How bad for my engine .....

[haydenm315]

is running it in place without my ypipe? I've got my car up on stands and am about to do rod bearings. I used considerably more oil the during the past 2,000 miles than normal. I noticed an oil leak around the fittings I installed to allow both the old and new old pressure senders attach to the block. There also seems to be a leak around the rear oil pan seal. Maybe this could attribute for my low oil pressure readings at idle when warm? My gauge shows around 5psi when water temperature reads 200. I'm debating whether or not I should hold off on the rod bearings because it's obvious the fitting was leaking and lowering pressure. I acquired the car over a year ago with 77k. I'm now approaching 99k. There's no knocking and people have told me I'm crazy to do rod bearings unless there is a problem. I've told them it's preventative maintenance, but they look at me funny. I'd rather not have to deal with requiring odd sized bearings and having my crank ground or replaced.

<small>[ October 05, 2003, 04:08 AM: Message edited by: haydenm315 ]</small>

 

[olympic]

Running the engine without the y-pipe shouldn't hurt it, but personally I wouldn't do it. Running an engine without manifolds is an absolute no-no because cold air can get sucked into the cylinders and crack a piston. IMO, manifold don't offer much more protection than none at all.

Don't worry about what others say, you're doing the right thing replacing the rod bearings early. They're alot cheaper and easier to find than a new crank after you spin a bearing.

5psi is definitely low. I get about 15-18 at hot idle. Fix the leaks and if the pressure is still low then it's probably worn rod bearings. Good luck!!

 

[yamahaSHO]

I would not worry too much about cracking a piston, but you could warp the valves once shut off and the cold air reaches the internals. After running the car, I would just stuff some cloth in the exhaust to prevent cool fresh air from getting in until it cools.

 

[shobikes]

It would take a **** of an oil leak to affect hot oil pressure reading that much. Lookin at your bearings in your other thread, I would say there's the cause of your low oil pressure - a wiped #6 rod bearing!

Fluid pressure is a funny thing, but suffice it to say that you would have to see oil physically dripping, even dribbling from your car before you noticed a drop in gauge oil pressure!

 

[haydenm315]

shobikes

Fluid pressure is a funny thing, but suffice it to say that you would have to see oil physically dripping, even dribbling from your car before you noticed a drop in gauge oil pressure! [/QB]

I lost a decent amount of oil (1qt a week at the worse. After better observation I noticed the teflon tape squinched up on one of my fitting connections. A decent amount of oil was coming out of there, but it only seemed to happen when I ran it hard. It didn't leave a mark when let sit in my garage during hurricane isabel.

 

[Detenator]

I drove to Midas and back with no Y pipe, and no apparent problems. Sounded like i had a big block in there. The guy at Midas said ' a lot of people spend good money to make their cars sound like this, you're spending a lot of money to keep your car from sounding like this..'

 

[haydenm315]

Detenator:
I drove to Midas and back with no Y pipe, and no apparent problems. Sounded like i had a big block in there. The guy at Midas said ' a lot of people spend good money to make their cars sound like this, you're spending a lot of money to keep your car from sounding like this..'

Thanks for the example. A few other member's responses made me wary. I gained confidence in my workmanship and bolted up the ypipe before cranking it over. It wasn't too bad mounting it up this time. The first time I mounted the pp ypipe, I had problems due to the studs being a tad bit bent. I think they were bent from scraping on a speed bump. Speed bumps should be banned, due to the damage they cause on cars. Lowered ricers suffer the most. I hate how they have bumps in almost all apartment complexes. Who would speed in a parking lot anyways? It wasn't too bad mounting the pipe up this time. I did need to use a hammer to make matters easier, but it wasn't too much of a pain.

 

[billyshoe]

There are aprox. 36,000 drops of oil in a quart of 10-30w. This is a perspective in determining the severity of a leak. Maybe the oil is going somewhere else? out the pipe?

 

[haydenm315]

billyshoe:
There are aprox. 36,000 drops of oil in a quart of 10-30w. This is a perspective in determining the severity of a leak. Maybe the oil is going somewhere else? out the pipe?

I dont' ever see any blue smoke out of the exhaust or smell oil burning. If I'm going balls out in 3rd gear at 5500-7000 rpm for an extended period of time was when I noticed the largest loss. No oil burning smell was ever detected in the cabin or in the air. While I did my bearings I noticed the brass fittings were quite oil soaked and the pan had a lot of oil on it. There was a decent amount of oil and debris on the flashing that goes in between the engine and transmission. It's been 2 days since doing the bearings, pan seal, and resealing the brass fittings. I've noticed a small bit of leakage from the oil pressure fitting that holds the line, but it's no more than a drop. I'm gonna go buy some real gauges. Who makes respected and high quality mechanical gauges? I have ones that look exactly like sunpro but aren't made by them. My temp gauge broke. I'm pretty sure it broke. It doesn't move anymore. It's hooked up in conjunction with the cluster gauge that still works. I'd rather have a gauge that gives better low end psi readings. There is no leakage from my coolant temp gauge fittings. I haven't noticed any loss of oil since doing the work on bearings. I haven't gone balls out on the highway, but did some spirited driving today for the idle reset procedure. I asked my friend if he thought his 00 Chevy Malibu could take the SHO. He said no, and kept crying to me when I let the yamahammer sing. I think it's safe to say that everything is system's go except for the broken water temp gauge.

 

[billyshoe]

If the coolant is low the the sender may not signal the guage.

 

[haydenm315]

billyshoe:
If the coolant is low the the sender may not signal the guage.

I understand that. If that was the case, my car would have overheated by now. I'm pretty sure that my low coolant sensor works. The light turns on when I start the car. My overflow tank has a healthy amount, and my radiator is completely full. I went and took the last part o the idle reset procedure where you're supposed to take the car through the entire performance range. I went to my favorite mile or so long stretch of freeway close to home and took her past 140mph on the new bearings and seals. My oil level is still where is was when I checked it at the beginning of the night. That would be awesome if my car completely stops using oil now. I have much faith in her after the past few nights.

My t fitting is configured in a way that the original sender is on the bottom and the new one is on top. It worked great for about a month and then just died all of a sudden a few days before I did rod bearings.