How do you make it rain in California?... buy a speedster.

Ted, is this you first oil change with the new engine? If so, it is not unusual to find metal floating around in a new/rebuilt engine. When you change the oil again, keep a close eye on it and see if that continues, if so there is some interference inside the engine. To make sure it is metal, I would get a magnet and stir up the old oil and see if anything sticks, that way you will know if it really metal or not. Good luck.

 

Gary

coud you tell something about the engine? how long did it run at all after the revision? and a funny question: did anyone paint the engine case in silver before the engine was mounted?

Good point Jan! Now I know why I've painted the few cases I've rebuilt black...

 

Gary- If the cam and lifters are self-destructing most of what you'll see will be aluminum/magnesium from the cam gear and lifter bores, so I wouldn't be surprised if most of the material isn't attracted to the magnet.

 

Bummer, Ted! On the other hand, now you have an excuse for building that stroker..

ALB, I agree that some won't be picked up by metal, but it is any cheap easy way to verify if some metal is in the engine. Good point.

 

Gary

I believe if was the cam or lifters going bad you would have immediately noticed in the way the car performed. When either goes bad it is almost always self-evident in performance...at least that is what I've found in V-8's and I do not see a flat-4 being any different.

There are some shops around that build racing/hi-performance engines that can perform an oil analysis it may behoove you to have the oil checked out. I've had it done before years ago on a BB 427 I had bought used and after firing it up found what looked like metal particles in the fresh oil and it cost about $50-60 to have the analysis done...unfortunately for me the 427 needed a complete rebuild and bore as the particles were metal from the cylinder wall on the #7 piston.

Kind of a pisser, but there isn't much I can do about it now. Just need to drop the Motor, swap in the ole (tired) 1600 and tear down the 1915. This motor has been a leaking mess since  day one. I really despise a leaky messy motor.

Grumble. Grumble. Grumble.

Ted

It is pretty common for engine builders to use a graphite assembly lube on new parts, which comes out of the first few oil changes exactly as you described.  We see it in new engines and transaxles quote often.  I know that does;t help your leaks and such, but it may not be as bad as you think...

Thanks, Carey et al. I'm torn on this one. It's a good running motor. Strong and smooth. No bad habits. The builder said it was broken in and ready to go. My concern is that after the first oil change there was a good layer of the stuff in the base of the sump plate. I put my finger in the stuff and it looked like silver / grey graphite paste. Do you fix the oil leak and run it? Or bite the bullet and just pull the motor apart?

What about the setrab? Is it junk if it's been filled full of lifter/bearing material?

That is a BUMMER, Ted! As much as a pain in the a$$ a tear down would be, I know you wouldn't have any peace of mind unless you verified with a tear down. For you, that may be only a weekend project! When I retire next year, I can drive up whenever you need help wrenching on that bad boy, cuz I know you got the madness real bad and will still be tinkering! 

As already mentioned, sounds a lot like builder lube.  Builder lube will slowly go away over time.  The first oil change should show a lot of fine filings - like a shimmer on the oil or dust suspended in it if viewed through a clear glass.  put the container in the sun and it will shimmer like a rainbow.  This will markedly decrease with the first three or four oil changes.

 

If the Setrab is downstream from (or after) the external oil filter in the circuit, then it should be fine as the filter will catch anything large enough to get trapped in the cooler.   Some people make a living out of cutting oil filters in half and analyzing the residue left behind, but that's mostly for racers to determine what's wearing and whether it's time for a tear-down/rebuild.

 

Now....leaks - That's a whole 'nuther thing.

Sounds like you should drive it for a while before going through the bother of pulling the engine, Ted.

i like what Jan is saying here! I learn something new every time I visit this site. 

Thanks for the replies guys. If I can fix this damn oil leak I'll run it a bit and see if it clears up. The stuff sounds exactly like what Gordon and the rest of you are describing. If it's builders lube, then that's great. My luck usually doesn't go that way.

 

The oil level was a little 'proud' of the top mark on the dip stick. I was hoping the extra oil (everywhere) was due to the extra oil pressure pushing past the sand seal. We'll see.

 

I will check the three questions you mention above. If I just open the crank case while it's running I'm pretty sure nothing comes out of the breather/inlet... unless I try to add oil while it's running, then it creates a horrible mess.  Don't ask me how I know.

 

Jan - I see what you did there.

 

Ted

. . . and I'll assume you have a magnet in there and that you looked at that too.  What did you see: little filings like hair??  I like the builder's lube theory to explain the appearance of the oil.  Sounds right.  Run it 300m mi, change the oil and filter, and run it some more, see what you see.  Jan's list of three things is right on and easy to do.  I rubbed a cam lobe off an old Volvo once and it took a really long time to fully develop. By the time I rebuilt it the lobe was most gone (I think it was an intake valve) and the car still ran pretty good if you did not ask it to do too much, but when you stepped on it and the cylinder pressure went up, it faltered and had a lot of popping up through the carbs. And of course the Volvo had one lobe per valve, and the VW has two valves per.  Whatever that might mean -?-

Besides the damn thing leaking oil like the Valdez (crank seal, previously valve covers and sump stud) - the motor runs great. The oil looks like just fine particles. NO hairs. No chunks or anything, just a fine silt of what I assume is non magnetic material.  I will run a magnet through the oil tonight. and possibly a cheese cloth. 

 

I'll check the valve settings. I recently set them to .004 all the way around. A lot of people suggest loose / 0, but I couldn't get my head wrapped around NO valve clearance. The push rods/ valve springs / etc should allow for loose 0.

 

I'll test the oil filler cap trick. Should I remove the breather tubes before I do this test? I feel like the way the breather is set up, it's going to create some sort of splashing. 

 

Anyway  - thanks for your replies. I appreciate each and every one of them. I'm hoping I'm just paranoid. Something tells me I'm not but I've been wrong many times before. 

 

Sorry, Ted, but I'm  pretty sure the Setrab is toast.

I'll be happy to take it off your hands and dispose of it, free of charge.

No, don't worry about it, Ted! What're friends for, right?

Thanks, Buddy.  At least pay for shipping? Let's see... with shipping, hazardous materials, etc.  - it comes to just under $300.00

 

Sound good?

 

 

OK, I'll agree (politely and with full respect) that there may be a little paranoia (engine hypochondria -- I like that) going on here.

 

Loose zero, is the way to go IF you have the chrome-moly pushrods.  it sounds like you do, but you ought to check to be sure; get a sworn affidavit from the builder or put a magnet on the pushrod and see if it sticks.  If so, then you will be wanting to use 0.004" intake 0.006" exhaust)  If not magnetic, then likely chrome-moly, which is an alloy that expands and contracts with heat in tandem with the case and barrels, hence Loose zero" stays loose zero while things warm up.  If you set chrome-molys w/ a little gap, there will be no particular problem w/ that, except there will be a little valve clatter and you might notice that.  And always set valve clearance w/ engine stone cold.

 

Leaky valve cover gaskets: use the neoprene/fiber kind, and glue them down to the valve covers using HT silicone (red stuff). Let dry/set overnight, then apply some grease (I use silicone) to the exposed surface prior to application to the engine.  Original steel VW valve covers w/ the bale to secure them are the best -- other designs look cool, but in my experience do not work as well.

 

The "hair" I am referring to would be what you would see when you remove the sump drain plug and look at the magnet that should be in there.  Be sure to have that look when the oil gets changed.  If no magnet there, get a drain plug that has one, they are cheap.

 

Crank case pressure: with engine running, just open where you pour the oil in and see if gasses come out of this opening.  Leave everything hooked up otherwise.  Rev the engine and see how it goes.  There may be some positive pressure sensed, but it should not be strong and full of oil mist.  Ideally, it would be slightly negative pressure.  And putting oil down this pipe w/ engine running would not be a good idea.

 

Best news: you say engine is running strong, so that is good.  it will take a bit to get broken in. Running at various speeds, and not over-reving would be the order of the day.

 

And of course, do not overfill with oil.