rayra
Expedition Leader
So I was up early this morning, to do all the parts cleanup I didn't get to last night. Good news is that the apparent aluminum bits in the pan were indeed aluminum bits, but they were part of the pan. Defects in the casting. Like spatter. Threw every solvent I had at them, even tried to mechanically scrape them off, nope, part of the pan.
Went ahead and pulled the windage tray, more good news, what I could see looked fantastic. 165k on this engine and it looks to be in fantastic shape at least from the bottom end. Got up in there and took photos of a few piston skirts and cylinder bores, roller lifters and cam lobes, all showing nominal light wear. I'd expect to see this light of wear on a motor with far fewer miles. Didn't get a good photo of the timing chain, but its teeth looked great, no visible wear. The photo I do have shows the port where the oil pickup tube / o-ring goes in. Basically pristine.
And at the rear, the 'rear main seal' or whatever they call it on Vortec motors, totally fine, no sign of any leakage on the flywheel.
The rest went back together fairly quickly. Followed the recommending sequence and light torque settings on the pan bolts. Then the three bolts holding the bellhousing closure panels and the wiring brackets. Then the four big fasteners holding the front axle tube. Then the four thru bolts for the frame crossmember and the 4 bolts for the skiplate. Took less than 2hrs for complete re-assembly after the parts were cleaned up.
The Victor-Reinz replacement oil pan gasket / plate was visually identical to the factory original, which itself was pop-riveted to the oil pan. I had a pop rivet kit at hand, so I went ahead and attached the replacement part the same way, made it a lot easier when wriggling the pan back into place over the axle.
Poured in 6qts of 5w-30, reconnected the battery and fired it up. A little clatter as the oil pressure came up, and then the blessed near-silence of a fine motor. I let it idle about 10mins with the oil cap off just to try burning off any remaining flush solvents and running the engine under no stress.
We'll do some easy errand trips in it the rest of the holiday weekend, before it returns to commuter duty on Tuesday.
Whole motor is overall in fantastic shape for its age and mileage. I'm working to keep it that way.
Went ahead and pulled the windage tray, more good news, what I could see looked fantastic. 165k on this engine and it looks to be in fantastic shape at least from the bottom end. Got up in there and took photos of a few piston skirts and cylinder bores, roller lifters and cam lobes, all showing nominal light wear. I'd expect to see this light of wear on a motor with far fewer miles. Didn't get a good photo of the timing chain, but its teeth looked great, no visible wear. The photo I do have shows the port where the oil pickup tube / o-ring goes in. Basically pristine.
And at the rear, the 'rear main seal' or whatever they call it on Vortec motors, totally fine, no sign of any leakage on the flywheel.
The rest went back together fairly quickly. Followed the recommending sequence and light torque settings on the pan bolts. Then the three bolts holding the bellhousing closure panels and the wiring brackets. Then the four big fasteners holding the front axle tube. Then the four thru bolts for the frame crossmember and the 4 bolts for the skiplate. Took less than 2hrs for complete re-assembly after the parts were cleaned up.
The Victor-Reinz replacement oil pan gasket / plate was visually identical to the factory original, which itself was pop-riveted to the oil pan. I had a pop rivet kit at hand, so I went ahead and attached the replacement part the same way, made it a lot easier when wriggling the pan back into place over the axle.
Poured in 6qts of 5w-30, reconnected the battery and fired it up. A little clatter as the oil pressure came up, and then the blessed near-silence of a fine motor. I let it idle about 10mins with the oil cap off just to try burning off any remaining flush solvents and running the engine under no stress.
We'll do some easy errand trips in it the rest of the holiday weekend, before it returns to commuter duty on Tuesday.
Whole motor is overall in fantastic shape for its age and mileage. I'm working to keep it that way.
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