Low oil pressure, after overheating

[PeterH-350LE]

"Fear is the chariot in which man rides to death"
You may as well enjoy it until it blows up one day....

[HiJoeSilver]

On previous experience operating steam turbines we would consider low oil pressure following an overheated bearing/oil temp a sign that a bearing was wiped. Some soft Babbitt metal bearing surface metal melts/wears away leaving more clearance for oil flow resulting in lower pressure. Shaft could still spin because a oil wedge builds up under the rotating shaft supporting the shaft without contact on bearing. Just a thought.

[Grosspoluter]

OK so I just got the oil analysis back that I sent out Last week, when I drain the oil from the pan to start the job of replacing oil pump
The test only has about 10 hours and only about 100 miles on it
Nevertheless the test and the report came out good.
they (Blackstone Labs) suggest driving it another thousand miles before sending in another test, I don't know about 1000 miles, but I will certainly put some more miles on it and try another test before I replace the oil pump...
My optimism is starting to come back[emoji848]


Sent from my iPhone using Airstream Forums

[davejay]

Hey,
How many miles do you have on it. The 5 wis for start up. When the engine is warm it changes to 30w. Try running 20. 50 synthetic racing oil. It can't hurt it . You may have overheated the block, but the engine was running therefore the oil pump was still pushing oil. If you rolled a bearing, you'd know. You may have helped it prematurely wear out a little faster. A brand new engine may push 70-80 psi but for the most part 40 pounds isn't that bad . We're not running these things at 4000 rpm. That's when you need oil pressure. 2500 to3500 is not working it to hard. Big blocks run best around 25-2700 you hear them get into a droning harmonic noise. That's the sweet spot. I wouldn't worry to much, you didn't running it until she overheated as in steaming ,do you? Another good reason for converting to a serpintine system belt. You probably had a loose belt, and it got to whipping. 210 degrees is kinda normal. 260 is getting up there, but not crazy hot. Throw a 502 crate motor in it. Good luck. DJ