Rod snapped.

  1. #1
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    Default Rod snapped.

    So I just rebuilt my LT1 from the block up. I started having problems with my oil overheating. I heard a tick while driving home one evening and I cross my fingers it's a loose rocker. While attempting to adjust the rockers the engine locks up. I spin it backwards and it comes loose but I hear fragments hitting the oil pan. I drop the pan and find half of the number 1 rod and the number 2 piston skirt sitting in the bottom. I thought maybe I overtightened a rocker and slapped the top of one with a valve, but I pulled the head and the piston face is as perfect as the day I put her in. The reason I had to rebuild it was a headgasket blew and wore all the bearings to nothing. The obvious answer is that due to the oil overheating it ran away from the rod bearing, plus being weakend due to overheating from the headgasket ordeal. But what still has me scratching my head is what caused the oil to overheat? Temps where reaching 303 before I caught it. Did I screw up the bearings somehow? I plastigauged and torqued the caps (rods and mains) correctly, and it was running like a top until the oil problem popped out of nowhere. Anyone smarter than me know what happened?

  2. #2
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Dragula View Post
    So I just rebuilt my LT1 from the block up. I started having problems with my oil overheating. I heard a tick while driving home one evening and I cross my fingers it's a loose rocker. While attempting to adjust the rockers the engine locks up. I spin it backwards and it comes loose but I hear fragments hitting the oil pan. I drop the pan and find half of the number 1 rod and the number 2 piston skirt sitting in the bottom. I thought maybe I overtightened a rocker and slapped the top of one with a valve, but I pulled the head and the piston face is as perfect as the day I put her in. The reason I had to rebuild it was a headgasket blew and wore all the bearings to nothing. The obvious answer is that due to the oil overheating it ran away from the rod bearing, plus being weakend due to overheating from the headgasket ordeal. But what still has me scratching my head is what caused the oil to overheat? Temps where reaching 303 before I caught it. Did I screw up the bearings somehow? I plastigauged and torqued the caps (rods and mains) correctly, and it was running like a top until the oil problem popped out of nowhere. Anyone smarter than me know what happened?
    Do you still have an oil cooler on car (a factory one) snapped off skirt sounds like the piston was rocking in bore.

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  3. #3
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    Default

    It's Vette, so no oil cooler. The pistons are always going to rock a little, and they where brand new. Whatever caused enough shock to snap the rod also broke the neighboring piston, maybe it was just combustion. I've always wanted to put a mild built LQ4 in the car and this finally forces my hand, but I wish I could at least enjoy the car while I save up the cash.

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  5. #4
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    Default

    Sounds like the #1 bearing was failing causing the oil to overheat till it finally failed.pics of the crank and bearing would help. Plasti gauge is kind of a crapshoot. I did some testing comparing bore gauge to plasti gauge. Sometimes it was close but not always. I worked in a high performance engine shop thats been open for almost 30 years. not a single piece of plasti gauge in the shop.

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