No luck...

AJ · 14-12-07, 08:19

I posted this on fccuk, thought I'd just post it here as well.

Took the 145 out last week for some running in miles after a rather rubbish day at work. Got all of about 6 miles from the house, pulled out of a junction, hit 2nd gear, thought I could smell oil. Came off the accelerator, next thing the oil light on. Immediately hit the clutch and killed ignition but it was too late. The engine sounded rough as it was spinning down.

The oil cooler was broken on the feed mounting. It was a cheap type cooler (Serck I think), and the nut that presses into the end cap had come loose, emptied the oil in a matter of seconds.

Not good, obviously. Whipped the bigs off at the weekend:

Crank looks ok, phew. Got a new set of bigs and mains, and some (more) new rod bolts, I'll get fitting tomorrow and start again. Luckily can all be done in situ, so a nice easy job.

**AlfaJack** · 14-12-07, 08:39

The lampredi engine patients test!

Hope the crank is ok, give it a good feel so as to check for any scoring.

Those shells look a bit starved. You have a pic of the Bigs?

AJ · 14-12-07, 08:54

They are the bigs, I haven't got the mains out yet but it's usually the bigs that take the majority of the punishment. Crank looks good, couldn't feel any scoring with my fingernail.
Of course they're starved, it ran dry!

**AlfaJack** · 14-12-07, 09:15

Originally Posted by AJ

They are the bigs, I haven't got the mains out yet but it's usually the bigs that take the majority of the punishment.

Sorry, was the mains I meant

**Evodelta** · 14-12-07, 22:01

Sadly building a reliable engine has nothing to do with luck, it's down to knowledge and fitting high quality parts.
Make sure you check the clearances of any new shells against the crank with 'Plastiguage' or some very accurate measuring devices before going any further.
Buy some books on engine building and read them from cover to cover, read any relevant articles on the Guy Croft forum and maybe join it and ask questions, here you will be guaranteed 1st class info with no bullshit, the Fccuk forum is ok for banter, but I would never build an engine on most of what is posted on online forums.

AJ · 16-12-07, 16:06

Hi Evodelta. When I rebuilt it I did use plastigauge to check tolerances on the crank and bearings, they were all within tolerances. The rebuild is ok, I have rebuilt many engines before with no problems - it is the oil cooler that broke and caused it to run dry, nothing to do with the build. The mains are now on back order until January.