dean51267

oil sample is attached, it is comperable to another pulled and sent to a lab, no noticeable difference.

Engine seller and I will have to have a discussion about this but I need to understand it first, so I need a little education on this. Remember, talk to me like I am a 5 year old, I am new to this stuff.

The sample was pulled from the motor by a third party, according to the instructions given by the lab technician, so it is as good a sample as I can get.

THANKS!!!

Reed Jensen

It appears from the recomendations that the metal (tin, iron and aluminum) are metals from break-in. The tin is most likely from the bearings, the iron from the cylinder walls and the aluminum from the pistons. The silicon may be traces of sand or broken glass bead dust from the cleaning process during a rebuild. At 37 parts per million on the silicon it doesn't sound serious, just unexpected. If a head or block is bead blasted, getting the residue out during cleaning is critical. Oil passage ways must be cleaned with brushes and cleaned with a hot soap and water solution to break the oil down.The calcium may have arrived during the cleaning process or it could be residue from lake water that has boiled off and left the calcium behind. My guess is the engine is new and just breaking in without any problems.

dean51267

this is from a motor that failed after one hour of operation. The engine seller said fuel in the oil caused failure, but I personally do not accept that from what I have seen.

I have been told 37 ppm on Silicon (not siliconE) is excesive. Is that not accurate?

Reed Jensen

What failed in the engine?.. Is it worn out? bearings scored or scuffed?... cylinder walls scuffed and aluminum melted onto the sides?.... You can have perfectly good oil and the engine will still blow sky high if something wasn't assembled correctly. I had an engine blow up in a spectacular fashion because the moron that install the engine plumbed the remote oil filter backward. Lots of oil pressure reading on the gauge... but not much getting to the bearings. I was surprised the thing lasted 4 hrs when I found out what the builder had done. Of course....according to the builder... it wasn't his fault..... grrrrrrrrr. What you see inside the engine is going to tell a lot more that an oil analysis. If you got the analysis to dispute the dilution theory you most likely disproved that theory because the report didn't mention a lot of fuel in the oil.
Every failed part tells a story, much more than the oil.

dean51267

pistons and spark plugs looked very good, no signs of over fueling (that was initial argument). Very nice burn patterns present, plugs were SLIGHTLY tan.

Boat went immediately to a separate shop for failure analysis, a Certified Mercruiser Tech and boat shop owner was with me when it went, boat has been in his possession, inside a locked shop, since failure.

Babit material from bearings all over the oil pump pick up screen and in oil pan.

Metal (looked like bearing) "chunks" in the LIFTER galley (yes, the LIFTER galley).

#5/6 rod bearings shot, others were an unknown (seller states they were shot).

Cylinder walls looked GREAT, criss-cross pattern from honing still very prevalent.

no signs of ringing or scrubbing on exposed surfaces.

Shop owner (friendly competitor to installer) pulled motor, took special time to check oil lines were routed correctly, they were (I got a oil cooling diagram from someone here and ask him to check each component, and how oil flowed, in detail, he reported all was in good order).

Oil temp was good from start to finish, about 210 degrees, a little high, but no where near danger zone.

No bluing on rods (meaning no excess heat from lack of oil).

will get pics in a bit........

dean51267

http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/s...d.php?t=139339

Reed Jensen

From the pictures of the combustion chambers it looks like it was properly jetted and not too rich. Blast media left in the engine will score all the bearing surfaces and take out the bearings. Did you cut open the oil filter and look inside? It may be packed with debris also. Get some pics of the bearings and crank journals. The top inside of my starboard engine was covered with metal flakes. Turns out the roller rocker trunions were spalled and worn out due to lack of oil. The builder insisted on filling the engine with straight 50 weight oil even though Crane cams designed the lifters to pump 10-40. Not enough oil getting to the rockers. What actually happened?... Did the motor start knocking? or seize?

dean51267

motor started with slight noise, was shut down, and then locked up. We could not pull rod or main caps off due to warranty constraints. I have a few more pics, but just more of the same.

Seller says imporoper install, and is ugly about it. Installer says "if I screw up I will make it right, but you gotta show wher eI screw up" he is being reasonable. I am in the middle, I just wrote checks.....

Reed Jensen

Sounds like contamination was left in the engine during the build process. I don't know how your builder cleans and assembles things but the contamination also may have been allowed to get into the system during installation. Another thing, was the engine and oiling system properly primes before the distributor was installed and the engine started?. If not, the oil pump would have to pump almost a gallon of oil before the engine, cooler, lines, filter, and engine passage ways were filled with oil. That could result in damage to the bearings.

CMG

Dean, check your work e-mail....