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EFV-8 Club Forum / General Ford Discussion / Bsbbit bearings worn out

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Posted By Discussion Topic: Bsbbit bearings worn out     supereal 01-28-2010 @ 9:24 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 6819 Joined: Oct 2009 Most of the time, a cascade of oil around the rear main seal, either a baffle or rope, is due to overfilling the oil pan. Without a filter, as is the case of most early engines, FOUR quarts is correct, even though many repro manuals, etc, still say 5 quarts. 1934 Ford 01-28-2010 @ 8:37 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 578 Joined: Oct 2009 Moxie, What a great opportunity to buy an engine that you could test drive! See the Thread 33-34 V8 Engine. Being able to drive it and hear ir at all speeds and loads is great. The oil leak is a minor and fixable flaw compared to any engine you could buy off the floor of some garage along with the stories of "how good it was". My question is always then why is it out of the car? One of the things I love about the early flathead is that they run forever with minimal care. Yes, to try to make it perfect you could tear it down and rebuild it to better standards than original, but why? If it runs and has the great oil pressure you describe, how could you go wrong (Assuming you are paying a used engine price) My vote is leave the heads on, buy it and enjoy it. You could stop the leak during the transplant. 1934 Ford 01-28-2010 @ 8:37 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 578 Joined: Oct 2009 Moxie, What a great opportunity to buy an engine that you could test drive! See the Thread 33-34 V8 Engine. Being able to drive it and hear ir at all speeds and loads is great. The oil leak is a minor and fixable flaw compared to any engine you could buy off the floor of some garage along with the stories of "how good it was". My question is always then why is it out of the car? One of the things I love about the early flathead is that they run forever with minimal care. Yes, to try to make it perfect you could tear it down and rebuild it to better standards than original, but why? If it runs and has the great oil pressure you describe, how could you go wrong (Assuming you are paying a used engine price) My vote is leave the heads on, buy it and enjoy it. You could stop the leak during the transplant. TomO 01-28-2010 @ 7:45 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 7264 Joined: Oct 2009 Moxie, I would be more concerned about cracks in the block than worn babbit. It is more expensive to refresh babbit than insert bearings, but the cost is still manageable compared to the cost of repairing major cracks. Check the oil level in the engine and then drive it for at least 20 minutes after it warms up to operating temperature. After stopping the engine and letting it sit for about 10 minutes, recheck the oil level. It should still be the same. If it is higher, you have a major crack in the block. The oil puddle that you see could be caused by an incorrect oil level, parking on an incline or a defective slinger. Tom Stroker 01-28-2010 @ 7:34 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 1460 Joined: Oct 2009 Mia Culpa! I definitely blew it with the rope seal. I would say though, that I'd be more concerned if there was not a trace of oil, as this to me would indicate that: 1. the little clutch housing weep hole is plugged, or 2. the engine is out of oil. ford38v8 01-27-2010 @ 10:31 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 2780 Joined: Oct 2009 Moxie, the previous replies to your question are correct, but for the rope seal, of course, which was a later improvement to the flathead. The suggested tests are valid, but may be more useful to an owner than to a prospective buyer, as you may succeed in driving up the owners bottom line price should you not discover an engine fault. My suggestion is to feel secure that you have found a running engine, and purchase it with a measure of doubt cast by the lack of such tests, thereby gaining a small advantage in negotiation with the seller. You should know, however, that at such time that a babbitt engine does need bearings, the difficulty (and cost) in finding a shop capable of pouring babbitt should factor in on the sales price. A conversion to insert bearings is also expensive, but a worthwhile investment, if you are not a purist regarding the internal unseen parts of a Ford. I believe, though, (Confirmation needed) that you are stuck with the oil slinger as opposed to conversion to a rope seal. The slinger leak can be kept under control by being careful to not overfill the crankcase, and not parking on an uphill slope. Alan 37RAGTOPMAN 01-27-2010 @ 6:44 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 1969 Joined: Oct 2009 hi be sure to check the breather,that it is not clogged up, this will for certain cause a leak, also driving the car up a steep hill in a higher gear will cause a noise, like a hammer,pounding on the block, also draining the oil and examine what comes out,if it has bright silver metal particles, these will most likley be the babbit, kinda easy to spot,and if the babbit is bad you will know it, ask the owner if wouldn't mind, you could drain it out,you can put the same oil back in if that is a concern to him. hope this helps,let us hear how you made out, 37RAGTOPMAN 35gal 01-27-2010 @ 5:45 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 66 Joined: Jan 2010 These early flathead engines did not have a rope seal or anyother kind of a rear bearing seal. that's why they leak. Unless you call the aluminum seal at the rear a seal. I called it an oil slinger. Stroker 01-27-2010 @ 4:03 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 1460 Joined: Oct 2009 The oil isn't leaking past the "mains", it is leaking past the rear main seal. Fords leak, but the fact that you are carrying 40 psi oil pressure certainly doesn't implicate a problem with bearings. If you want to "test" the main bearings, warm the engine up, put it in high, set the brake and put a load on the engine with the clutch. Badly worn mains will make a deep "hammering" sound, sort of like someone with a large sledgehammer pounding on the bottom of the block. A lack of that noise doesn't mean everything is aok, but it's a good indicator that you don't have a major babbitt problem. You can replace the rear rope seal by pulling the oil pan if the 3-inch puddle is an issue. MOXIE 01-27-2010 @ 3:09 PM reply profile send p.m. New Member Posts: 102 Joined: Oct 2009 I’m in the process of buying a 1935 V8, 21 stud engine and have a question. The guy does not want the heads removed but I have been able to drive the car and the engine runs strong, starts real easy and the oil pressure gauge he has on it read around 40 pounds. The problem is, after driving it 20 minutes and letting it sit for an hour, there is a puddle of oil under the rear of the engine. The puddle is about 3” diameter. I know these engines leak oil out the main but that much. My worry is that the rear Babbitt bearing might be worn out. What symptoms would an engine have if the crankshaft babbitt bearings are worn out.

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